Decision-making in the OECD

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The decision-making mechanism in the OECD is ruled by the 1961 Convention:

- Article 5: To achieve its objectives, the Organization can:

  1. Make decisions (unless it is said, thy will be considered binding).
  2. Make recommendations.
  3. Conclude agreements with Member States, no-members and International Organizations.
- Article 6: Unless the Organization decided other way for special cases, the decisions and recommendations must be taken by Mutual Agreement (or Consensus). The designation of special cases requires unanimity.

The Rules of Procedure clarify the difference between Mutual Agreement and unanimity:

  • Mutual Agreement: refers to the absence of objection (abstention valid). Applicable to most of the cases.
  • Unanimity: agreement of ALL member States (no place for abstention). Required in exceptional cases such as the adhesion of a new member State.


To speed up the decision-making, the Council reformed the mechanism in 2004 introducing the QMV (Qualified Majority Voting). This mechanism establishes that in case of not getting a Mutual Agreement, the decision can be taken with the consent of the 60% of the Member States, unless three or more members that represent at least the 25% of the contribution scale opposed.The QMV is only applicable to very special cases: Budget and Work Programme of the OECD and the creation and/or elimination of Committees.




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