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Reform of the European Electoral Act – hurdles to ratification and implementation in the Member States

Effect
Adopted
Result
417 for · 234 against · 9 abstained roll call
Date
20 January 2026, 13:13–13:16
Kind
Resolution
More facts (9)
Margin
by a large majority
Text
Report A-10-2025-0252
Dossier
2025/2028(INI)
Source
Committee report by Borja Giménez Larraz
Topics
EU institutions & Parliament Assigned by a model, not checked by hand.
Votes
21 votes · 13 roll calls · 4 amendments
Requested by
Patriots (1 roll call, 4 split votes) · ESN (1 roll call, 2 split votes, 1 separate vote)
Sitting
Tuesday 20 January 2026
Final vote
183166
More
Cite this page Roll-call results (EP) (opens the official site)
Link to this page
Votes on this decision
Members on the final vote

Result

The final vote and what it means for this kind of decision.

Final vote: 417 for, 234 against, 9 abstained (roll call).

Adopted by a large majority.

Parliament adopted the text as its official position.

Before the final vote, MEPs decided on 4 amendments (4 rejected) and 16 parts of the text voted on separately (15 adopted, 1 rejected).

Backed by The Left, Greens, S&D, Renew and EPP; opposed by ECR, Patriots and ESN.

Groups

Members' votes, each counted in the group they belonged to on the day. No vote: in office that day, no position recorded. Majority line: the most common position. Clear line: a position with at least two thirds of the group's votes (at least 10 members voting), otherwise Divided. Cohesion: Agreement Index, 0 = evenly split, 1 = all voted the same (method).
GroupForAgainstAbst.No voteMajority lineClear lineCohesionBar
The LeftFor 22Against 11Abst. 5No vote 8 of 46Majority line ForClear line Divided Cohesion 0.37
GreensFor 47Against 4Abst. 0No vote 2 of 53Majority line ForClear line For Cohesion 0.88
S&DFor 103Against 14Abst. 4No vote 15 of 136Majority line ForClear line For Cohesion 0.78
RenewFor 66Against 3Abst. 0No vote 6 of 75Majority line ForClear line For Cohesion 0.93
EPPFor 173Against 7Abst. 0No vote 8 of 188Majority line ForClear line For Cohesion 0.94
ECRFor 2Against 70Abst. 0No vote 7 of 79Majority line AgainstClear line Against Cohesion 0.96
PatriotsFor 0Against 79Abst. 0No vote 6 of 85Majority line AgainstClear line Against Cohesion 1.00
ESNFor 0Against 24Abst. 0No vote 3 of 27Majority line AgainstClear line Against Cohesion 1.00
No groupFor 4Against 22Abst. 0No vote 4 of 30Majority line —Clear line No line Cohesion —

Members who changed group are counted in the group of the day: Branko GRIMS changed group, Elena YONCHEVA changed group, Elisabetta GUALMINI changed group, Ewa ZAJĄCZKOWSKA-HERNIK changed group, Jessika VAN LEEUWEN changed group, Laurent CASTILLO changed group, Lukas SIEPER changed group, Nikola BARTŮŠEK changed group, Nikolas FARANTOURIS changed group, Pina PICIERNO changed group, Roberto VANNACCI changed group, Sander SMIT changed group, Taner KABILOV changed group.

Voted against their group, 34

Members who voted otherwise than a clear line (at least two thirds of the votes cast, at least 10 members voting) of the group they sat in that day. A group without a clear line is divided and not counted.

Countries

The final vote by national delegation.

Votes by country (27 delegations)
Members' votes by country. No vote: in office that day, no position recorded. Cohesion: Agreement Index of the delegation, 0 = evenly split, 1 = all the same; it reflects the mix of groups (method).
CountryForAgainstAbst.No voteCohesion
Austria146000.55
Belgium105340.33
Bulgaria124010.63
Cyprus4200—
Czechia614010.55
Germany6225360.53
Denmark113010.68
Estonia6100—
Spain24260100.28
Finland123000.70
France4032090.33
Greece147000.50
Croatia110011.00
Hungary711210.33
Ireland111020.88
Italy4030150.35
Lithuania73010.55
Luxembourg5100—
Latvia5400—
Malta4002—
Netherlands209020.53
Poland2623040.30
Portugal162030.83
Romania255030.75
Sweden145020.61
Slovenia5400—
Slovakia68010.36

Members

Each member’s recorded position on the final roll call, in the group they sat in that day. Filter by country, group, position or name.

Show all 660 members

Debate speakers and how they voted

No plenary speech is linked to this dossier.

All votes on this decision, 21

In voting order. Result: for–against–abstained (a show of hands has no count). Requested by: the groups that asked for a roll call, a split vote or a separate vote.
No.VoteRecordedResultRequested by
1Paragraph 2 — part 1 A10-0252/2025 – Borja Giménez Larraz – § 2/1 Part voted on: “Reiterates that European elections continue to be conducted largely under national legal and institutional frameworks,”Roll call645 for, 12 against, 0 abstained AdoptedRequested byroll call: Patriots; split: Patriots
2Paragraph 2 — part 2 A10-0252/2025 – Borja Giménez Larraz – § 2/2 Part voted on: “which were conceived in a markedly different phase of European integration; stresses that these rules no longer correspond to the enhanced role and legislative powers of the European Parliament, particularly since the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon;”Roll call419 for, 193 against, 37 abstained AdoptedRequested byroll call: Patriots; split: Patriots
3Amendment 2, adding text after paragraph 3 A10-0252/2025 – Borja Giménez Larraz – After § 3 – Am 2 Roll call202 for, 445 against, 5 abstained RejectedRequested byroll call: ESN
Show the other 20 votesShow the other 18 votes
Votes on this decision, continued
No.VoteRecordedResultRequested by
2Paragraph 2 — part 2 A10-0252/2025 – Borja Giménez Larraz – § 2/2 Part voted on: “which were conceived in a markedly different phase of European integration; stresses that these rules no longer correspond to the enhanced role and legislative powers of the European Parliament, particularly since the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon;”Roll call419 for, 193 against, 37 abstained AdoptedRequested byroll call: Patriots; split: Patriots
3Amendment 2, adding text after paragraph 3 A10-0252/2025 – Borja Giménez Larraz – After § 3 – Am 2 Roll call202 for, 445 against, 5 abstained RejectedRequested byroll call: ESN
Votes on this decision, continued
No.VoteRecordedResultRequested by
4Paragraph 3 — part 1 of 2 Part voted on: ‘Recalls that Council Decision (EU, Euratom) 2018/994 contains a number of provisions that Member States are either obliged or invited to implement; points out that optional measures have not been implemented by some Member States and that some mandatory measures have been implemented differently by some Member States, such as those concerning the prevention of double voting; notes that most provisions laid down in Council Decision (EU, Euratom) 2018/994 remain optional;’ without the words ‘that optional measures have not been implemented by some Member States and’Show of hands AdoptedRequested bysplit: ESN, Patriots
5Paragraph 3 — part 2 of 2 Part voted on: “that optional measures have not been implemented by some Member States and”Show of hands AdoptedRequested bysplit: ESN, Patriots
6Paragraph 3 — part 3 A10-0252/2025 – Borja Giménez Larraz – § 3/3 Part voted on: “considers that the limited transposition of these non-binding provisions reveals a lack of political will to overcome national resistance and commit to a democratic process that better reflects the European dimension;”Roll call379 for, 216 against, 53 abstained AdoptedRequested byroll call: Patriots; split: ESN, Patriots
7Separate vote on paragraph 4 Show of hands Rejected
8Separate vote on paragraph 5 Show of hands AdoptedRequested byseparate: ESN
9Amendment 4, adding text after paragraph 5 A10-0252/2025 – Borja Giménez Larraz – After § 5 – Am 4 Roll call195 for, 439 against, 8 abstained RejectedRequested byroll call: ESN
10Separate vote on paragraph 12 Show of hands AdoptedRequested byseparate: ESN
11Amendment 5, adding text after paragraph 12 A10-0252/2025 – Borja Giménez Larraz – After § 12 – Am 5 Roll call198 for, 441 against, 11 abstained RejectedRequested byroll call: ESN
12Separate vote on paragraph 14 Show of hands AdoptedRequested byseparate: ESN
13Separate vote on recital B Show of hands AdoptedRequested bysplit: Patriots
14Recital B — part 2 A10-0252/2025 – Borja Giménez Larraz – Recital B/2 Part voted on: “but also foster the emergence of a European political and public sphere, thereby strengthening the legitimacy of the EU and its institutions;”Roll call427 for, 212 against, 24 abstained AdoptedRequested byroll call: Patriots; split: Patriots
15Separate vote on recital C A10-0252/2025 – Borja Giménez Larraz – Recital C Roll call645 for, 14 against, 0 abstained AdoptedRequested byroll call: Patriots
16Separate vote on recital F Show of hands AdoptedRequested bysplit: ESN, Patriots
17Recital F — part 2 A10-0252/2025 – Borja Giménez Larraz – Recital F/2 Part voted on: “those words”Roll call428 for, 204 against, 19 abstained AdoptedRequested byroll call: ESN, Patriots; split: ESN, Patriots
18Separate vote on recital G A10-0252/2025 – Borja Giménez Larraz – Recital G Roll call420 for, 198 against, 43 abstained AdoptedRequested byroll call: Patriots
19Amendment 1 to recital H A10-0252/2025 – Borja Giménez Larraz – Recital H – Am 1 Roll call189 for, 461 against, 12 abstained RejectedRequested byroll call: ESN
20Separate vote on recital M A10-0252/2025 – Borja Giménez Larraz – Recital M Roll call645 for, 8 against, 9 abstained AdoptedRequested byroll call: Patriots
21Final vote — text as a whole A10-0252/2025 – Borja Giménez Larraz – Motion for a resolution (as a whole) Roll call417 for, 234 against, 9 abstained Adopted

Roll calls requested by Patriots, ESN · split votes by Patriots (4), ESN (2) · separate votes by ESN.

Text

The text voted on.

Report A-10-2025-0252

AI: What this vote decides Written by AI from the official text — check the source

Parliament adopted a report on the reform of the European Electoral Act, focusing on hurdles to ratification and implementation in member states.

The report concludes that many existing provisions are implemented, but optional measures are often not, and some mandatory ones are applied unevenly.

It calls for further Europeanisation of electoral rules, including accessibility, common deadlines, preventing double voting, and enhancing European political parties' role.

Read the text · Report a problem

AI: The text in short Written by AI from the official text — check the source

This report on the reform of the European Electoral Act examines the hurdles to ratification and implementation of Council Decision 2018/994, which is not yet in force because Spain has not ratified it.

Read the text · Report a problem

Dossier

Where the dossier stands and its other decisions in plenary.

2025/2028(INI) · Own-initiative report

Parliament adopted the text on 20 January 2026. This is its final position on the matter.

Show the 5 steps of the dossier
  1. Referred to committee · 23 January 2025 (done)
  2. Committee work · Report adopted 3 December 2025 (done)
  3. Tabled for plenary · 8 December 2025 (done)
  4. Plenary vote · Adopted 20 January 2026 (done)
  5. Parliament’s position · Final (done)

Lead committee: AFCO · Author: Borja GIMÉNEZ LARRAZ (EPP)

Connections

What this decision touches: the procedural chain, the same text, running issues, votes that split the chamber the same way.

Show 9 connections: Running issue: European elections 2024 · Final votes that split the chamber the same way

Running issue: European elections 2024

Final votes that split the chamber the same way

Sources & citation

Where the facts on this page come from, and how to cite it.

Permalink
https://news.eu-parl.st-solutions.dev/decisions/2026-01-20/10
Official sources
Data source
Licensed CC BY 4.0.
Retrieved
25 September 2026

Cite as

European Parliament (2026). “Reform of the European Electoral Act – hurdles to ratification and implementation in the Member States”. Decision, 20 January 2026. votingId 183166, document A-10-2025-0252, reference 2025/2028(INI). EU Parl Watch Research. https://news.eu-parl.st-solutions.dev/decisions/2026-01-20/10 (retrieved 25 September 2026). Official sources: Roll-call votes, sitting of 20 January 2026 (European Parliament), https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/PV-10-2026-01-20-RCV_EN.html; Results of votes, sitting of 20 January 2026 (European Parliament), https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/PV-10-2026-01-20-VOT_EN.html. Data: EP Open Data API: decisions of the sitting MTG-PL-2026-01-20, https://data.europarl.europa.eu/api/v2/meetings/MTG-PL-2026-01-20/decisions?format=application%2Fld%2Bjson (CC BY 4.0).
BibTeX 
@misc{epw-decision-2026-01-20-10,
  author = {{European Parliament}},
  title = {{Reform of the European Electoral Act – hurdles to ratification and implementation in the Member States}},
  year = {2026},
  date = {2026-01-20},
  howpublished = {\url{https://news.eu-parl.st-solutions.dev/decisions/2026-01-20/10}},
  url = {https://news.eu-parl.st-solutions.dev/decisions/2026-01-20/10},
  urldate = {2026-09-25},
  publisher = {EU Parl Watch Research},
  note = {Decision. votingId 183166, document A-10-2025-0252, reference 2025/2028(INI). Official source: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/PV-10-2026-01-20-RCV\_EN.html, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/PV-10-2026-01-20-VOT\_EN.html. Data: EP Open Data API: decisions of the sitting MTG-PL-2026-01-20 (CC BY 4.0)}
}