1 - A Historical Reconstruction

Summary

Chapter 1 is devoted to the history of trilogues, tracing their origins and showing why they were created and how they have changed over time. In particular, the chapter highlights that trilogues have characterized the "European way" of adopting legislation since 1975, when the Parliament attained its first competences in budgetary matters and successfully advocated for the establishment of a conciliation procedure. The establishment of this procedure, which bears striking similarities to today’s trilogues, should be regarded as a “critical juncture.” It set a specific trajectory of institutional development and consolidation that has significantly shaped legislative interactions up to the present day, especially in the wake of subsequent Treaty amendments that have increasingly placed the three institutions in a relationship of mutual dependence.