Bundestag's Decision on Eurofighter 11/97 (vote by open ballot)

Source: Official Transcript of the 'Deutscher Bundestag' - 13. Election Period - 206. Session, Bonn, Wednesday, 26. November 1997.

SPD Motion AGAINST the Acquisition of the Eurofighter from 26.11.97 :

296 MPs in favour of SPD motion (against Eurofighter): 223 x SPD, 42 x Greens, 30 x PDS, 1 x FDP
331 MPs against SPD motion (in favour of Eurofighter): 286 x CDU/CSU, 42 x FDP, 3 x SPD
4 MPs abstained: 1 x CDU, 1 x FDP, 2 x SPD)

Only 631 of 672 MPs were present and have voted !

The Coalition has 341 MPs and the Opposition 331.
CDU/CSU 294, SPD 252, Greens 49, FDP 47, PDS 30.

Where have been the missing 41 MPs ?

24 x SPD, 7 x CDU/CSU, 7 x Greens, 3 x FDP
2/41 MPs were missing excused 1 x SPD, 1 x CDU.

If theoretically all missing MPs from the SPD and the Greens would have come and all SPD MPs would have voted against the Eurofighter, then the Eurofighter would have been scrapped. In any case, the decision pro Eurofighter would then have been very, very close !

In the decisive motion the following MPs voted PRO acquisition of the Eurofighter :

All MPs from CDU/CSU, except Manfred Kolbe (Grimma, Sachsen) who abstained.

Nearly all MPs from FDP also the former Eurofighter critic Jürgen Koppelin (Bramstedt, Liste Schleswig-Holstein); Dr. Olaf Feldmann (Baden-Baden) abstained and Dr. Burkhard Hirsch (NRW) voted against the Eurofighter.

The following MPs from SPD voted PRO Eurofighter: Gabriele Fograscher (Donauwörth, Bayern), Ernst Kastning (Nienburg-Schaumburg, Niedersachsen) and Rudolf Purps (Hamm, NRW). Hans Büttner (Ingolstadt, Bayern) and Dr. Martin Pfaff (Augsburg, Bayern) abstained. AGAINST the Eurofighter acquisition voted: 98 % of the SPD MPs and all MPs from the Greens and PDS.

Created: 29.11.97 Updated: 04.02.1998