ABSTRACT

Those provisions which were agreed are contained in the Treaty of Nice of December 2000, currently subject to ratification by the parliaments of member states. From 2005, the largest states will lose their additional Commissioners and as new member states join, a rotation system may be introduced to keep the size of the Commission below 27 members. Qualified majority voting is extended to an additional 39 areas, excluding taxation, immigration policy and social security. Votes have been reallocated to reflect the admission of new member states, with the effect that the three largest states will be able to veto decisions by acting in combination.