The Council of the European Union is the main legislative institution of the EU. According to Article 202 of the Maastricht Treaty: to ensure that the objectives set out in this Treaty are attained the Council shall, in accordance with the provisions of this Treaty:.
Javier SolanaHigh Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy,
Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union
Mr Solana assists the Council in foreign policy matters, through contributing to the formulation, preparation and implementation of European policy decisions. He acts on behalf of the Council in conducting political dialogue
- ensure coordination of the general economic policies of the Member States,
- have power to take decisions,
- confer on the Commission, in the acts which the Council adopts, powers for the implementation of the rules which the Council lays down. The Council may impose certain requirements in respect of the exercise of these powers. The Council may also reserve the right, in specific cases, to exercise directly implementing powers itself. The procedures referred to above must be consonant with principles and rules to be laid down in advance by the Council, acting unanimously on a proposal from the Commission and after obtaining the opinion of the European Parliament.
In effect, the Council performs the following functions:
- Legislation - the Council passes EU law on the recommendations of the European Commission and the European Parliament.
- Approval of the EU budget - the Council and the Parliament must agree on the budget.
- Foreign and defence policy - while each member state is free to develop its own foreign and defence policy, the Council seeks to achieve a common foreign and defence policy for the member states.
- Economic policy - the Council also seeks to achieve a common economic policy for the member states.
- Justice - the Council seeks to co-ordinate the justice system of the member states, especially in areas such as terrorism.
Voting
The Council votes either by unanimity or by Qualified Majority Voting. The voting system used for a given decision depends on the policy area to which that decision belongs; according to the founding treaties, some subjects require unanimity, while others require only a qualified majority. Even in those areas which require a qualified majority, the Council is required to try to reach a unanimous decision where possible.
Countries of the EU hold different numbers of votes in the Council. The number of votes held by each country is based indirectly on the size of the country's population, but smaller countries are granted a greater number of votes than their population would strictly merit. This concept is aimed at balancing the voices of larger countries with those of smaller countries.
On 1 November2004, modified voting weights from the Treaty of Nice came into effect (this date was revised by the Treaty of Accession 2003 from the originally intended date of 1 January2005). The Nice Treaty also provides for qualified majority voting to require a 'double majority' of both population and number of countries. Further revisions to the voting system are made in the proposed Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, which was signed on 29 October2004 but has yet to be ratified by all member states.
Qualified Majority Voting
Voting weights since November 1st 2004:Country / Votes / Pop.
(mill.)
Germany / 29 / 82.0
UK / 29 / 59.4
France / 29 / 59.1
Italy / 29 / 57.7
Spain / 27 / 39.4
Poland / 27 / 38.6
Netherlands / 13 / 15.8
Greece / 12 / 10.6
Czech R. / 12 / 10.3
Belgium / 12 / 10.2
Hungary / 12 / 10.0
Portugal / 12 / 9.9
Sweden / 10 / 8.9
Austria / 10 / 8.1
Slovakia / 7 / 5.4
Denmark / 7 / 5.3
Finland / 7 / 5.2
Lithuania / 7 / 3.7
Ireland / 7 / 3.7
Latvia / 4 / 2.4
Slovenia / 4 / 2.0
Estonia / 4 / 1.4
Cyprus / 4 / 0.8
Luxembourg / 4 / 0.4
Malta / 3 / 0.4
Total votes / 321
Qualified majority / 232
Blocking votes / 90
Qualified Majority Voting (QMV) is a voting procedure employed in the Council of the European Union for some decisions. According to the procedure, each member state has a fixed number of votes. The number allocated to each country is roughly determined by its population, but progressively weighted in favour of smaller countries.
To pass a vote by QMV, all three of the following conditions must apply:
- the proposal must be supported by 232 out of the total of 321 votes (72.27%);
- the proposal must be backed by a majority of member states;
- the countries supporting the proposal must represent at least 62% of the total EU population.
If the new Treaty establishing a constitution for Europe comes into force, the conditions for passing a vote will be simplified. In this case, a QMV decision will require a 'double majority' of 55% of member states representing 65% of citizens. In addition, a blocking minority must consist of at least 4 Member States. Under the new rules, it will be more difficult for a minority of countries to block a decision.
7 / 5.4Denmark / 7 / 5.3
Finland / 7 / 5.2
Lithuania / 7 / 3.7
Ireland / 7 / 3.7
Latvia / 4 / 2.4
Slovenia / 4 / 2.0
Estonia / 4 / 1.4
Cyprus / 4 / 0.8
Luxembourg / 4 / 0.4
Malta / 3 / 0.4
Total votes / 321
Qualified majority / 232
Blocking votes / 90
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Use of QMV vs unanimity
At present, QMV is used to pass many decisions, while others require unanimity among all Council members. Under the proposed Treaty establishing a constitution for Europe, which has to be ratified by all member states before it can enter into force, decisions in about 20 more policy areas will be taken using QMV, leaving only key sensitive issues to be decided unanimously (including tax, social policy, defence, foreign policy and treaty revision).
Supporters argue that this change will be necessary in order to streamline decision-making and prevent gridlock in a newly enlarged European Union. Some commentators have seen the change as a loss of sovereignty from individual member states, since it effectively abolishes the national veto in many areas.
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