Qualified majority voting

The 5th Framework Programme must be more flexible, both in its research activities and in the decision-making process. The Commission proposes that a simplified decision-making procedure should apply to research policy, including the use of qualified majority voting rather than unanimity in the Council of Ministers. 

The Directive also sets up a committee (the Article 21 committee) of Member States representatives which is to assist the Commission and which may, by qualified majority voting, amend Annexes II to V of the Directive - adaption to technical progress . 

Should any disagreement take place, which cannot be resolved within the 60-day period, the Commission shall use the Committee of Member States representatives which will deliver an opinion by qualified majority voting (Articles 12, 13 and 21). 

Commission. If the Commission accepts these changes then Council can adopt the proposal by qualified majority vote. If the Commission and Parliament cannot reconcile their opinions then Council can only adopt the proposal by unanimous vote. This new procedure applies, among other matters, to proposals concerning the safety and health of workers and is shown in Figure 1.9. 

The extension, by the Single European Act, of qualified majority voting to proposals concerning the health and safety of workers was the stimulus for a great increase in EU health and safety directives from 1989 onwards. 

The draft decision is then sent to the Standing Committee on Medicinal Products or the Standing Committee on Veterinary Products for their opinions. Should there be detailed opposition from a member state to the draft decision, the standing committee can refer it back to the CPMP if the opposition is scientific. If the matter is nonscientific, the council decision is made on the basis of a qualified majority, where each member state has a different number of votes depending on its size and importance and the majority of votes must be in favor. If within a further 30 days there is no opposition, the draft decision is forwarded to the Commission secretariat-general for adoption, enabling the Commissioner for enterprise and the information society to issue the final decision which is published in the Official Journal of the European Communities. 

To be approved by a qualified majority, a proposal need only secure 62 of the total 87 votes - based on 25 Member States before the latest enlargement. The recommendations could therefore be adopted even if the following countries withdraw or abstain from voting ... 

Qualified majority decision requires 25 votes out of 345 (73%). Member State s votes are weighted on the basis of their population and corrected in favour of the less-populated... 

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