supermajority

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Related to Qualified majority: Qualified majority voting

su·per·ma·jor·i·ty

(so͞o′pər-mə-jôr′ĭ-tē, -jŏr′-)

n. pl. su·per·ma·jor·i·ties

A specified majority of votes, such as 60 percent, required to approve a motion or pass legislation.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

supermajority

(ˌsuːpəməˈdʒɒrɪtɪ)

n, pl -ties

(Government, Politics & Diplomacy) a specified majority of votes (that exceeds the simple majority) needed to approve a motion

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

su•per•ma•jor•i•ty

(ˈsu pər məˌdʒɔr ɪ ti, -ˌdʒɒr-)

n., pl. -ties.

a majority greater than a specified number, as 60%, of the total: required to pass certain types of legislation, override vetoes, etc.

[1990–95]

References in periodicals archive ?

DECISIONS in the European Union are made three ways: unanimously, by "qualified majority" or "enhanced co-operation."

EU 'special status' can give us opt-outs

With London joining the supporters' camp, the proposal could gain the 29 votes needed for it to pass the qualified majority threshold of 260 votes in favour.

GMOS : UK SAYS READY TO SUPPORT 2010 PROPOSAL ON GM CULTIVATION

Despite the extension of weighted qualified majority voting, most Council of Ministers decisions continue to be taken by unanimity, according to data released by VoteWatch.eu, on 9 July.

COUNCIL : VOTEWATCH: UNANIMITY STILL PREVALENT DESPITE QMV EXTENSION

- introducing a qualified majority (2/3) vote in Parliament to change Bulgaria's tax legislation.

Bulgaria to Amend Constitution for Financial Stability by June

One unnamed apparatchik told euobserver.com: "The Commission can now adopt its own proposals unless there is a qualified majority of member state experts against it.

Throwing control of our country away

New GMO products are nominally approved by a qualified majority of member states.

WTO again delays GMO verdict

The ban was introduced in April last year on the grounds that the plants presented a "health danger." The EU's Council of Ministers was subsequently unable to reach a qualified majority either to approve or disapprove the Greek action and Brussels has now stepped in to uphold the plantings, saying Greece did not give the "necessary information" to justify its action.

Greece GM maize Monsanto ban lifted

Secondly, the Conservatives are also overlooking the European Union's common asylum policy, which operates on qualified majority voting.

You Say: Quit EU only answer

Mr Blunkett said the move by the 25 EU member states to scrap the requirement for unanimous agreement on immigration policy and instead adopt a qualified majority voting (QMV) system, under which larger states have more influence than EU minnows, would work in Britain's favour.

Britain to keep border control

The Constitution creates a system termed a "qualified majority vote" (QMV) defined as "at least 55 percent of the members of the Council, comprising at least 15 of them and representing Member States comprising at least 65 percent of the population of the Union."

Merger mania; European Union member nations are close to voting on a newly created Constitution. Europeans are awakening to the serious reality of losing their independence

It would then need the approval, by a qualified majority, of a committee of scientists appointed by member states.