Explainer

How it works

What the European Parliament decides, how, and how this paper reports it.

Parliament in six words

Sitting day: A day on which the full Parliament meets in the chamber, in Strasbourg or Brussels, to debate and vote.
Plenary session: A run of sitting days: four days in Strasbourg most months, sometimes two in Brussels. Each one is an edition of this paper.
Decision: One thing Parliament decided: a law, an agreement, an objection, a resolution. Most are settled by a final vote.
Vote: One question put to the chamber — a change to the text, a part of it, or the whole. A decision can take one vote or dozens.
MEP: A Member of the European Parliament, elected in their country for five years. There are 720.
Group: MEPs sit in political groups by political family, not by country. A group usually agrees a common position before a vote.

How a law is made

Most EU laws follow the : Parliament and the Council decide together, as equals.

The Commission proposes The European Commission writes a draft law and sends it to Parliament and to the Council (the national governments).
A committee prepares A committee of MEPs drafts a report with changes to the proposal. One MEP, the rapporteur, leads the work.
Parliament sets its position All MEPs vote on the report in plenary, amendment by amendment, then on the whole text: the first reading.
Parliament and Council negotiate Negotiators of both sides look for one text both can accept: a provisional agreement.
Both approve the deal Parliament votes on the agreement as one text, and the Council approves it. Often the deal comes first and a single vote settles both steps.
It becomes law The law is published in the Official Journal of the EU and applies from the dates it sets.

The kinds of decision

Every decision is filed under one kind. What “passed” and “failed” mean depends on the kind.

New EU laws

Parliament’s position on proposed laws. It usually needs to agree with the Council before a law is final.

Passed: Parliament adopted its position on the law. Failed: Parliament rejected the proposal.

International agreements & consent

Treaties and agreements Parliament can only approve or refuse as a whole — no amendments are possible.

Passed: Parliament gave its consent. Failed: Parliament refused its consent.

Budget & emergency funds

Budget decisions: the annual budget, amending budgets, solidarity and adjustment funds, and discharge (approving how a budget was spent).

Passed: The budget decision was approved. Failed: The budget decision was refused.

Objections to Commission measures

Parliament can object to technical rules the Commission adopts on its own. Against a delegated act an adopted objection is a veto; against most implementing measures (such as GMO authorisations) it is a call on the Commission to withdraw the measure, which is not legally binding.

Passed: Parliament objected: against a delegated act (or a measure under scrutiny) this blocks it; against most implementing measures it is a call to withdraw it that is not legally binding. Failed: The objection failed — the Commission measure goes ahead.

Resolutions & reports

Non-binding texts in which Parliament states its position on a topic. They carry political weight but do not create law.

Passed: Parliament adopted the text as its official position. Failed: Parliament rejected the text.

Parliamentary immunity

Requests from national authorities to lift an MEP’s immunity so legal proceedings can go ahead, or from an MEP to defend it.

Depends on what the committee proposed (to waive or not to waive the immunity); the verdict word says the result.

Agenda requests

Requests by political groups to add or change debates on the week’s agenda.

Passed: The agenda was changed. Failed: The agenda was left unchanged.

Other decisions

Elections, appointments and internal decisions of the Parliament.

Passed: Adopted. Failed: Rejected.

How to read a result

Example · made-up numbers

Passed by a clear majority

For: 412
Against: 187
Abstained: 43

The word first: what the decision did. It is green when the text or measure was approved, red when it was not; immunity decisions and procedural motions are shown in black.
Then the three counts — for, against, abstained — and a bar in that order. The numbers are always printed; the bar only helps the eye.
Most decisions need more votes for than against. Some need an absolute majority: 361 of the 720 MEPs, however many take part.
Only a records how each MEP voted. Some votes are counted electronically without names, and a has no count at all:

Example · a show of hands

Passed Decided by show of hands: no count recorded.

How top stories are chosen

Each edition leads with up to five decisions, picked by a fixed rule — the same for every session, never by an AI model. Every decision gets points for its kind:

Points for the kind of decision
New laws	5
Consent, objections	3
Budget, resolutions	2
Immunity, other decisions	1
Agenda requests	never a top story

Then points when…
+3	the result was narrow
+1	the result was clear rather than wide
+2	it did not pass
−1	it was lopsided: one side won 80% of the votes cast or more
+1	it was decided by roll-call vote
+1	MEPs voted on ten amendments or more
+1	it took thirty votes or more
−3	the deciding vote did not settle the text: a procedural motion, a negotiating mandate or an amendment

Packages. Decisions of one session on the same dossier — or else on the same running issue — count as one package: its best decision plus half a point for each other one (at most two). A package gives one top story; the others are listed with it.
Decisions without a recorded result are never the lead story.
Headline and standfirst are facts, put together from the lead story and the session’s counts. They are never written by AI. When the headline adds “as four climate laws pass”, it counts only laws passed on the lead story’s topic.
Everything else of the session follows the top stories, day by day. Nothing is left out.

The groups

This paper uses short English names. Groups are named, never colour-coded: red and green only ever mean for and against, passed and failed.

The Left— The Left in the European Parliament (GUE/NGL)
Greens— Greens / European Free Alliance
S&D— Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats
Renew— Renew Europe
EPP— European People’s Party
ECR— European Conservatives and Reformists
Patriots— Patriots for Europe
ESN— Europe of Sovereign Nations
No group— Non-attached members

The groups, their seats and how they vote →

Glossary A–Z

Amendment: A proposed change to the text, voted on before the final vote.
APP: Consent procedure (APP): Parliament approves or rejects, but cannot amend.
BUD: Budget procedure (BUD): Parliament and the Council adopt the EU’s annual budget together.
CNS: Consultation procedure (CNS): Parliament gives an opinion; the Council decides.
COD: Ordinary legislative procedure (COD): Parliament and the Council decide together as equals.
Committee report: A report drafted by a parliamentary committee and put to the whole Parliament.
Consent: Parliament can approve or reject the text, for example an international agreement, but cannot amend it.
Consultation: Parliament gives its opinion on a proposal. The Council decides, but must wait for Parliament’s opinion.
Decisive vote: The vote that settles a decision, usually the final vote on the whole text.
Delegation: A group of MEPs that keeps up relations with the parliament of a non-EU country or region.
Eligible votes: Votes the member could have taken part in while in office.
Final vote: The last vote on a text as a whole, after all amendments. It decides whether the text is adopted.
First reading: Parliament’s first vote on a proposed EU law. It sets Parliament’s position for negotiations with the Council.
Group line: How a political group’s members voted: For, Against or Abstained when at least two thirds of them voted that way, Divided when no position had two thirds. Group loyalty figures count the position most of the group took.
Group loyalty: Share of votes in which a member voted the same way as the majority of their political group.
INI: Own-initiative report (INI): Parliament’s own position on a topic. It is not binding.
Intergroup: An informal cross-party forum of MEPs on one theme. It is not a Parliament body and takes no decisions.
Joint motion: A motion for a resolution tabled together by several political groups.
Lapsed: Not put to a vote, because an earlier vote already settled the matter.
NLE: Non-legislative procedure (NLE): for example international agreements, appointments or opinions.
Non-attached MEPs (no group): Members who do not belong to any political group. They have no group line to follow or break.
Proposal to reject: A motion to reject the whole text without voting on its content.
Provisional agreement: A deal negotiated between Parliament and the Council. Parliament then votes it through as one text.
Rapporteur: The MEP who drafts the report and negotiates it on behalf of the committee.
Requested by: Political groups can ask for a roll call, or for a paragraph to be voted separately or in parts.
Roll-call vote: A vote in which every MEP’s individual position is recorded and published.
RSP: Resolution on a topical subject (RSP): Parliament states its view. It is not binding.
Second reading: Parliament’s vote on the Council’s position on a proposed law, after the first reading.
Separate vote: A paragraph voted on its own, usually so a group can vote against just that part.
Shadow rapporteur: An MEP who follows a report on behalf of their own group when another group holds the rapporteur.
Show of hands: A vote by raised hands. Only the outcome is recorded, not who voted how.
Split vote: A paragraph or amendment voted in separate parts, so groups can back one part and oppose another.
Substitute: A substitute member can attend and vote in the committee or delegation when a full member of their group is absent.
Third reading: Final approval of a text agreed with the Council in the conciliation committee.
Voted against their group: Votes in which an MEP voted differently from their group: on decision pages, against a line at least two thirds of the group took; in loyalty figures, against the position most of the group took.
With the result: Share of these votes in which the group’s line matched the final result.
Written question: A question an MEP puts in writing to the Commission, the Council or the High Representative, who must answer in writing.