A busy Parliament faces many competing demands for legislation. If unsustainable log-jams are to be avoided, some prioritisation and some prioritising of legislative opportunities are necessary.

This paper gives examples of how legislative opportunities are prioritised in several of the national Parliaments of EU member States. It looks both at ways in which governmentsponsored legislation is prioritised, and at mechanisms for prioritising legislation proposed by ordinary Deputies or Committees.

Formal and informal mechanisms (rules, memorandums of understanding, custom and practice) are discussed.