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.

Use of QMV vs unanimity

At present, QMV is used to pass certain legislation while others require unanimity among all Council members. Under the proposed Treaty establishing a constitution for Europe (which is now in a crisis period), which has to be ratified by all member states before it can enter into force, decisions in about 20 more policy areas would have been 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.

External links

European Union law

Gekwalificeerde meerderheid | Głosowanie kwalifikowaną większością | Kvalificerad majoritet

Gourt Home::Gourt :: Qualified majority voting

Use of QMV vs unanimity

See also

External links