Community method
This expression is often used to characterise the normal EU way of decision-making, which is very different from the normal way of making international, intergovernmental decisions.The community method is based on decisions made by agreement between Member States' governments, which need not always be unanimous. Individual states may therefore be forced to adopt a decision which they voted against. This supra-national decision-making is based on an initiative from the EU Commission and a qualified majority vote by the Council. The traditional form of international co-operation normally requires unanimity among the participating states.
