← Votes·2025-03-12

White paper on the future of European defence

Defence & Security87%★

Confidence: 87%

Assigned by: rule-based classifier

Evidence:

title/description contains "defence"
title/description contains "european defence"

Reviewed: yes

Methodology: topic-rules-v0.1

View all votes on Defence & Security →

Vote ID 172827Source: official EP roll-call records

Official roll-call results (EP minutes) ↗

/ 100

Importance Score

High importance

Why this vote stands out:

✓High-interest topic: Defence
✓Some political group division
✓Significant national delegation divergence
✓Very close result
✓High participation
✓Many MEPs voted against their group

Show full breakdown

Topic importance+15 / 15

Turnout+5 / 5

Vote type+0 / 25

Close vote+12 / 15

Legislative+0 / 15

Rebel votes+10 / 10

Group division+10 / 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 “White paper on the future of European defence”. S&D, PfE, Greens-EFA, Left and NI voted mostly in favour, while EPP, ECR, Renew and ESN voted mostly against. The motion was rejected by a narrow margin (303 for, 316 against, 62 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

303

Against

316

Abstain

Margin of victory

13 votes

Turnout (cast)

681

Absent

Participation rate

94.6%

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

Close vote analysis

The margin was 13 votes. 39 MEPs did not vote.

Could absences have changed the outcome? The number of absent MEPs (39) was larger than the 13-vote margin, so absences were numerically significant.

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

EPP185 MEPs

For 11Against 159Abstain 3Absent 12

S&D135 MEPs

For 128Against 3Abstain 2Absent 2

PfE81 MEPs

For 42Against 12Abstain 22Absent 5

ECR82 MEPs

For 2Against 47Abstain 26Absent 7

Renew79 MEPs

For 7Against 66Abstain 1Absent 5

Greens/EFA53 MEPs

For 50Against 0Abstain 1Absent 2

The Left45 MEPs

For 39Against 4Abstain 0Absent 2

NI30 MEPs

For 21Against 4Abstain 3Absent 2

ESN26 MEPs

For 0Against 20Abstain 4Absent 2

Country angle

Most in favour

France56
Italy34
Spain29
Romania16
Czech Republic12

Most against

Germany51
Poland43
Netherlands19
Sweden13
Bulgaria12

Divided delegations

Austria
Belgium
Croatia
Czech Republic
Finland
Germany
Greece
Luxembourg

Full breakdown by all countries

Austria20 MEPs

For 7Against 11Abstain 0Absent 2

Belgium22 MEPs

For 10Against 9Abstain 1Absent 2

Bulgaria17 MEPs

For 3Against 12Abstain 0Absent 2

Croatia12 MEPs

For 4Against 7Abstain 0Absent 1

Cyprus6 MEPs

For 4Against 2Abstain 0Absent 0

Czech Republic21 MEPs

For 12Against 9Abstain 0Absent 0

Denmark15 MEPs

For 4Against 11Abstain 0Absent 0

Estonia7 MEPs

For 2Against 4Abstain 0Absent 1

Finland15 MEPs

For 5Against 8Abstain 2Absent 0

France82 MEPs

For 56Against 21Abstain 0Absent 5

Germany96 MEPs

For 40Against 51Abstain 0Absent 5

Greece21 MEPs

For 9Against 10Abstain 1Absent 1

Hungary21 MEPs

For 2Against 8Abstain 10Absent 1

Ireland14 MEPs

For 12Against 1Abstain 0Absent 1

Italy76 MEPs

For 34Against 7Abstain 30Absent 5

Latvia9 MEPs

For 2Against 6Abstain 0Absent 1

Lithuania11 MEPs

For 3Against 6Abstain 1Absent 1

Luxembourg6 MEPs

For 3Against 2Abstain 0Absent 1

Malta6 MEPs

For 3Against 0Abstain 2Absent 1

Netherlands31 MEPs

For 10Against 19Abstain 2Absent 0

Poland53 MEPs

For 5Against 43Abstain 3Absent 2

Portugal21 MEPs

For 11Against 9Abstain 0Absent 1

Romania33 MEPs

For 16Against 12Abstain 1Absent 4

Slovakia15 MEPs

For 7Against 8Abstain 0Absent 0

Slovenia9 MEPs

For 2Against 6Abstain 1Absent 0

Spain60 MEPs

For 29Against 21Abstain 8Absent 2

Sweden21 MEPs

For 8Against 13Abstain 0Absent 0

Individual MEP positions

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