Friday

29th Mar 2024

Germany and UK are main adversaries on EU laws, survey says

  • Ministers vote in these rooms, but it has been hard for EU citizens to find out what goes on behind closed doors (Photo: Valentina Pop)

Germany and the UK are the most likely to have opposing views on EU legislation, while France and Lithuania are in perfect voting harmony, an analysis of member state voting shows.

Of the 343 voted-on pieces of legislation between July 2009 and June 2012, the most votes were taken on laws to do with economic and monetary affairs - an area that has seen a surge in legislation since the financial crisis kicked off - followed by environment and transport.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

Culture and education (where the EU has little power), constitutional affairs and development saw the fewest votes, according to a newly-published report by VoteWatch Europe, a research project run out of the London School of Economics.

The survey also highlights the EU's preferred way of doing business - getting as high a degree of consensus among the 27 member states as possible.

Of the 305 votes where a qualified majority - rather than unanimity - was needed to pass the law, 65 percent were passed with all countries voting in favour. In 35 percent of cases, governments were in disagreement about the law.

However, the report notes that member states regularly submit formal statements to make a point. In policy areas such as the environment - the most controversial - and regional development, member states make written comments on average 4.1 and 1.7 times respectively.

"In reality policy proposals may therefore be more contested than would appear, despite being reported as 'unanimously agreed'," notes the analysis.

Other policy areas where member states are likely to be at loggerheads are agriculture - accounting for 40 percent of the budget and regularly pitting those who think it is a waste of money against those who believe otherwise - and the EU budget.

Some policy areas are more likely to rile certain member states than others.

Denmark, for example, is known for being annoyed that its environmental standards are often higher than those being set by the EU. In the past three years, the 36 environmental votes have seen it say No three times and abstain four times.

The UK, meanwhile, has voted against the majority most often, followed by Germany, Austria and Denmark. France and Lithuania on the other hand not only always vote on the same side but have always voted with the majority.

London and Berlin have voted against each other the most often (15%), with the report also indicating that there are no fixed coalitions between member states. This corroborates what diplomats tend to say - that member states form strategic alliances on a law-by-law basis.

The vote watch report says it is the most "comprehensive project of its kind to date." The transparency tool, founded by academics, has already shone a light into how deputies into the European Parliament vote.

However, the member states' chamber - the council of ministers - is more opaque. There is no automatic publication of results directly after the vote has been taken and no single point of reference for seeing how governments vote.

This means it has until now not been possible to see how MEPs and member states have voted on the same piece of legislation.

It has also enabled the oft-heard complaint by EU officials that national politicians willingly say and do one thing in Brussels before going back home to complain about it.

Watchdog website keeps eye on MEP voting records

A new website hopes to open up the political habits of MEPs, exposing voting behaviour, attendance and party allegiances in a bid to bring some EU politics to the European elections in June.

Ukraine slams grain trade restrictions at EU summit

Restrictions on Ukrainian agricultural exports to the EU could translate into military losses in their bid to stop Russia's war, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky warned EU leaders during their summit in Brussels on Thursday.

Difficult talks ahead on financing new EU defence spending

With the war in Ukraine showing no signs of ending any time soon, EU leaders will meet in Brussels on Thursday and Friday (21 and 22 March) to discuss how to boost the defence capabilities of Ukraine and of the bloc itself.

Opinion

Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Rather than assuming a pro-European Labour government in London will automatically open doors in Brussels, the Labour party needs to consider what it may be able to offer to incentivise EU leaders to factor the UK into their defence thinking.

Latest News

  1. Kenyan traders react angrily to proposed EU clothes ban
  2. Lawyer suing Frontex takes aim at 'antagonistic' judges
  3. Orban's Fidesz faces low-polling jitters ahead of EU election
  4. German bank freezes account of Jewish peace group
  5. EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania
  6. 'Swiftly dial back' interest rates, ECB told
  7. Moscow's terror attack, security and Gaza
  8. Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  2. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries
  3. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  5. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  6. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us