← Votes·2019-10-24

Search and rescue in the Mediterranean (SAR)

Vote ID 109686Source: official EP roll-call records

Official roll-call results (EP minutes) ↗

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Importance Score

Key vote

Why this vote stands out:

✓Main vote
✓Legislative procedure
✓Some political group division
✓Some national delegation divergence
✓Very close result
✓High participation
✓Many MEPs voted against their group

Show full breakdown

Topic importance+0 / 15

Turnout+4 / 5

Vote type+25 / 25

Close vote+12 / 15

Legislative+15 / 15

Rebel votes+7 / 10

Group division+10 / 15

Country division+8 / 15

Methodology: importance-v0.1 · The Importance Score is a prioritisation indicator. It does not judge whether a vote is good or bad.

What was this vote about?

This vote concerned “Search and rescue in the Mediterranean (SAR)”. S&D, Renew, Greens-EFA and Left voted mostly in favour, while EPP, PfE, ECR, NI and ESN voted mostly against. The motion was rejected by a narrow margin (261 for, 270 against, 34 abstentions).

Automated summary generated from official vote metadata and observed voting patterns. Not a legal interpretation.

Why it matters

This is a main (final) vote on a dossier — the decisive moment where the European Parliament adopts or rejects a legislative or political text. These are the votes that most directly shape EU law and policy, and the ones citizens and journalists should watch most closely. The outcome was close, which makes individual choices and absences especially consequential.

Result analysis

For

261

Against

270

Abstain

Margin of victory

9 votes

Turnout (cast)

565

Absent

113

Participation rate

83.3%

⚠️This was a close vote — the margin was small relative to the votes cast.

Close vote analysis

The margin was 9 votes. 113 MEPs did not vote.

Could absences have changed the outcome? The number of absent MEPs (113) was larger than the 9-vote margin, so absences were numerically significant.

Groups whose absences exceeded the margin

Renewhad 25 absent MEPs (margin was 9)
EPPhad 24 absent MEPs (margin was 9)
S&Dhad 24 absent MEPs (margin was 9)
NIhad 11 absent MEPs (margin was 9)
Greens-EFAhad 10 absent MEPs (margin was 9)

Countries whose absences exceeded the margin

Germany (13 absent)France (11 absent)Poland (10 absent)

Absences larger than the margin are numerically significant but do NOT imply the outcome would have changed. That would require modelling how each absent member would have voted, which this analysis does not do.

By political group

EPP173 MEPs

For 11Against 133Abstain 5Absent 24

S&D132 MEPs

For 97Against 5Abstain 6Absent 24

Renew96 MEPs

For 56Against 8Abstain 7Absent 25

PfE64 MEPs

For 0Against 58Abstain 0Absent 6

Greens/EFA67 MEPs

For 53Against 0Abstain 4Absent 10

ECR59 MEPs

For 1Against 46Abstain 4Absent 8

NI43 MEPs

For 11Against 14Abstain 7Absent 11

The Left37 MEPs

For 31Against 0Abstain 1Absent 5

ESN4 MEPs

For 0Against 4Abstain 0Absent 0

Country angle

Most in favour

Germany44
France35
Spain33
Romania17
Portugal16

Most against

Italy34
Poland32
Czech Republic18
Hungary13
Netherlands11

Divided delegations

Austria
Bulgaria
Croatia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Ireland

Full breakdown by all countries

Austria18 MEPs

For 6Against 9Abstain 0Absent 3

Belgium21 MEPs

For 12Against 6Abstain 0Absent 3

Bulgaria17 MEPs

For 5Against 5Abstain 0Absent 7

Croatia11 MEPs

For 5Against 4Abstain 1Absent 1

Cyprus6 MEPs

For 2Against 0Abstain 0Absent 4

Czech Republic21 MEPs

For 3Against 18Abstain 0Absent 0

Denmark13 MEPs

For 4Against 2Abstain 5Absent 2

Estonia6 MEPs

For 4Against 1Abstain 0Absent 1

Finland13 MEPs

For 3Against 3Abstain 0Absent 7

France74 MEPs

For 35Against 28Abstain 0Absent 11

Germany96 MEPs

For 44Against 37Abstain 2Absent 13

Greece21 MEPs

For 7Against 5Abstain 2Absent 7

Hungary21 MEPs

For 1Against 13Abstain 2Absent 5

Ireland11 MEPs

For 5Against 4Abstain 0Absent 2

Italy73 MEPs

For 16Against 34Abstain 14Absent 9

Latvia8 MEPs

For 2Against 4Abstain 0Absent 2

Lithuania11 MEPs

For 5Against 4Abstain 0Absent 2

Luxembourg6 MEPs

For 2Against 2Abstain 0Absent 2

Malta6 MEPs

For 3Against 2Abstain 0Absent 1

Netherlands26 MEPs

For 9Against 11Abstain 2Absent 4

Poland51 MEPs

For 7Against 32Abstain 2Absent 10

Portugal21 MEPs

For 16Against 3Abstain 1Absent 1

Romania32 MEPs

For 17Against 11Abstain 0Absent 4

Slovakia13 MEPs

For 1Against 6Abstain 3Absent 3

Slovenia8 MEPs

For 4Against 3Abstain 0Absent 1

Spain54 MEPs

For 33Against 14Abstain 0Absent 7

Sweden20 MEPs

For 10Against 9Abstain 0Absent 1

Individual MEP positions

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