WRITTEN QUESTION E-1109/01 by Jens-Peter Bonde (EDD) to the Council. The Luxembourg compromise and the Ioannina compromise after the ratification of the Nice Treaty.
Date: 2001-04-09
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: decision-making, enlargement of the Union, operation of the Institutions, qualified majority

C 364 E/48

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

20.12.2001

The work of Mr Kalamanov(cid:146)s office, in which staff from the Council of Europe participate, the setting-up
of a civil judiciary, initial charges for human rights violations and the adoption of some reconstruction
measures are all first steps in the right direction, even though they are still inadequate. However, the
Council will continue to insist that the Russian authorities bring to justice all those responsible for human
rights violations.

(2001/C 364 E/052)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1109/01

by Jens-Peter Bonde (EDD) to the Council

(9 April 2001)

Subject: The Luxembourg compromise and the Ioannina compromise after the ratification of the Nice

Treaty

What is the status of the Ioannina compromise and the Luxembourg compromise after the ratification of
the Nice Treaty?

Reply

(27 September 2001)

The Council decision of 29 March 1994 on qualified majority decision-making by the Council (1) as
amended by the Decision of 1 January 1995 (2), commonly known as the (cid:145)Ioannina Compromise(cid:146),
is
mentioned in Declaration No 50 annexed to the Final Act to the Amsterdam Treaty relating to the
Protocol on the institutions with the prospect of enlargement of the European Union, which is attached to
that Treaty. According to this Declaration (cid:145)Until the entry into force of the first enlargement it is agreed
that the decision of the Council of 29 March 1994 ((cid:146)the Ioannina Compromise(cid:145)) will be extended and, by
that date, a solution for the special case of Spain will be found(cid:146). It is recalled that the Council decision of
29 March 1994 does not have an expiry date.

The results of the IGC of Nice will have the following consequences.

The Protocol on the institutions, to which this Declaration is related, will be repealed with the entry into
force of the Protocol on the enlargement of the European Union annexed by the Treaty of Nice to the
Treaty on European Union and to the Treaties establishing the European Communities. Furthermore,
Article 3 of the same Protocol on the enlargement provides for new Council vote weightings which will be
applicable in January 2005.

Therefore, the (cid:145)Ioannina Compromise(cid:146) will no longer be applicable from 1 January 2005.

As for what is commonly called the (cid:145)Luxembourg Compromise(cid:146) (Conclusions of the extraordinary session
of the Council in Luxembourg on 17, 18, 27 and 28 January 1966), its status will remain the same after
the entry into force of the Nice Treaty.

(1) OJ C 105, 13.4.1994, p. 1.
(2) OJ C 1, 1.1.1995.

(2001/C 364 E/053)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1130/01

by Antonio Tajani (PPE-DE) to the Council

(3 April 2001)

Subject: World-wide genocide of Christians

The United Nations and several human rights organisations have recently sounded the alarm over the
increase in persecutions of Christians world-wide:
in 2000, 165 000 were killed and 200 million
persecuted.