FAQ
Data
Its Your Parliament .eu consists of the votes cast in the EU-parliament within the current parlamentary term (2009-) by more than 700 different MEPs from 27 different European countries. Data from the 5th parliamentary term (2004-2009) is available through our API. Figures on itsyourparliament.eu is based on data obtained from the European Parliament's website. All roll call votes cast at the plenary sessions are recorded. We are not the official source, but we do our very best to ensure accuracy.
Roll-call votes
All data at itsyourparliament.eu is based on RCVs. In short a roll-call vote is a vote where it is recorded who voted what. Far from all votes cast in the European Parliament are roll-call votes. For other votes only the overall result is recorded. Roll-call votes are recorded in the minutes of the sitting by political group in the alphabetical order of Members' names, with an indication of how they voted.
Accuracy
We can't quarantie the accuracy of the figures shown at our site however we do our very best to ensure accuracy. Should you encounter any inconsistencies or malfunctions, please let us know.
MEPs changing group
When a MEP changes group, he/she is registered as exiting the old group and entering the new group as soon as he/she casts his/her first vote as member of the new group. This might lead to minor inaccuracies when calculating the avarage attendance level for groups.
Abstention votes
When votes are cast MEPs are given the opportunity to abstain. An abstention-vote is different from not participating, as the MEP has to actively vote "Abstention". When caculating the attendance level casting an abstention-votes are regarded as participating.
Secret votes
Few votes in the European Parliament are secret, meaning that results of individual votes are kept secret to the public. The MEPs who have taken part in a secret ballot are recorded in the minutes of the sitting at which the ballot was held.
See also: Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament
Attendance
The level of attendance is calculated as number of votes cast / number of votes in total * 100. When calculating the level of attendance for MEPs entry and exit-dates as reported at the European Parliament website is taken into account. While not all entry/exit dates are systematically reported at the European Parliament website, there may be errors in the attendance level for MEPs entering and or exiting the Parliament between elections. Should you encounter such an inaccuracy, please let us know.
When calculating the level of attendance for a group, the result is put together of MEPs currently in the group and former members of the group, the result is corrected so only votes cast (or not cast) by MEPs who were members at the time of the vote is taken into account (note how group changes are registred).
When calculating level of attendance for a country the number of votes cast by all current and former members from the country is summed together, this sum is divided by the number of roll-call votes times the number of MEPs from the given country (for Bulgaria and Romania only roll-call votes dated after 2007-01-01 are counted). If a country has had MEPs replacing each other with a delay this will have a negative impact on the attendance level.
Groups
Groups in the European Parliament are different from national parties as they consists of members from several different parties from several member states. Every MEP either belongs to a group or is registered as "Non-attached". Some MEPs changes group during their time in the European Parliament.
Comparing groups and MEPs
When comparing with groups the vote of the group is seen as the majority of the votes cast by members of the group.
Corrections of votes
MEPs are allowed to report a correction of a vote. Corrections of votes are reported at the European Parliament website in the minutes for the corresponding meeting. Corrections of votes does not have any effect on the overall results and are thus not taken into account in the calculations at itsyourparliament.eu.
Number of MEPs
As we keep track of both current, in- and outgoing MEPs, we have more MEPs in our system than there are seats in the European Parliament. There may be some variations in the total number of MEPs currently in the European Parliament as it can take some time for member states to appoint new MEPs when of some reason MEPs decides to leave the European Parliament.
What is a MEP?
A MEP is a member of the European Parliament.
Policy areas and committees
What we call policy areas on itsyourparliament.eu corresponds to the committees in the European Parliament.
Votes and committees
Most votes corresponds a report made by a committee in the European Parliament. At itsyourparliament.eu we connect votes to committees by the report although not all amendments to a given report directly relates to the policy area of the committee. As an example an amendment to a report on fisheries made by the Fisheries-committee can concern environmental matters rather than fisheries.
What period do you cover? We have collected all roll call votes cast starting from the election 2004. After the 2009-election MEPs from the 2004-2009 term met for a final session, roll call votes made at this session has not been collected.
Rapporteurs
The committies in the European Parliament writes reports on legislative matters and some non-legislative matters. A rapporteur is a MEP responsible for a given report normally rapporteurs are apointed by the committee.
I have a specific request
I you have a specific request on some data or voting record, you can contact Buhl & Rasmussen.
Can I use your data?
Please contact us if you plan to use any data or information obtained from itsyourparliament.eu. Use of our data or information shall always be accompanied by proper reference.
More information
For more information on the European Parliament, see:
