Skip to content
EU Parl WatchResearch
Projects

Vote · Final vote

Decision to open negotiations with the Council

Common system for the return of third-country nationals staying illegally in the Union (Return Regulation)

Vote
Decision to open negotiations with the Council
Decision
No. 1 of the sitting of 26 Mar 2026
Result
389 for · 206 against · 32 abstained Adopted · roll call
Date
26 March 2026, 11:06
More facts (6)
Effect
Negotiating mandate approved — this vote decided the decision
Position
vote 1 of 1 on the decision
Official label
A10-0048/2026 – Malik Azmani – Decision to enter into interinstitutional negotiations
Text
Report A-10-2026-0048
Dossier
2025/0059(COD)
Vote id
189597
More
Cite this page

The members file includes members in office who did not vote.

Roll-call results (EP) (opens the official site)
Link to this page

Result

The vote as recorded by name.

Result: 389 for, 206 against, 32 abstained (roll call).

Adopted · 62 % of the votes cast were for.

This was the final vote on the decision: Negotiating mandate approved.

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 0Against 37Abst. 0No vote 9 of 46Majority line AgainstClear line Against Cohesion 1.00
GreensFor 0Against 45Abst. 1No vote 7 of 53Majority line AgainstClear line Against Cohesion 0.97
S&DFor 7Against 85Abst. 6No vote 37 of 135Majority line AgainstClear line Against Cohesion 0.80
RenewFor 12Against 31Abst. 22No vote 12 of 77Majority line AgainstClear line Divided Cohesion 0.22
EPPFor 165Against 6Abst. 2No vote 11 of 184Majority line ForClear line For Cohesion 0.93
ECRFor 73Against 0Abst. 0No vote 8 of 81Majority line ForClear line For Cohesion 1.00
PatriotsFor 83Against 0Abst. 0No vote 2 of 85Majority line ForClear line For Cohesion 1.00
ESNFor 26Against 0Abst. 0No vote 1 of 27Majority line ForClear line For Cohesion 1.00
No groupFor 23Against 2Abst. 1No 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, Nikola BARTŮŠEK changed group, Nikolas FARANTOURIS changed group, Pina PICIERNO changed group, Taner KABILOV changed group.

Countries × groups

How each country’s members of each group voted.

Greens members by country who voted for, against or abstained (group at the date of the vote).
CountryForAgainstAbst.Bar
Austria020
Belgium020
Czechia010
Germany0150
Denmark030
Spain030
Finland010
France040
Croatia010
Italy030
Luxembourg010
Latvia001
Netherlands040
Romania010
Sweden030
Slovenia010

Members

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

Show all 627 members

No vote recorded, 91

Members in office that day without a recorded position. No vote recorded is not the same as absent: leave, illness or chairing the sitting look the same.

Show the 91 members

Name · group that day · country

Similar votes

Roll calls that split the chamber the most similarly: r is the correlation of members’ positions, over the members who voted in both. Other votes on the same decision are left out.

Result: for–against–abstained. For: share of the votes cast. Requested by: the groups that asked for a roll call.
DateVoteKindResultForRequested byr · shared
17 Sept 2026Paragraph 10 — part 3 The recent hybrid attacks and instrumentalisation of migrants in Ceuta and the need for a coordinated response to protect EU’s external bordersSplit vote353 for, 240 against, 5 abstained Adopted For 59 %Requested by EPPr · shared0.93 525 voters
17 Sept 2026Recital F — part 2 The recent hybrid attacks and instrumentalisation of migrants in Ceuta and the need for a coordinated response to protect EU’s external bordersSplit vote338 for, 233 against, 9 abstained Adopted For 58 %Requested by EPPr · shared0.93 508 voters
17 Dec 2025Decision to open negotiations with the Council Final vote Application of the ‘safe third country’ conceptFinal384 for, 237 against, 31 abstained Adopted For 59 %r · shared0.93 571 voters
Show 7 more
Result: for–against–abstained. For: share of the votes cast. Requested by: the groups that asked for a roll call.
DateVoteKindResultForRequested byr · shared
17 Jun 2026Final vote on the provisional agreement Common system for the return of third-country nationals staying illegally in the Union (Return Regulation)Final418 for, 218 against, 30 abstained Adopted For 63 %r · shared0.93 589 voters
17 Dec 2025Decision to open negotiations with the Council Final vote Establishment of a list of safe countries of origin at Union levelFinal396 for, 202 against, 56 abstained Adopted For 61 %r · shared0.93 573 voters
15 Dec 2025Monday’s agenda — Request by the PfE Group (epizootic) Final vote Monday’s agenda – Request by the PfE Group (epizootic)Other240 for, 194 against, 2 abstained Adopted For 55 %r · shared0.92 394 voters
17 Sept 2026Amendment 74, adding text after paragraph 5 The recent hybrid attacks and instrumentalisation of migrants in Ceuta and the need for a coordinated response to protect EU’s external bordersAmendment338 for, 261 against, 8 abstained Adopted For 56 %Requested by ECRr · shared0.92 531 voters
10 Feb 2026Final vote on the provisional agreement Application of the ‘safe third country’ conceptFinal396 for, 226 against, 30 abstained Adopted For 61 %r · shared0.92 579 voters
13 Nov 2025Final vote Certain corporate sustainability reporting and due diligence requirementsFinal382 for, 249 against, 13 abstained Adopted For 59 %r · shared0.91 575 voters
17 Sept 2026Final vote — text as a whole The recent hybrid attacks and instrumentalisation of migrants in Ceuta and the need for a coordinated response to protect EU’s external bordersFinal339 for, 225 against, 16 abstained Adopted For 58 %Requested by EPP, ESNr · shared0.91 510 voters

How similarity is measured

Compare with another vote

Groups’ lines side by side, and the members who switched between the two votes.

Connections

This vote’s decision, the other votes on it, and related votes.

Show 1 connection: The decision

The decision

Sources & citation

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

Permalink
https://news.eu-parl.st-solutions.dev/votes/2026-03-26/189597
Official sources
Data source
Licensed CC BY 4.0.
Retrieved
25 September 2026

Cite as

European Parliament (2026). “Decision to open negotiations with the Council — Common system for the return of third-country nationals staying illegally in the Union (Return Regulation)”. Vote, 26 March 2026. votingId 189597, reference 2025/0059(COD). EU Parl Watch Research. https://news.eu-parl.st-solutions.dev/votes/2026-03-26/189597 (retrieved 25 September 2026). Official sources: Roll-call votes, sitting of 26 March 2026 (European Parliament), https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/PV-10-2026-03-26-RCV_EN.html; Results of votes, sitting of 26 March 2026 (European Parliament), https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/PV-10-2026-03-26-VOT_EN.html. Data: EP Open Data API: vote results of the sitting MTG-PL-2026-03-26, https://data.europarl.europa.eu/api/v2/meetings/MTG-PL-2026-03-26/vote-results?format=application%2Fld%2Bjson (CC BY 4.0).
BibTeX 
@misc{epw-vote-2026-03-26-189597,
  author = {{European Parliament}},
  title = {{Decision to open negotiations with the Council — Common system for the return of third-country nationals staying illegally in the Union (Return Regulation)}},
  year = {2026},
  date = {2026-03-26},
  howpublished = {\url{https://news.eu-parl.st-solutions.dev/votes/2026-03-26/189597}},
  url = {https://news.eu-parl.st-solutions.dev/votes/2026-03-26/189597},
  urldate = {2026-09-25},
  publisher = {EU Parl Watch Research},
  note = {Vote. votingId 189597, reference 2025/0059(COD). Official source: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/PV-10-2026-03-26-RCV\_EN.html, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/PV-10-2026-03-26-VOT\_EN.html. Data: EP Open Data API: vote results of the sitting MTG-PL-2026-03-26 (CC BY 4.0)}
}