Institutional Balance of Power in the European Council of the Enlarged European Union

Abstract

The challenges of the institutional balance of power in the European Council due to the future admission of the twelve new candidate countries to the European Union are studied. Changes in the voting procedures in the European Council of the enlarged European Union are analyzed. Banzhaf index re-defined according to the new procedures accepted on the Nice Summit in December 2000 is used to estimate the balance of power among member countries.