A source at the European Parliament has said that the proposed reforms to MiFID and the Market Abuse Directive are likely to be published on 21 October, but the schedule is subject to a date being fixed for a meeting of the College of Commissioners, which must meet to approve the final documents.
A European Commission spokesperson has said that the date for the College of Commissioners meeting at which these documents are to be approved has not yet been confirmed, but that officially the proposals are expected to be published post-September.
The College of Commissioners is made up of representatives from each of the EU's 27 member states. It is selected by José Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, from lists of candidates proposed by each EU member state before being agreed by the Council of Ministers, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union.
The European Commissioners meet on Wednesday each week in Brussels, or on Tuesday in Strasbourg for plenary sessions. They will reconvene in September after the summer break. The first plenary session, which all participants must attend, will be held on 27 September.
The meetings themselves are held behind closed doors, with minutes published a week afterwards in English and French.
Catherine Day, the secretary-general, prepares the meeting agendas which have to be adopted by Barroso, and are circulated to the commissioners one day prior to the meeting.
Decisions are taken by majority vote, typically conducted by a written procedure rather than in the meeting; a draft is circulated amongst the commissioners for comments or changes and once no comments are forthcoming the decision is adopted.