Voting in The Council of The European Union - Unanimity

Unanimity

Certain policy fields remain subject to unanimity in whole or in part, such as:

  • membership of the Union (opening of accession negotiations, association, serious violations of the Union's values, etc.);
    • change the status of an overseas country or territory (OCT) to an outermost region (OMR) or vice versa.
  • taxation;
  • the finances of the Union (own resources, the multiannual financial framework);
  • harmonisation in the field of social security and social protection;
  • certain provisions in the field of justice and home affairs (the European prosecutor, family law, operational police cooperation, etc.);
  • the flexibility clause (352 TFEU) allowing the Union to act to achieve one of its objectives in the absence of a specific legal basis in the treaties;
  • the common foreign and security policy, with the exception of certain clearly defined cases;
  • the common security and defence policy, with the exception of the establishment of permanent structured cooperation;
  • citizenship (the granting of new rights to European citizens, anti-discrimination measures);
  • certain institutional issues (the electoral system and composition of the Parliament, certain appointments, the composition of the Committee of the Regions and the European Economic and Social Committee, the seats of the institutions, the language regime, the revision of the treaties, including the bridging clauses, etc.).

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Famous quotes containing the word unanimity:

    No political party can ever make prohibition effective. A political party implies an adverse, an opposing, political party. To enforce criminal statutes implies substantial unanimity in the community. This is the result of the jury system. Hence the futility of party prohibition.
    Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)