Policy Areas
The EU has competence to make decisions only in those areas specified in the Treaties. Competence can be exclusive, joint with national governments, or supporting, with national governments having lead competence. The Lisbon Treaty added some policies to the responsibility of the European Union. Moreover, qualified majority voting (QMV) was extended to policy areas that required unanimity according to the Nice Treaty.
The new areas of QMV are:
| Area | Nice | Lisbon | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initiatives of the High Representative for Foreign Affairs | Unanimity | QMV following unanimous request | 15b TEU |
| Rules concerning the Armaments Agency | Unanimity | QMV | 28D§2 TEU |
| Freedom to establish a business | Unanimity | QMV | 47§2 TFEU |
| Self-employment access rights | Unanimity | QMV | 47§2 TFEU |
| Freedom, security and justice – cooperation and evaluation | Unanimity | QMV | 70 TFEU |
| Border controls | Unanimity | QMV | 77 TFEU |
| Asylum | Unanimity | QMV | 78 TFEU |
| Immigration | Unanimity | QMV | 79 TFEU |
| Crime prevention incentives | Unanimity | QMV | 69c TFEU |
| Eurojust | Unanimity | QMV | 69d TFEU |
| Police cooperation | Unanimity | QMV | 69f TFEU |
| Europol | Unanimity | QMV | 69g TFEU |
| Transport | Unanimity | QMV | 71§2 TFEU |
| European Central Bank | Unanimity | QMV | 107§3, 245b TFEU |
| Culture | Unanimity | QMV | 151 TFEU |
| Structural and Cohension Funds | Unanimity | QMV | 161 TFEU |
| Organisation of the Council of the European Union | Unanimity | QMV | 201b TFEU |
| European Court of Justice | Unanimity | QMV | 245, 224a, 225a TFEU |
| Freedom of movement for workers | Unanimity | QMV | 42 TFEU |
| Social security | Unanimity | QMV | 42 TFEU |
| Criminal judicial cooperation | Unanimity | QMV | 69a TFEU |
| Criminal law | Unanimity | QMV | 69b TFEU |
| President of the European Council election | (New item) | QMV | 9b§5 TEU |
| Foreign Affairs High Representative election | (New item) | QMV | 9e§1 TEU |
| Funding the Common Foreign and Security Policy | Unanimity | QMV | 28 TEU |
| Common defense policy | Unanimity | QMV | 28e TEU |
| Withdrawal of a member state | (new item) | QMV | 49a TEU |
| General economic interest services | Unanimity | QMV | 16 TFEU |
| Diplomatic and consular protection | Unanimity | QMV | 20 TFEU |
| Citizens initiative regulations | Unanimity | QMV | 21 TFEU |
| Intellectual property | Unanimity | QMV | 97a TFEU |
| Eurozone external representation | Unanimity | QMV | 115c TFEU |
| Sport | Unanimity | QMV | 149 TFEU |
| Space | Unanimity | QMV | 172a TFEU |
| Energy | Unanimity | QMV | 176a TFEU |
| Tourism | Unanimity | QMV | 176b TFEU |
| Civil protection | Unanimity | QMV | 176c TFEU |
| Administrative cooperation | Unanimity | QMV | 176d TFEU |
| Emergency international aid | Unanimity | QMV | 188i TFEU |
| Humanitarian aid | Unanimity | QMV | 188j TFEU |
| Response to natural disasters or terrorism | (new item) | QMV | 188R§3 TFEU |
| Economic and Social Committee | QMV | QMV | 256a TFEU |
| Committee of the Regions | Unanimity | QMV | 256a TFEU |
| Economic and Social Committee | Unanimity | QMV | 256a TFEU |
| The EU budget | Unanimity | QMV | 269 TFEU |
Read more about this topic: Voting In The Council Of The European Union, Qualified Majority Voting
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