← Votes·2020-05-13

2018 discharge: EU general budget, European Parliament

Budget87%★

Confidence: 87%

Assigned by: rule-based classifier

Evidence:

title/description contains "budget"
title/description contains "discharge"

Reviewed: yes

Methodology: topic-rules-v0.1

View all votes on Budget →

Institutional Affairs61%

Confidence: 61%

Assigned by: rule-based classifier

Evidence:

title/description contains "european parliament"

Reviewed: no

Methodology: topic-rules-v0.1

View all votes on Institutional Affairs →

Vote ID 114014Source: official EP roll-call records

Official roll-call results (EP minutes) ↗

/ 100

Importance Score

Key vote

Why this vote stands out:

✓Resolution / budget vote
✓Budget-related
✓High-interest topic: Budget
✓Very fragmented political vote
✓Significant national delegation divergence
✓Very close result
✓High participation
✓Many MEPs voted against their group

Show full breakdown

Topic importance+12 / 15

Turnout+5 / 5

Vote type+15 / 25

Close vote+15 / 15

Legislative+12 / 15

Rebel votes+10 / 10

Group division+15 / 15

Country division+12 / 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 “2018 discharge: EU general budget, European Parliament”. S&D, Greens-EFA and NI voted mostly in favour, while EPP, Renew, Left and ESN voted mostly against. PfE and ECR mostly abstained. The motion was adopted by a narrow margin (296 for, 292 against, 95 abstentions).

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

Why it matters

This is a substantive vote (such as an amendment or resolution) that contributes to shaping the final position of the Parliament on a dossier. It reflects the political direction taken on specific provisions. The outcome was close, which makes individual choices and absences especially consequential.

Result analysis

For

296

Against

292

Abstain

Margin of victory

4 votes

Turnout (cast)

683

Absent

Participation rate

97.0%

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

Close vote analysis

The margin was 4 votes. 21 MEPs did not vote.

Could absences have changed the outcome? The number of absent MEPs (21) was larger than the 4-vote margin, so absences were numerically significant.

Groups whose absences exceeded the margin

S&Dhad 7 absent MEPs (margin was 4)
NIhad 5 absent MEPs (margin was 4)

Countries whose absences exceeded the margin

Germany (6 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

EPP179 MEPs

For 14Against 155Abstain 6Absent 4

S&D136 MEPs

For 115Against 10Abstain 4Absent 7

Renew101 MEPs

For 39Against 59Abstain 1Absent 2

Greens/EFA71 MEPs

For 64Against 6Abstain 0Absent 1

PfE66 MEPs

For 28Against 7Abstain 31Absent 0

ECR63 MEPs

For 11Against 6Abstain 45Absent 1

NI44 MEPs

For 17Against 17Abstain 5Absent 5

The Left38 MEPs

For 8Against 28Abstain 1Absent 1

ESN4 MEPs

For 0Against 2Abstain 2Absent 0

Country angle

Most in favour

France62
Spain37
Belgium16
Netherlands16
Sweden14

Most against

Germany40
Romania21
Czech Republic16
Hungary15
Greece14

Divided delegations

Austria
Estonia
Finland
Germany
Italy
Latvia
Lithuania
Netherlands

Full breakdown by all countries

Austria19 MEPs

For 11Against 7Abstain 0Absent 1

Belgium21 MEPs

For 16Against 5Abstain 0Absent 0

Bulgaria17 MEPs

For 1Against 8Abstain 7Absent 1

Croatia12 MEPs

For 3Against 6Abstain 1Absent 2

Cyprus6 MEPs

For 0Against 6Abstain 0Absent 0

Czech Republic21 MEPs

For 4Against 16Abstain 0Absent 1

Denmark14 MEPs

For 11Against 2Abstain 1Absent 0

Estonia7 MEPs

For 3Against 4Abstain 0Absent 0

Finland14 MEPs

For 7Against 7Abstain 0Absent 0

France79 MEPs

For 62Against 17Abstain 0Absent 0

Germany96 MEPs

For 38Against 40Abstain 12Absent 6

Greece21 MEPs

For 2Against 14Abstain 1Absent 4

Hungary21 MEPs

For 6Against 15Abstain 0Absent 0

Ireland13 MEPs

For 2Against 11Abstain 0Absent 0

Italy76 MEPs

For 17Against 23Abstain 35Absent 1

Latvia8 MEPs

For 3Against 3Abstain 2Absent 0

Lithuania11 MEPs

For 4Against 6Abstain 1Absent 0

Luxembourg6 MEPs

For 2Against 4Abstain 0Absent 0

Malta6 MEPs

For 4Against 2Abstain 0Absent 0

Netherlands29 MEPs

For 16Against 9Abstain 4Absent 0

Poland52 MEPs

For 8Against 16Abstain 26Absent 2

Portugal21 MEPs

For 7Against 14Abstain 0Absent 0

Romania33 MEPs

For 9Against 21Abstain 1Absent 2

Slovakia14 MEPs

For 3Against 8Abstain 3Absent 0

Slovenia8 MEPs

For 6Against 2Abstain 0Absent 0

Spain58 MEPs

For 37Against 19Abstain 1Absent 1

Sweden21 MEPs

For 14Against 7Abstain 0Absent 0

Individual MEP positions

Loading individual positions…