Abstract
This article seeks to describe some important changes that have oc- curred in EU decision-making procedures since its eastern enlargement and to explain how it is that the decision-making process continues to function relatively smoothly in the EU even after a sharp increase in the number of Member States and despite generally shared fears to the contrary. The analysis focuses on the main decision-making body in the EU, the Council of the Eu- ropean Union, where it was expected the biggest problems would occur after enlargement, including the prediction that the increase in EU membership could result in the obstruction of decision-making in the Council.
The authors argue that the Council managed to avoid this problem by shifting a major part of the Council's agenda from the political level of ministerial proceedings to the Council's main administrative body, the Committee of Permanent Repre- sentatives. The authors test their hypothesis about the Council's adjustment using a large quantitative data sample encompassing more than 4000 acts that the Council of the EU took decisions on between 1999 and 2009.