Conciliation is the process whereby Parliament and the Council try to reach agreement in the process of adopting EU laws. If there is co-decision between the two institutions on a matter, they have an equal say in passing laws in that area.
If after two readings by each institution, the Council has not agreed to Parliament's amendments, and Parliament considers the Council's reaction unreasonable, the two bodies have to try again to reach agreement, otherwise the law will not pass. This agreement is sought in the conciliation committee.
The committee consists of one representative of each member state (for the Council); and an equal number of representatives of Parliament: now totalling 30 in all.
Conciliation started in the wake of the ratification of the Maastricht Treaty, since when there have been 9 such procedures in 1994 and 9 in 1995, 10 in 1996 and 20 in 1997. Only in one or two cases has the system failed to produce a result.
Giving Parliament an equal say in legislation helps to overcome the democratic deficit which occurs when Council decides by majority vote and not by unanimity (see EP News, November 29th 1997)