Euro wonks will be further affronted that the British sought a veto on specific financial regulations, two decades after the unanimity rule was booted out of the single market by none other than Margaret Thatcher.

ECONOMIST: The European Union and the euro

Assuming that is right, expect to see a big increase in appeals to the one bit of the European machine where unanimity will remain the rule: the European Council, which gathers together the 27 national leaders of the EU. Under Lisbon the European Council is to gain a semi-permanent president, to replace the system of rotating presidencies.

ECONOMIST: The EU after the Irish vote

So majority voting seems most likely to be extended, if at all, in relatively innocuous areas such as industrial, transport and cultural policy, where unanimity has up until now been the rule.

ECONOMIST: The Union pauses for breath

Democracy literally means 'rule by the people' - in practice not by the whole people (for unanimity is rare) but by a majority of the people.

BBC: Unit 1: People and Politics