qualifiedmajority

Qualified majority is a voting rule that requires more than a simple majority and typically combines thresholds on both the number of participants and the size of their votes or population. It is used to balance efficiency with minority protection in bodies where all members have a stake in the outcome.

In the European Union, qualified majority voting under the Council of the EU governs most legislative acts. Since the Lisbon Treaty, the system effectively operates as a double majority: a measure passes if it is supported by at least 55% of member states (currently 15 of 27) and by at least 65% of the EU population. In addition, a blocking minority can prevent adoption if at least four member states representing more than 35% of the population oppose the proposal. Some areas remain subject to unanimity rather than QMV, such as certain budgetary or constitutional decisions.

Outside the EU, the term “qualified majority” is used in other organizations to denote a supermajority threshold that is higher than a simple majority but not an absolute veto. Some systems use weighted votes, where each member’s voting power reflects its share of total value or population, and a qualified majority requires meeting predefined thresholds for both the sum of votes and the number of participating members.

Advantages of qualified majorities include greater legitimacy and smoother decision-making compared with unanimity, while drawbacks can include complexity and the potential for strategic coalitions that marginalize smaller members.