Qualified Majority Voting, Legislation Speed and The Treaty of Lisbon - A myth busted or a tale as true as time?

Abstract: The question weather qualified majority voting (QMV) as a voting procedure actually leads to faster decision-making in the EU has been the subject of research for a long time. While many have argued that the voting procedure significantly increases the speed of the legislative process in comparison to unanimity, others have reached the conclusion that its ability to increase legislation speed has been greatly overstated. Furthermore, many scholars also seem to agree that the Treaty of Lisbon was a particularly important treaty regarding the use of QMV, as it extended as well as altered the use of the voting procedure. Because of this, many predicted that the treaty would bring about a more efficient and faster way of carrying out legislation in the EU. However, little contemporary research has arguably been carried out on the subject, which is why this study has aimed at testing these assumptions through a quantitative approach. This study’s results in many ways contradict earlier findings, as it concludes that QMV is most probably not as related to legislation speed as others have believed, and that there is reason to believe that other factors are more influential. This consequently opens up for more questions to be answered regarding QMV’s ability to increase legislation speed, as well as the Treaty of Lisbon’s success in reaping the supposed benefits of the voting procedure.