Editorial: Qualified Majority Voting in CFSP: A Solution to the Wrong Problem?

European Foreign Affairs Review, vol. 26, pp. 351–358

Abstract

A discussion on introducing Qualified Majority Voting (QMV) into the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) decision-making has occasionally come up ever since the establishment of this policy field.It has, however, been mentioned surprisingly often in the last years by prominent politicians.In her first State of the Union speech, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed introducing QMV in decisions concerning human rights and sanctions.She pointed to 'a clear need for Europe to take clear positions and quick actions on global affairs' and asked: 'But what holds us back?Why are even simple statements on EU values delayed, watered down or held hostage for other motives?When Member States say Europe is too slow, I say to them be courageous and finally move to QMVat least on human rights and sanctions implementation'. 1 She asked the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (HR/VP) Josep Borrell to explore this idea, which had already been introduced by her predecessor, Jean-Claude Juncker in 2017. 2 The discussion was also echoed by the leaders of France and Germany in their 2018 Meseberg Declaration, 3 as well as by other Member States, 4 and this year the European

Authors 2

1. Ramses A. Wessel Aachen Professor in International Relations Institute of Political Science Associate Professor in International Relations

   Leiden University · University of Groningen

   Affiliation as printed

   Professor in International Relations , Institute of Political Science , Leiden University

   Professor of European Law, University of Groningen

   See the Non-paper by Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland,

   Associate Professor in International Relations, Institute of Political Science, Leiden University

   University of Groningen

2. Karolina Pomorska Aachen Associate Professor in International Relations Institute of Political Science

   Leiden University · University of Groningen

   Affiliation as printed

   Professor of European Law , University of Groningen

   Professor of European Law, University of Groningen

   See the Non-paper by Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland,

   Associate Professor in International Relations, Institute of Political Science, Leiden University

   University of Groningen