Who has the power in the EU?

The European Union (EU) is facing the challenge of enlargement to almost double its size; which has strong implications for the balance of power among member states. Building on the work of Shapley (1977) and Owen (1972), we present a measure of power that is based on players’ preferences and number of votes. We apply this measure to the Council of Ministers to see who wields power now and who is likely to wield power in the future. We also provide a rationale to explain why the negotiations for the new Constitution have been so difficult. Further, we show how a country’s power can change based on the preferences of the agenda setter, which, in this case, is the European Commission. JEL Classification: C71, D72, D78, H11