Voting in the Council of the European Union
The procedures for voting in the Council of the European Union are described in the treaties of the European Union. The Council of the European Union (or simply "Council" or "Council of Ministers") has had its voting procedure amended by subsequent treaties and currently operates on the system set forth in the Treaty of Lisbon. The system is known as qualified majority voting is a type of consociational democracy.
Majority of countries: 55% (comprising at least 15 of them), or 72% if acting on a proposal from neither the Commission nor the , and
High Representative
Majority of population: 65%.
with the , when the number of votes for the largest member states was increased from 4 to 10,
1973 enlargement
with the , when the maximum number of votes was increased to 29, thresholds became defined in terms of percentages, and a direct population-dependent condition was introduced,
Treaty of Nice
with the , when the concept of votes was abandoned in favour of a "double majority" depending only on the number of states and the population represented.
Treaty of Lisbon
overseas country or territory
taxation;
the finances of the Union (own resources, the multiannual financial framework);
harmonisation in the field of social security and social protection;
certain provisions in the field of justice and home affairs (the European prosecutor, family law, operational police cooperation, etc.);
the flexibility clause (352 TFEU) allowing the Union to act to achieve one of its objectives in the absence of a specific legal basis in the treaties;
the common foreign and security policy, with the exception of certain clearly defined cases;
the common security and defence policy, with the exception of the establishment of permanent structured cooperation;
citizenship (the granting of new rights to European citizens, anti-discrimination measures);
certain institutional issues (the electoral system and composition of the Parliament, certain appointments, the composition of the Committee of the Regions and the European Economic and Social Committee, the seats of the institutions, the language regime, the revision of the treaties, including the bridging clauses, etc.).
Certain policy fields remain subject to unanimity in whole or in part, such as:
Voting Calculator for Council decisions
A detailed summary of qualified majority voting
BBC:
Background on the voting weights discussion
Analysis and history of voting weights in the Council
New winners and old losers. A priori voting power in the EU25
Article at EUABC
Full text of the Constitution – Title IV article I-25
Completion of the 5-th enlargement and institutional changes (votes in Council and European Parliament including Bulgaria's and Romania's from 1 Jan 2007)
. The European Commission Representation in Ireland. 16 March 2004. Archived from the original on 24 December 2005. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
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For context, subsections of this document are entitled "The European Commission", "The Council of the European Union" and "European Parliament".