With the UK leaving the EU, other countries are going to have to take the UK’s place of being in the minority.
In the Council, across all policy areas, the UK were on the loosing side more than any other country. They were followed by Austria, Germany, Poland and the Netherlands.
In the Envirornment field, Poland and Hungary were in the lead, followed by Austria and Germany.
Fisheries, which I have an interest in, shows tht only a few countries are interested in the file. Many countries are landlocked.
Source: Voting Watch (link)
Lessons Learned
Just because a couuntry has a large chunk of votes, like the UK did and Germany has, does not mean you will be on the winning side. In Germany’s case, there is, perhaps counter-intitutively, an inverse relationship.
More important is the ability to forge a consensus and group of support amongst countries. The countries who do best have learned that trick. Not all countries have learned it.
If you are fixated on your national politics and identity, the chances are that you are going to find it hard to think in terms of the interests of many countries. You’ll be fixated on the country where, by the accident of birth, you were born in and picked up a passport.
A smarter game play is to look at getting an alliance of countries to win support, rather than just the one you have a passport from.