Why EU Council votes count both governments and population
The ordinary qualified-majority rule combines a share of member states with a population threshold.
Under the EU Council's ordinary qualified-majority rule, at least 55 percent of member states must support a proposal and those states must represent at least 65 percent of the EU population. Both conditions matter.
The country threshold gives governments a role regardless of size, while the population threshold tests how much of the Union a coalition represents. The Council also applies different rules in certain circumstances. The rule for the specific proposal helps explain why a list of supporters alone cannot always establish the result.