Access to European Union law
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Access to European Union law

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Glossary of summaries

Weighting of votes in the Council

In the case of most EU legislation, the Council of the European Union decides by qualified majority, which is the default voting rule in accordance with Article 16 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU). However, in some areas of EU legislation, the Council acts by unanimity and procedural decisions are taken by a simple majority (where 14 out of 27 EU Member States are in favour).

Until 1 November 2014, the Member States with the largest populations had 27 to 29 votes, medium-sized countries 7 to 14 votes and small countries 3 or 4 votes. A decision required at least 260 out of 352 votes to be adopted.

On 1 November 2014, the rules for establishing a qualified majority changed (Article 16 TEU). When the Council acts on a proposal from the Commission or the EU’s High Representative, a qualified majority is reached if:

  • 55% of the members of the Council vote in favour (i.e. 15 out of 27);
  • these members of the Council represent at least 65% of the total EU population.

This is known as the double majority rule. A blocking minority must include at least 4 Member States.

When the Council does not act on a proposal from the Commission or the High Representative a qualified majority is reached if:

  • at least 72% of Council members vote in favour (i.e. 20 out of 27); and
  • they represent at least 65% of the total EU population.

Until 31 March 2017, Member States could still request that an act is adopted in accordance with the previous rule for qualified majority voting. In addition, they may request the application of the Ioannina II compromise (see Declaration No 7 annexed to the Lisbon Treaty). This allows a group of countries to demonstrate their opposition to an act even if the group is not large enough in number to constitute a blocking minority.

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