Entscheidungsfindung im erweiterten Ministerrat: Bewertung der Fakten

In diesem Artikel vertreten Sara Hagemann und Julia De Clerck-Sachsse vom Centre for European Policy Studies – entgegen der Voraussagen vieler EU-Experten und Praktiker – die Auffassung, dass die EU-Erweiterung vom Mai 2004 weder die Effizienz noch die inhaltliche Qualität des Entscheidungsfindungsprozesses im Rat verändert habe.

In fact, the EU’s most important legislative body, the Council of Ministers, is commonly found to function relatively smoothly and, the pair believe, enlargement has only had a moderate effect on decision-making.

In their new policy brief, which draws on a vast data set of Council voting records and extensive interviews, Hagemann and De Clerck-Sachsse state that many aspects of the enlargement of the EU institutions have still not been adequately reported or evaluated. Their analysis gives a more nuanced insight into the impact of enlargement and shows that this institution has indeed been challenged by the difficult task of getting 25 (and now 27) member states to come to agreement.

„For electorates, it is difficult to discern whether a government has actually opposed a proposal for which there is little support at home, or whether the government has merely covered itself by issuing a formal statement,“ the pair conclude.

To read the full policy brief, click here.