THE WEIGHTED VOTING RULE IN THE EUS COUNCIL-OF-MINISTERS, 1958-95 - INTENTIONS AND OUTCOMES

We consider the qualified majority voting rule in the Council of Minis ters (CM) of the European Union (EU). Using the Banzhaf index-which, w e argue, is the most appropriate for measuring the a priori voting pow er of members in the CM-we analyse the distribution of voting power of CM members in the various phases of expansion of the EU. We compare t his distribution to the distribution of voting weights in the CM and t he distribution of population in the EU. Finally, we assess the respon siveness (or volatility) of the voting rule in question. (C) 1997 Else vier Science Ltd.