How to use the Voting Calculator


Choose the voting rule:

Use the box on the top right to select the voting rule and tick the box below it if you want the population to be considered as a factor. The voting rule can be changed during voting without resetting the votes.

Voting rules:

Where all 27 member states are participating in the vote:

- Qualified majority:
          A qualified majority is reached if at least 255 votes in favour are cast by at least 14 Council members. In addition, a member state may ask for confirmation that the votes in favour represent at least 62% of the EU population.

- Special majority (Qualified majority when the Council is not acting on a Commission proposal):
          A qualified majority when the Council is not acting on a Commission proposal is reached if at least 255 votes in favour are cast by at least 18 Council members. The 62% rule mentioned above also applies here.

- Simple majority:
          A simple majority is reached if at least 14 Council members vote in favour.

- Unanimity:
          Abstentions do not prevent unanimity being reached.

There are cases in which, under the Treaties, one or more members of the Council may not participate in the vote (because they have an "opt-out" on the matter being decided) so if fewer than 27 Council members are voting, the above figures will be affected accordingly.

Note that an abstention is not the same as not participating in the vote. Any member can abstain at any time.

(For more detailed rules, see Art. 205 of the Consolidated version of the Treaty establishing the European Community and amendments further to the accession of Bulgaria and Romania.)

Set the votes:

To set a Council member's vote, either:

- click on the icon no vote yet to the right of the country until you have the desired vote;
or:
- select the State (checkbox select on the right) and click the desired voting icon on the menu on the right of the screen. (This method allows you to set the votes of several Council members at the same time; for example if you select all the members voting in favour then you need to click the green arrow only once.)

To reset the votes for one or more Council members, select them by ticking the checkbox select on the right and click the "clear votes" icon clear votes on the right-hand menu.

If some Council members are not participating in the vote, disable them by selecting them and then clicking the "not participating" icon not participate on the right-hand menu. A non-participating Council member can be enabled to participate again by selecting it and clicking the "participating" icon participate on the same menu.

Voting result (central columns):

The columns correspond to: members, votes, population (if applicable). Under each of them from top to bottom you can find:
- the minimum number of members and votes - and the minimum percentage of population represented (if applicable) - that must be in favour in order for the act to be adopted (depending on the voting rule selected);
- the number of votes in favour;
- the number of votes against;
- the number of abstentions;
- the number of members having cast a vote, the number of votes cast (including abstentions) and (if applicable) the percentage of the population represented;
- the number of members participating in the vote and the total number of votes to be cast.

The columns change colour according to the votes cast:
               Green = yes (votes in favour)
               Red = no (votes against)
               Yellow = abstention

The large arrow to the right of the columns shows the final result.

Weighting of votes (number of votes for each member state):

TOTAL 345