How E.U. votes

By Vaiju Naravane

NICE (FRANCE), DEC. 8. QMV or Qualified Majority Voting is how the E.U. passes proposals. Sixty-seven of the 82 votes are required to pass new laws.

Large countries such as Britain, France, Italy and Germany have 10 votes each. Germany says it wants more votes, given that its population has risen to 82 million after reunification.

France contends that the E.U. was created by Charles de Gaulle and Conrad Adenauer on the principle of ``equality'' between the two countries and will not concede. Spain wants more than its present eight votes. Issues not covered by the QMV currently give each country veto power.

The overriding question of the number of votes per country and the need to extend the QMV to some 52 new areas in order to speed up decision-making will be tackled at this Summit.

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Section  : International
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