An Institution’s capacity to act: What are the effects of majority voting in the Council of the EU and in the European Parliament?

Recent titles from the European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA):
An Institution's capacity to act. What are the effects of majority voting in the Council of the EU and in the European Parliament:
Voting rules influence policy outcomes. This publication analyses and clarifies the importance of voting rules, especially in the Council of the EU and partially in the European Parliament.

It also highlights the main features of specific voting rules. Particular attention is paid to the trade-off between adverse external effects of decision-rules based on a low 'quota' and the high costs of decision-making under more inclusive voting rules. It provides an overview of the distribution of votes in the Council and seats in the European Parliament in proportion to the population of the Member States. In addition, it illustrates the distribution of weighted votes in the Council between the inception of the Community in 1958 and the present day. It also uses a simple mathematical representation to illustrate the possibilities of assessing the a priori influence of members in a voting body and the ease with which decisions are taken on the basis of the specific distribution of votes (or seats). Lastly, it applies this analysis to the Council and partially extends it to the Parliament.

Hosli, Madeleine O.
An Institution's capacity to act. What are the effects of majority voting in the Council of the EU and in the European Parliament
Current European Issues
EIPA, 1998
ISBN: 90-6779-123-7
Price: 15 NLG

From: Marita Simons, Publications Department, EIPA, PO Box 1229, NL-6201 BE Maastricht, The Netherlands. Tel:+31-43-329-6274; Fax: +31-43-329-62-96. Email: m.simon@eipa-nl.com