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Non-legislative procedure

Guidelines for the employment policies of the Member States

Parliament is consulted: it gives an opinion and can propose amendments, but the Council takes the decision and need not follow them.

Where it stands: Parliament gave its opinion on 21 October 2026. The Council takes the final decision.

  1. ✓ Referred to committee 14 September 2026
  2. ✓ Committee work Report adopted 1 October 2026
  3. ✓ Tabled for plenary 6 October 2026
  4. ✓ Plenary vote Adopted 21 October 2026
  5. 5 Adopted by the Council
How a file moves through Parliament

A file is referred to one lead committee (others may give an opinion). Its rapporteur writes a draft report, committee members table amendments, and the committee votes to adopt the report. The report is then tabled for all MEPs; political groups can table further amendments, which are voted on before the final vote in plenary. The Council takes the final decision, and the act is published in the Official Journal.

Who is working on it

Lead committee
EMPL — Employment and Social Affairs
Rapporteur
Li ANDERSSON The Left
Shadow rapporteurs
Gheorghe FALCĂ PPEKlára DOBREV S&DMélanie DISDIER PfEElena DONAZZAN ECRBrigitte VAN DEN BERG RenewMaria OHISALO Verts/ALE

The rapporteur drafts and negotiates the text for the lead committee; each other political group names a shadow rapporteur to follow the file.

The text, version by version

Adopted by Parliament · latest Adopted text TA10-0357/2026 21 October 2026 ✦ Parliament's amended version of the proposed Council decision on guidelines for member states' employment policies approves the Commission proposal with changes to the recitals and to Guideline 5.⇄ what changed Tabled for plenary Report A10-0260/2026 6 October 2026 ✦ Parliament's amended version of the Commission proposal for a Council decision on employment policy guidelines approves the proposal as amended. It adds a new recital welcoming the updated guidelines and renewing Parliament's call to be involved in setting the Integrated Guidelines on an equal footing with the Council.

Latest Tabled for plenary → Adopted by Parliament: The annex no longer refers to an effective individual right to education and training during working time and at no cost to the worker. The other change is formal: two Official Journal citations are completed. see the changes →

Newest version first. Open a version to read it in full. “What changed” shows the differences paragraph by paragraph; ✦ lines are AI-written from the texts themselves.

Timeline

  1. Plenary stage
  2. 21 October 2026 Plenary vote
    Sitting of 21 October 2026 📄 Adopted text TA10-0357/2026📄 Report A10-0260/2026
    Adopted Adopted by a large majority
    For 434 Against 212 Abstained 23

    Final vote at 13:47 · 65% of votes cast in favour · every MEP’s position →

    How the vote unfolded · 22 ballots

    adopted rejected lapsed square = amendment circle = part of the text decisive vote Solid = roll call (click for every MEP’s vote); faded = no individual positions

    Show all 22 ballots in voting order
    1. Amendments by the committee responsible — put to the vote collectively Amendments by the committee responsible – put to the vote collectively
    — no individual positions recorded
    Adopted
    2. Amendment 5 13:43 A10-0260/2026 – Li Andersson – Amendments by the committee responsible – separate votes – Am 5
    Adopted
    3. Amendment 16 13:43 A10-0260/2026 – Li Andersson – Amendments by the committee responsible – separate votes – Am 16
    Adopted
    4. Amendment 17 — part 1 13:44 A10-0260/2026 – Li Andersson – Amendments by the committee responsible – separate votes – Am 17/1
    Adopted
    5. Amendment 17 — part 2 13:44 A10-0260/2026 – Li Andersson – Amendments by the committee responsible – separate votes – Am 17/2
    Rejected
    6. Amendment 17 — part 3 13:44 A10-0260/2026 – Li Andersson – Amendments by the committee responsible – separate votes – Am 17/3
    Rejected
    7. Amendment 18 — part 1 13:44 A10-0260/2026 – Li Andersson – Amendments by the committee responsible – separate votes – Am 18/1
    Adopted
    8. Amendment 18 — part 2 13:44 A10-0260/2026 – Li Andersson – Amendments by the committee responsible – separate votes – Am 18/2
    Adopted
    9. Amendment 29 13:44 A10-0260/2026 – Li Andersson – Amendments by the committee responsible – separate votes – Am 29
    Adopted
    10. Vote on text inserted after recital 4
    — no individual positions recorded
    Rejected
    11. Amendment 39 to Annex I, paragraph 1 13:45 A10-0260/2026 – Li Andersson – Annex I, § 1 – Am 39
    Rejected
    12. Amendment 12 to Annex I, paragraph 1 13:45 A10-0260/2026 – Li Andersson – Annex I, § 1 – Am 12
    Adopted
    13. Amendment 34 to Annex I, paragraph 1 13:46 A10-0260/2026 – Li Andersson – Annex I, § 1 – Am 34
    Rejected
    14. Amendment 14 to Annex I, paragraph 3 13:46 A10-0260/2026 – Li Andersson – Annex I, § 3 – Am 14
    Adopted
    15. Separate vote on Annex I, paragraph 3
    16. Amendment 40 to Annex I, paragraph 11 13:46 A10-0260/2026 – Li Andersson – Annex I, § 11 – Am 40
    Rejected
    17. Amendment 22 to Annex I, paragraph 11 13:46 A10-0260/2026 – Li Andersson – Annex I, § 11 – Am 22
    Adopted
    18. Amendment 36 to Annex I, paragraph 11 13:46 A10-0260/2026 – Li Andersson – Annex I, § 11 – Am 36
    Rejected
    19. Separate vote on Annex I, paragraph 15
    — no individual positions recorded
    Adopted
    20. Separate vote on Annex I, paragraph 15
    21. Amendment 41 to Annex I, after paragraph 23 13:47 A10-0260/2026 – Li Andersson – Annex I, after § 23 – Am 41
    Rejected
    22. Final vote 13:47 A10-0260/2026 – Li Andersson – Commission proposal to the Council
    Adopted
  3. 13 October – 14 October 2026 41 amendments tabled for the plenary vote

    Groups propose changes to the tabled text; each is voted on before the final vote.

    📄 Amendments 1–33📄 Amendments 34–37📄 Amendment 38📄 Amendments 39–41
  4. 6 October 2026 Report tabled for plenary

    This is the text all MEPs vote on. Political groups can still table amendments to it.

    📄 Report A10-0260/2026
  5. Committee stage
  6. 1 October 2026 Committee vote: report adopted

    EMPL (Employment and Social Affairs) voted on the amendments and adopted the report that goes to plenary.

  7. 14 September 2026 Referred to the EMPL (Employment and Social Affairs) committee

    The lead committee prepares Parliament’s report.

  8. 2 September 2026 Amendments tabled in committee

    Members of EMPL (Employment and Social Affairs) proposed changes to the draft.

    📄 Amendments in committee (EMPL)