Det nya förslaget till röstviktning som föreslås i EU-konstitutionen stärker de stora medlemsländerna på bekostnad av de små, och den bekämpas kraftigt av framförallt Polen. Det har jag skrivit om förr.

I Open Europes nyhetsbrev idag hittade jag dessutom nedanstående. Som om det inte räckte med att förslaget gynnar de stora länderna så gör förslaget det dessutom betydligt lättare att driva igenom nya beslut. Men i praktiken så lyckas EU ta mängder av beslut redan idag. Förändringen behövs inte.

On his blog, Libération journalist Jean Quatremer argues that Poland may be right to oppose the change in the voting weights, saying he believes “less and less that it is necessary, fair or useful.” He notes that “If this new system one day enters into force, it would increase the number of ‘winning coalitions’, in other words, the percentage of cases where a qualified majority can be found. Before Nice, this rate was at 7.8%. With Nice, it fell to 2%. With the Constitution, it would climb up to 12.8%.” He notes the recent study by Sciences Po which showed that the Council only actually takes votes in 20% of cases, and that, since enlargement in 2004, the number of legislative acts passed after the first reading went from 34% to 64%, and that the length of the legislative process was cut from a year and a half to a year. He says, “In other words, the machine works, even with the calamitous Nice Treaty.”