Contested decisions: Empirical analysis of voting in the European Union Council of Ministers

. This article analyses voting records of the European Union's (EU) Council of Ministers. Governments’ voting patterns are assumed to be partly affected by national‐level factors and partly by EU‐level factors. The results support the view that the political space of the EU is defined by two dimensions: the traditional left‐right dimension, and the independence versus integration dimension. In general, left‐wing governments tend to vote less against the Council majority than their right‐wing counterparts. However, if the government is a strong supporter of increased integration, its position on the left‐right dimension does not matter much. All other things being equal, pro‐integration governments are least likely to raise their voice against the Council majority. However, considerable differences are found among eurosceptic parties. Of these, right‐wing governments are the most active ‘no’ voters. In addition, large countries are more likely to vote ‘no’ than small countries. When they hold the presidency, governments take the role of arbitrator and vote less against the majority in the Council than otherwise.