How the European Parliament works

An amendment is a written proposal to change a specific part of a draft text — delete a sentence, add one, reword one. When a draft law reaches a parliamentary committee, its Members respond by tabling (formally submitting) amendments: each one is published in an official document with the names of its authors.

That paper trail is the heart of this site: it records, precisely and verifiably, who tried to change what in EU law. Most committee amendments are co-signed by several Members acting together; a solo amendment is tabled by one Member alone — often the rapporteur (see below).

Amendments tabled in plenary by political groups are a separate mechanism and are not counted here — see the methodology.

Most EU laws start as a proposal from the European Commission. Parliament assigns it to one of its committees, which appoints a rapporteur — the Member who leads the work on that text. Committee members table amendments, negotiate compromises, and vote a committee position. The text then goes to the plenary, where all Members debate and vote. For most laws, Parliament decides together with the Council of the EU (the member states’ governments): the two sides usually meet in informal negotiations — the trilogues — and the deal they reach must be approved by both to become law.

Everything moving through this process is tracked as a procedure file with a reference like 2025/0045(COD). The letters say what kind of procedure it is:

• COD — ordinary legislative procedure: Parliament and the Council decide together. This is how most EU laws are made.
• INI — own-initiative report: Parliament states its position on a topic; not itself a law.
• CNS — consultation: the Council decides; Parliament gives its opinion.
• APP / NLE — consent and other non-legislative procedures: Parliament approves or rejects a text as a whole.
• BUD / DEC — the EU budget, and the “discharge” sign-off on how it was spent.

Every procedure page on this site links to the official record in Parliament’s Legislative Observatory, where the full history of each file is kept.

The plenary — all Members sitting together — meets about once a month, mostly in Strasbourg with shorter sessions in Brussels. Voting on a text happens in steps: first on the amendments to it (sometimes split into parts, so Members can accept one half of a sentence and reject the other), then on the text as a whole. The main vote is the one that adopts or rejects the text itself.

Most decisions pass by a simple majority of the votes cast. A few need more: for example, amending or rejecting the Council’s position at second reading requires an absolute majority of all Members. A Member can vote for, against, or abstain.

A roll-call vote is one where each Member’s choice is recorded by name — final votes on legislation always are, and any political group can request one on other points. Votes by show of hands leave no per-Member record, which is why this site (like every vote tracker) can only show roll-call votes.

See it on real data: any procedure with votes shows the full sequence — the latest plenary session is recapped here.

MEP — Member of the European Parliament, directly elected in one of the member states. There are 720 seats in the current term. Rapporteur — the Member a committee appoints to lead Parliament’s work on one text: they draft the report, negotiate the compromises, and usually table many solo amendments.

MEPs sit by political affinity, not nationality, in political groups (a group needs at least 23 Members from a quarter of the member states). The groups of the current term:

• European People's Party (EPP) (PPE)
• Socialists & Democrats (S&D)
• Patriots for Europe (PfE)
• European Conservatives & Reformists (ECR)
• Renew Europe (RE)
• Greens / EFA (Verts/ALE)
• The Left (GUE/NGL) (GUE/NGL)
• Europe of Sovereign Nations (ESN)
• Non-attached (NI)

The detailed work happens in about twenty standing committees, each covering a policy field — the four-letter codes used across this site:

AFCO Constitutional Affairs · AFET Foreign Affairs · AGRI Agriculture and Rural Development · ANIT Inquiry — Protection of Animals during Transport · BUDG Budgets · CLIM Climate Change · CONT Budgetary Control · CULT Culture and Education · DEVE Development · DROI Human Rights (subcommittee) · ECON Economic and Monetary Affairs · EMIS Inquiry — Emission Measurements in the Automotive Sector · EMPL Employment and Social Affairs · ENVI Environment, Public Health and Food Safety · FEMM Women's Rights and Gender Equality · IMCO Internal Market and Consumer Protection · INTA International Trade · ITRE Industry, Research and Energy · JURI Legal Affairs · LIBE Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs · PECH Fisheries · PETI Petitions · REGI Regional Development · SANT Public Health · SEDE Security and Defence (subcommittee) · TAX2 Special committee — Tax Rulings · TAX3 Special committee — Financial Crimes, Tax Evasion and Tax Avoidance · TERR Special committee — Terrorism · TRAN Transport and Tourism

Parliament is elected for five years; each five-year period is a term. This site covers the 6th (2004–2009), 7th (2009–2014), 8th (2014–2019), 9th (2019–2024) and 10th (2024–now) terms.

AmendEU counts the committee amendments attributed to individual Members since 2008, links every one to its official document, and adds the plenary roll-call votes on the same procedures. It does not cover votes by show of hands, plenary amendments tabled by groups, or anything after the stated coverage window — and it never estimates: every number is exact within its window.

About this project → · Methodology & sources →