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If you need help
The EU Information Centre has developed a system which can be used if you wish to calculate a qualified majority or a blocking minority in the new Constitutional Treaty for Europe.
If you wish to calculate a qualified majority, click on the voting for icon opposite the Member State in question, or click once on the Member State on the map. Consequently, the Member State will turn green signifying that it has voted for a proposal.
If you wish to calculate a blocking minority; click on the voting against icon opposite the Member State in question, or click twice on the Member State on the map. Consequently, the Member State will turn red signifying that it has voted against a proposal.
By clicking on the abstention icon, or by clicking three times on the Member State on the map, the latter will not be included in the voting. However, when the results of a blocking minority are calculated, the votes of the abstaining Member States are included. Consequently, the Member States will turn yellow.
i Click on the information icon opposite each Member State to learn about the calculation method which applies to the individual Member State.
Voting Rules in the Council of Ministers:
Article I-25
1. A qualified majority shall be defined as at least 55 % of the members of the Council,
comprising at least fifteen of them and representing Member States comprising at least 65 % of the population of the Union.
A blocking minority must include at least four Council members, failing which the qualified majority shall be deemed attained.
Comments on the calculations
When calculating the votes, decimals are included. Thus a population segment of for example 35,1 % voting against a proposal, combined with the minimum four Member States required, is sufficient to constitute a blocking minority.
It should be noted, that Member States which abstain from voting will be included vis á vis the four member state requirement with regards to a blocking minority.
In the special case when fewer than four Member States vote against a proposal and their population accounts for less than 35 % of the EU total, then this will rule out a qualified majority because the population segment will not be able to reach the 65 % requirement.
If the Constitutional Treaty is to be construed to mean that a qualified majority has been reached if a blocking minority cannot be established. In other words Germany, France and Italy cannot veto a decision even though they comprise nearly 44 % of the population in the EU because they do not live up to the criteria that a blocking minority must consist of at least four Member States.
This means in praxis that a qualified majority can be reached even though it does not consist of 65 % of the population in the EU. The qualified majority still needs to consist of at least 15 Member States.