Ioannina compromise

: The Council of the European Union (Photo: www.svrez.gov.si/.../cns/news/article/2028/1687/)

In connection with the EU's enlargement with Sweden, Finland and Austria in 1995, the blocking minority in the Council was raised from a minimum of 23 up to 26 votes. In order to make this more acceptable for Spain, a compromise was reached in 1994 according to which countries which had formerly been able to block a decision from being taken could demand that there be no voting on that issue in the Council. The compromise has never been put into use.

The compromise was named after the town in the north of Greece, Ioannina, where the deal was made. In the discussions on the Lisbon Treaty, Poland proposed and gained a new “Ioannina-compromise”.

In the beginning a country can block a decision with 75 % of the votes needed in the rules, and later with only 55 %.

See Protocol 9 and the linked Decision.

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