Ioannina compromise

The glossary is being updated given the recent signing of the Treaty of Lisbon.

The Ioannina compromise takes its name from an informal meeting of foreign ministers in the Greek city of Ioannina on 29 March 1994. Among the decisions taken at the meeting was a Council decision concerning the specific question of qualified majority voting in an enlarged 16-member Community. The decision was later adjusted in the light of Norway's decision not to join. The resulting compromise lays down that if members of the Council representing between 23 votes (the old blocking minority threshold) and 26 votes (the new threshold) express their intention of opposing the taking of a decision by the Council by qualified majority, the Council will do all within its power, within a reasonable space of time, to reach a satisfactory solution that can be adopted by at least 68 votes out of 87.

Following the re-weighting of votes in the Council of Ministers, the Treaty of Nice puts an end to the Ioannina compromise.

See:

• Council of the European Union
• Qualified majority
• Treaty of Nice
• Weighting of votes in the Council