[wait_a_minute]

> There is no sense of officially voting on something if it is clear from previous negotiations that it will not pass.

This means that it was implicitly voted upon and rejected by the people, therefore it should not be put up for a vote again.

[gostsamo]

No, it means that those who want it did not manage to trade enough compromises on other topics to those who don't want it or do not oppose it at least. If let's say a french economy sector benefits from policy A while a polish sector might lose from it, and Romania is neutral. In such a situation France might promise Poland their support for policy B which is beneficial for the pols, and they might promise a smaller favor to Romania to make them form the majority. If the pols are unhappy with the trade, they will bid for Romania's support against policy A. The show is funnier with 27 participants and fields that span through dozens of policies and over decades.