EU INTEGRATION POLICY: QUALIFIED MAJORITY VOTING (QMV) AND SUPRANATIONALITY COUNCIL OF MINISTERS

DiA: Jurnal Administrasi Publik, 2021 June Vol. 19 No. 1, e-ISSN: 2615-7268 EU INTEGRATION POLICY: QUALIFIED MAJORITY VOTING (QMV) AND SUPRANATIONALITY COUNCIL OF MINISTERS Muhammad Jave Zulkarnaen Postgraduate Program in the study of European and International Affairs in Turkish-German University in Istanbul Turkey ABSTRACT The European Union integration undergoes various long dynamic processes. Based on the views of academics, integration is defined as an effort to hand over all state functions to supranational organizations. The use of Qualified Majority Voting (QMV) is considered as an attempt to make the Council of Ministers a supranational institution. With the existence of QMV, member countries can no longer freely reject policies that are very likely to be carried out in the unanimous mechanism that has been implemented previously. After the implementation of the 2009 Lisbon Treaty, policymaking in the Council of Ministers will use the double majority mechanism which came into force on November 1, 2014. Basically, the double majority is an extension of the QMV mechanism by adding certain criteria in determining the majority of votes. There are three criteria that must be met in the double majority mechanism such as population criteria, supporting member countries criteria, and blocking criteria. The implication is that a country will find it difficult to unilaterally oppose the policies being discussed in the Council of Ministers. The reduced power of the state in the policy-making process indicates that the Council of Ministers continues to evolve towards a supranational institution. Based on these facts, the supranational of the Council of Ministers that develops through the use of the QMV mechanism will have a positive impact on the integration of the European Union as a whole. Keywords: Qualified Majority Voting (QMV), Supranational, European Union Integration, Council of Ministers A. PRELIMINARY EU Integration is a phenomenon in international relations that shows how the European countries gradually deliver some of their sovereignty to the European Union. EU integration process is characterized by the establishment of supranational institutions that are constantly evolving and dynamic. As one of the main institutions of the European Union, the Council of the European Union or commonly referred to as the Council of Ministers is an institution that is still in the form of intergovernmental. The intergovernmental conception inherent in the Council of Ministers is due to several factors such as its membership in the form of state representatives as well as important policy-making mechanisms that still use unanimity (Sieberson, p. 926). In its development, the Council of Ministers pointed to a tendency that led to supranational institutions which is the application of Qualified Majority 396 DiA: Jurnal Administrasi Publik, 2021 June Vol. 19 No. 1, e-ISSN: 2615-7268 Voting (QMV) as the basis for policymaking, especially since the enactment of the Single European Act (SEA) in 1987. The QMV has always been an important part of the EU negotiation process. This can be seen from several agreements and compromises that discuss the mechanism of QMV, such as the Maastricht treaty 1992, Amsterdam Treaty 1999, Treaty of Nice 2000, and Lisbon Treaty. The QMV used in policymaking in the Council of Ministers will shift the mechanism of unanimity that has been used before so that the role of the state will also be smaller. Especially with the Lisbon Treaty that prevailed since 2009 to make the role of the state in the legislation process is getting smaller. In addition, the Council of Ministers is no longer the dominant actor in the policy-making process because of the application of co-decision as an ordinary legislative procedure and a double majority. Some developments related to the Council of Ministers then raised a question about the influence of the use of Qualified Majority Voting in policymaking in the Council of Ministers towards the integration of the EU as a whole. The Council of Ministers became one of the EU institutions leading to a supranational institution in which the role and influence of the state in policymaking within it gradually declined. The use of QMV and double majority and co-decision as the ordinary legislative procedure of the EU is believed to be the driving force behind EU integration as a whole. In terms of structure, this paper will be arranged systematically by placing a discussion of the concepts of integration and supranational at the beginning. Then, the explanation as well as analysis related to QMV, the Council of Ministers, and the developments and changes occurring in some agreements will occupy the next discussion. B. THE CONCEPT The European Union is an international institution that still in the integration process. The process of EU integration is characterized by the establishment of supranational institutions. In this case, neo-functionalist considered that integration as a process that the European Community (EC), or now is the EU gradually replaces all state roles (Sweet and Sandhlotz, p.299). Integration is a process that political actors gradually give national loyalties, expectations, and political activities to a new and larger center (International Integration: the European and the Universal Process, p. 367). Furthermore, by considering some opinions can be understood that the process of integration starts from an increase in interaction between countries and communities (social exchange) that creates interdependence until finally formed a centralized institution. This centralized institution is a supranational institution that has a role over the state and is the result of the integration process taking place. (Sweet and Sandhlotz, p.303) According to the European Union, the process of integration cannot be separated from the intergovernmental cooperation that is the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in the 1950s. This intergovernmental cooperation then increased interdependence between Western European countries. There was a containment politics of the Communist bloc in Eastern Europe. Gradually, the 397 DiA: Jurnal Administrasi Publik, 2021 June Vol. 19 No. 1, e-ISSN: 2615-7268 ECSC evolved into the European Economic Community (EEC), the European Community (EC) then transformed into the European Union in 1993 through the Maastricht Treaty. The development of EU integration is certainly accompanied by the establishment of supporting institutions which are supranational and intergovernmental, such as the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament. Furthermore, there are three dimensions of an institution of the EU change from intergovernmental to supranational, that is 1) EU rules or rules that make political actors behave in accordance with the provisions, 2) EU organizations at the European level design, implement, and supervise of the policy, and 3) transnational actors such as NGOs and civil s (...truncated)