ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the reform options for the Council that have been considered in the process leading to the Lisbon Treaty in the light of the debate on the European Union democratic credentials. Public access to the Council and its deliberation has increased, starting in the 1990s. In contrast, in the negotiated democracy' of consociationalism, deliberations out of the public eye allow representatives to make the necessary concessions to reach fair agreements that increase welfare overall: negotiations could not succeed if all communications at the bargaining table were publicized'. Democracies can follow two ideal-types: the majoritarian and the consensual model of democracy. The voting system in the Council is closer to the consociational idea of decision-making than majoritarianism. A Franco-German proposal included a variety of different presidencies for the different Council formations. In the Council of the European Union, unanimity has been giving way to a lower threshold in a large number of policy fields since the Single European Act.
