Prise de décision au sein du Conseil des ministres élargi: état des lieux

Dans cet article, les chercheurs Sara Hagemann et Julia De Clerck-Sachsse du Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) réfutent l’idée selon laquelle l’élargissement de mai 2004 affecterait à la fois l’efficacité et le contenu des décisions politiques européennes, comme de nombreux experts et spécialistes de l’UE l’ont prévu.

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.