Leading European Parliamentarian Says it is Time for UN to Abandon "Consensus Style" Decision-Making

Determining whether the recent UN Climate Change Conference was a success or not depends in large measure on one's own perspective.

But what remains without doubt is that the UN decision-making process that requires consensus -- among more than 190 member states -- is a very difficult bar to reach under any circumstances. Bearing that in mind, is there something that the UN might learn from the European Union, another governmental body that has faced its own challenges over time with consensus-based decision-making?

Guy Verhofstadt, a member of the European Parliament from Belgium and chair of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, thinks the UN can benefit from the evolution of the EU's decision-making process.

Writing in the Financial Times recently ("UN Should Tread Brussels' Path in Climate Talks," Dec. 23, 2009), Mr. Verhofstadt, offered the following observation:

If consensus among all parties is required to formally approve a declaration or commitment, then the UN process has severe limitations. Nothing meaningful will ever be achieved to tackle climate change if unanimity remains the rule.

Mr. Verhofstadt, went on to suggest that changes in the EU's decision-making process could help inform a change at UN level:

Perhaps the UN could take a leaf out of the European Union book and examine whether its consensus-based decision-making is sustainable for the sake of the planet and its own credibility. The EU has had to constantly adjust its procedures to make decision-making both possible and more efficient. The recently approved Lisbon Treaty was designed with this precise goal in mind as it had become clear that forging a consensus with 27 member states on highly complex and often technical matters was unmanageable if just one country could hold everyone else to ransom. Majority voting [in the EU] is now the norm.

Mr. Verhofstadt concludes that making decisions based on majority voting is perhaps "a path the UN may have to take in order to extract some concrete commitments to tackle climate change before it is too late."

While his ideas are worth considering, it may be worth bearing in mind that the EU and the UN are very different organizations with different objectives. Nevertheless, something like this should clearly be on the UN's agenda for consideration.