2004/701/EC, Euratom:Council Decision of 11 October 2004 amending the Council’s Rules of Procedure
Date: 2004-10-11
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: Council of the European Union, EU Member State, operation of the Institutions, population statistics, qualified majority, rules of procedure, vote

20.10.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 319/15

II

(Acts whose publication is not obligatory)

COUNCIL

COUNCIL DECISION

of 11 October 2004
amending the Council’s Rules of Procedure

(2004/701/EC, Euratom)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Energy Community and the Treaty on European Union
with regard to the weighting of votes in the Council.

Having regard to the Treaty
establishing the European
Community, and in particular the first subparagraph of Article
207(3) thereof,

(2)

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Atomic
Energy Community, and in particular Article 121(3) thereof,

Having regard to the Treaty on European Union, and in
particular Articles 28(1) and 41(1) thereof,

Having regard to Article 12 of the Act concerning the conditions
of accession to the European Union of the Czech Republic, the
Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of
Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the
Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland,
the Republic of
Slovenia and the Slovak Republic and the adjustments to the
Treaties on which the European Union is founded (1),

(3)

(4)

Whereas:

the

establishing

European Atomic

In accordance with Article 205(4) of the Treaty estab-
lishing the European Community, Article 118(4) of the
Treaty
Energy
Community,
the third subparagraph of Article 23(2)
and Article 34(3) of the Treaty on European Union, as
amended by the said Act of Accession, when a decision
is to be adopted by the Council by a qualified majority, a
member of the Council may request verification that the
Member
qualified majority
represent at least 62 % of the total population of the
Union.
is necessary to establish detailed rules for
implementing these provisions.

constituting

States

the

It

To do so, it is necessary to establish, in accordance with
the data supplied by the Statistical Office of the European
Communities,
each
Member State for a period of one year and to provide
for the annual updating of these figures.

total population figure

the

for

IV.A. of

Point
the 2000
the Recommendations
Censuses of Population and Housing in the ECE
Region,
the United Nations
Economic Commission for Europe and the Statistical
Office of
the
concept of total population of a State,

the European Communities, defines

jointly prepared

for

by

(1)

The Act concerning the conditions of accession to the
European Union of the Czech Republic, the Republic of
Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia,
the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the
Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic
of Slovenia and the Slovak Republic and the adjustments
to the Treaties on which the European Union is founded
has amended, with effect from 1 November 2004, the
provisions of
the Treaty establishing the European
Community, the Treaty establishing the European Atomic

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

The Rules of Procedure of the Council of 22 March 2004
(2004/338/EC, Euratom) (2) are hereby amended as follows:

(1) OJ L 236, 23.9.2003, p. 33.

(2) OJ L 106, 15.4.2004, p. 22.

L 319/16

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

20.10.2004

1.

in Article 11 the following paragraph shall be added:

Member State

Population
(× 1 000)

‘5. When a decision is to be adopted by the Council by a
the Council so
qualified majority, and if a member of
requests, it shall be verified that the Member States consti-
tuting the qualified majority represent at least 62 % of the
total population of the Union calculated according to the
population figures set out in Article 1 of Annex IIa.’;

2. after Annex II the following Annex shall be inserted:

‘ANNEX IIa

DETAILED RULES FOR IMPLEMENTING THE PROVISIONS
CONCERNING THE WEIGHTING OF VOTES IN THE
COUNCIL

Article 1

establishing

implementing Article 205(4) of
the

the
For the purposes of
European Community, Article
Treaty
the Treaty establishing the European Atomic
118(4) of
Energy Community,
third subparagraph of Article
23(2) and Article 34(3) of the Treaty on European Union,
the total population of each Member State for the period
from 1 November 2004 to 31 December 2005 shall be as
follows:

the

Member State

Germany

France

United Kingdom

Italy

Spain

Poland

Netherlands

Greece

Portugal

Belgium

Czech Republic

Hungary

Population
(× 1 000)

82 531,7

61 684,7

59 651,5

57 888,2

42 345,3

38 190,6

16 258,0

11 041,1

10 474,7

10 396,4

10 211,5

10 116,7

8 975,7

8 114,0

5 397,6

5 380,1

5 219,7

4 027,5

3 445,9

2 319,2

1 996,4

1 350,6

730,4

451,6

399,9

Total

Threshold (62 %)

458 599,0

284 331,4

Sweden

Austria

Denmark

Slovakia

Finland

Ireland

Lithuania

Latvia

Slovenia

Estonia

Cyprus

Luxembourg

Malta

Article 2

Before 1 September each year, Member States shall
1.
communicate to the Statistical Office of
the European
Communities the data concerning their total population as
at 1 January of the current year.

2. With effect from 1 January each year, the Council shall,
in accordance with the data available to the Statistical Office
of
the
the European Communities on 30 September of
preceding year, amend the figures set out in Article 1. This
Decision shall be published in the Official
the
European Union.’

Journal of

Article 2

This Decision shall take effect on the day of its publication in
the Official Journal of the European Union.

It shall apply from 1 November 2004.

Done at Luxembourg, 11 October 2004.

For the Council
The President

B. R. BOT