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| Commission sends a proposal to Parliament and Council | ||||
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| Parliament gives opinion Commission amends proposal |
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| Council approves all Parliament's amendments. Act adopted |
Parliament approves the Proposal. Council may adopt the Act |
By QMV, Council rejects some or all amendments. Establishes common position |
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| Parliament examines common position of Council | ||||
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| Parliament approves common position, takes no action | Parliament by absolute majority rejects the common position. Act not adopted |
By absolute majority Parliament proposes amendments | ||
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| Act is adopted | Commission opinion | |||
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| Parliament (by absolute majority), and Council (by QMV), adopt the Act | Council does not approve all Parliament's amendments. Conciliation Committee. Commission takes part. |
Council approves the amendments. Act is adopted |
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| Conciliation Committee reaches agreement. | Conciliation Committee does not reach agreement. Act falls |
QMV = Qualified Majority Voting
Decisions in the Council are taken by vote. Countries with a larger population have more votes. But to be fair to smaller countries the numbers are weighted in their favour.
Usually the Council takes decisions by qualified majority voting (QMV). The 27 EU countries have a total of 345 votes between them.
A qualified majority is reached
- if the measure is approved by a majority of the member states (on some issues a two-thirds majority is needed), and ...
- a minimum of 255 votes has been cast in favour;
- a member state may also ask for confirmation that the votes in favour represent at least 62% of the total population of the Union. If this is not so, the decision cannot be adopted.