Letter: Voting compromise for Brussels

Sir: The present criterion for voting rights in the Council of Europe to block majority decisions requires three countries out of 12. Should enlargement take the number to 16, the criterion would be 4.25 per cent of the total members, representing 30 per cent of the total votes as against 32.6 at present.

However, the permutation of the four members wishing to block cannot always be guaranteed to reach the magic figure of 27 votes - and there's the rub. But surely that will apply to all member states, including France and Germany, who, like Britain, also have 10 votes each. Why aren't they protesting?

Yours sincerely,

TARA MUKHERJEE

President

Migrants' Forum of the European Community

Brussels