← Votes·2026-03-11

European Semester for economic policy coordination: employment and social priorities for 2026

Social Affairs64%★

Confidence: 64%

Assigned by: rule-based classifier

Evidence:

title/description contains "employment"

Reviewed: no

Methodology: topic-rules-v0.1

View all votes on Social Affairs →

Economy & Finance63%

Confidence: 63%

Assigned by: rule-based classifier

Evidence:

title/description contains "economic policy"

Reviewed: no

Methodology: topic-rules-v0.1

View all votes on Economy & Finance →

Vote ID 188613Source: official EP roll-call records

Official roll-call results (EP minutes) ↗

/ 100

Importance Score

High importance

Why this vote stands out:

✓Some political group division
✓Significant national delegation divergence
✓Very close result
✓High participation
✓Many MEPs voted against their group

Show full breakdown

Topic importance+6 / 15

Turnout+5 / 5

Vote type+0 / 25

Close vote+15 / 15

Legislative+0 / 15

Rebel votes+10 / 10

Group division+10 / 15

Country division+15 / 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 “European Semester for economic policy coordination: employment and social priorities for 2026”. S&D, Renew, Greens-EFA, Left and NI voted mostly in favour, while EPP, ECR, PfE and ESN voted mostly against. The motion was adopted by a narrow margin (299 for, 293 against, 41 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

299

Against

293

Abstain

Margin of victory

6 votes

Turnout (cast)

633

Absent

Participation rate

88.2%

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

Close vote analysis

The margin was 6 votes. 85 MEPs did not vote.

Could absences have changed the outcome? The number of absent MEPs (85) was larger than the 6-vote margin, so absences were numerically significant.

Groups whose absences exceeded the margin

PfEhad 21 absent MEPs (margin was 6)
EPPhad 19 absent MEPs (margin was 6)
S&Dhad 17 absent MEPs (margin was 6)
Renewhad 7 absent MEPs (margin was 6)

Countries whose absences exceeded the margin

France (22 absent)Spain (13 absent)Hungary (12 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

EPP184 MEPs

For 28Against 131Abstain 6Absent 19

S&D135 MEPs

For 116Against 1Abstain 1Absent 17

ECR82 MEPs

For 1Against 72Abstain 5Absent 4

Renew78 MEPs

For 47Against 18Abstain 6Absent 7

PfE84 MEPs

For 0Against 48Abstain 15Absent 21

Greens/EFA53 MEPs

For 47Against 0Abstain 0Absent 6

The Left45 MEPs

For 41Against 0Abstain 0Absent 4

NI29 MEPs

For 17Against 3Abstain 5Absent 4

ESN27 MEPs

For 2Against 19Abstain 3Absent 3

Country angle

Most in favour

Italy40
France30
Poland22
Netherlands14
Portugal11

Most against

Germany44
Spain27
Czech Republic16
Romania16
Belgium12

Divided delegations

Austria
Belgium
Bulgaria
Croatia
Denmark
France
Germany
Greece

Full breakdown by all countries

Austria20 MEPs

For 9Against 11Abstain 0Absent 0

Belgium22 MEPs

For 9Against 12Abstain 0Absent 1

Bulgaria17 MEPs

For 7Against 8Abstain 0Absent 2

Croatia12 MEPs

For 6Against 5Abstain 0Absent 1

Cyprus6 MEPs

For 5Against 0Abstain 0Absent 1

Czech Republic21 MEPs

For 2Against 16Abstain 1Absent 2

Denmark15 MEPs

For 9Against 6Abstain 0Absent 0

Estonia7 MEPs

For 2Against 4Abstain 0Absent 1

Finland15 MEPs

For 10Against 5Abstain 0Absent 0

France81 MEPs

For 30Against 25Abstain 4Absent 22

Germany95 MEPs

For 40Against 44Abstain 7Absent 4

Greece21 MEPs

For 7Against 7Abstain 4Absent 3

Hungary21 MEPs

For 2Against 0Abstain 7Absent 12

Ireland14 MEPs

For 9Against 3Abstain 0Absent 2

Italy76 MEPs

For 40Against 25Abstain 8Absent 3

Latvia9 MEPs

For 3Against 6Abstain 0Absent 0

Lithuania11 MEPs

For 5Against 5Abstain 1Absent 0

Luxembourg6 MEPs

For 3Against 3Abstain 0Absent 0

Malta6 MEPs

For 3Against 2Abstain 0Absent 1

Netherlands31 MEPs

For 14Against 14Abstain 2Absent 1

Poland53 MEPs

For 22Against 22Abstain 5Absent 4

Portugal21 MEPs

For 11Against 9Abstain 0Absent 1

Romania33 MEPs

For 9Against 16Abstain 2Absent 6

Slovakia15 MEPs

For 10Against 3Abstain 0Absent 2

Slovenia9 MEPs

For 3Against 5Abstain 0Absent 1

Spain60 MEPs

For 20Against 27Abstain 0Absent 13

Sweden21 MEPs

For 9Against 10Abstain 0Absent 2

Individual MEP positions

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