Germany, not Poland, is EU's biggest nay-sayer

FEATURE: Germany, not Poland, is EU's biggest nay-sayer
By Frank Rafalski, dpa


Berlin (dpa) - It's the Germans, not the Poles, who are the biggest nay-sayers in the European Union, according to a survey of voting patterns within the 27-member bloc.

The study also shows that dramatic "take-it-or-leave-it" votes like the one that marked last week's summit in Brussels are an exception. Power struggles within the EU are usually resolved by consensus.

Andreas Maurer and Daniela Kietz from the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) analysed voting in the EU Council of Ministers up to the end of 2004. During that period the bloc grew from 15 to 25 members. Bulgaria and Romania joined in January 2007.

Their findings showed that only 9 to 12 per cent of the decisions were reached by the so-called qualified majority that was the centre of an acrimonious debate involving Poland in Brussels.

Poland, which championed a voting system bases on the square root of each country's population, has been a particularly cooperative member of the EU, according to the analysis.

In 2004, the Poles did not vote against a single EU decision and only abstained twice. The most frequent nay-sayers were Belgium, which cast negative votes five times, followed by Austria with four. Germany voted against two decisions in the Council of Ministers.

Over a longer period, from 1994 to 2004, Germany has proved to be the biggest objector, casting no votes 69 times and abstaining on 38 occasions.

In contrast, other EU heavyweights like Britain cast 43 no votes, while France voted against Council decisions 22 times.

The study found no evidence that new members often joined forces to block decisions or that bigger nations did the same to outvote the smaller ones. The countries' interests differed too much.

The analysts believe that the threat of a no vote or blocking decisions at EU committee levels were enough to persuade the feuding parties to reach a consensus before a formal vote.

Under the current Nice formula in effect since 2000, big nations like Germany, France, Britain and Italy each have 29 votes in the councils where government leaders or their ministers take decisions.

Countries like Spain and Poland, with much smaller populations, have 27 votes.

The double majority system agreed at the Brussels summit requires future decisions to be approved by 55 per cent of the member states representing 65 per cent of the population.

Poland sought to block this method because it feared losing clout to countries like Germany, the EU's biggest member. In the end a compromise was reached that sees the new system coming into effect in 2017, after a three-year transition period.

The accord on a new reform treaty for the EU from 2009 will also see an increase in majority decisions being taken. Experts believe this could lead to greater friction in the fields of justice and internal affairs.

Some analysts feel there will be more posturing on contentious issues, even if it only serves to save face for the protagonists who can return home and tell their electorate: "We were outvoted."