(Adnkronos) – The European Union should “take a step forward” and “decide as much as possible by majority vote,” Italy’s foreign minister Antonio Tajani said on Wednesday, underling that Rome “has no clear position” on the issue, however.
“On EU institutional reforms, I am among those who believe it is right to take a step forward and decide as much as possible by majority vote,” Tajani told Sky Tg24.
“But we have never debated this within the centre-right coalition and the government has no clear position here,” Tajani continued.
Currently, while most EU legislation is approved by qualified majority voting (QMV), the bloc’s treaties require unanimity on foreign affairs, enlargement, tax policy and the budget.
For great majority of its decisions, The EU Council of Ministers (Council of the European Union) uses QMV requiring the support of 55% percent of member states (15 out of 27) representing at least 65% of the bloc’s population.
Germany and France strongly support QMV on foreign affairs and security. In 2023, Berlin spearheaded the creation of ‘The Group of Friends on QMV in Common Foreign and Security Policy’, of which Italy is a member.
The initiative, which was largely driven by Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, has nonetheless failed to gain traction.
