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| Author: | Kauppi, H. Widgrén, M. |
| Title: | What determines EU decision making? Needs, power or both? |
| Journal: | Economic Policy
2004 : OCT, 39, p. 221-266 |
| Index terms: | Decision making Budgeting Policy European Union |
| Language: | eng |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the determinants of power in the Council of the European Union (EU). It is argued that quantitative power indices stemming from voting theory provide a good description of the actual distribution of power among EU members. It is evaluated whether power measures explain a quantifiable manifestation of the exercise of power, namely members shares of EU budget allocation. The empirical analysis is based on 19762001 data on the patterns of the EU budget shares and on measures of each member state's needs and political power. The results indicate that at least 60 percent of the budget expenditures can be attributed to selfish power politics and the remaining 40 percent to the declared benevolent EU budget policies. However, when specific voting power measures are applied, the estimates indicate that the power politics view can explain as much as 90 percent of the budget shares. It is concluded that power politics can explain a major part of the Council decisions and that correlated preferences and voting cooperation btw. EU countries potentially play significant roles in EU decision making. |
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