political-classification-guide.md

April 28, 2026 · View on GitHub

🏷️ Political Classification Guide — European Parliament

📊 Systematic Classification of EU Parliamentary Events and Documents
🎯 Sensitivity · Domain Taxonomy · Urgency Matrix · Impact Assessment

📋 Document Owner: CEO | 📄 Version: 2.2 | 📅 Last Updated: 2026-04-25 (UTC) 🔄 Review Cycle: Quarterly | ⏰ Next Review: 2026-07-31 🏢 Owner: Hack23 AB (Org.nr 5595347807) | 🏷️ Classification: Public

🎯 Purpose

This guide provides the authoritative classification methodology for European Parliament events processed by EU Parliament Monitor's agentic workflows. Classification is the first analytical step — all subsequent risk assessment, threat analysis, and significance scoring depend on accurate initial classification.

This methodology is inspired by Hack23 ISMS CLASSIFICATION.md and adapted from the Riksdagsmonitor political classification guide for the EU Parliament context.

🔒 Sensitivity Levels

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graph TD
    A[Incoming EP Event] --> B{Contains legally sensitive<br/>personal/security data?}
    B -->|Yes| C[🔴 RESTRICTED]
    B -->|No| D{Politically charged:<br/>coalition threat, allegation,<br/>institutional crisis?}
    D -->|Yes| E[🟡 SENSITIVE]
    D -->|No| F[🟢 PUBLIC]

    C --> G[Requires editorial review<br/>before publication]
    E --> H[Requires careful framing<br/>and attribution]
    F --> I[Freely publishable<br/>in standard workflow]

    style C fill:#ffebee,stroke:#f44336
    style E fill:#fffde7,stroke:#ffc107
    style F fill:#e8f5e9,stroke:#4caf50

🟢 PUBLIC

Routine EP activity that is fully public record: standard committee reports, legislative resolutions passed with broad majorities, routine plenary debates, published commission proposals.

🟡 SENSITIVE

Events that are politically charged: coalition fractures within political groups, named MEP allegations, sensitive migration/security dimensions, significant disagreements between grand coalition partners (EPP/S&D), Article 7 proceedings, EU budget disputes.

🔴 RESTRICTED

Events with legal sensitivity: active fraud investigations (OLAF), personal data of private individuals, active court proceedings (CJEU), national security information affecting member states.

📋 Policy Domain Taxonomy

European Parliament domains aligned with EP committee structure:

Code	Domain	EP Committee(s)
ECON	Economic & Monetary Affairs	ECON
ITRE	Industry, Research & Energy	ITRE
INTA	International Trade	INTA
BUDG	Budgets & Financial Framework	BUDG, CONT
EMPL	Employment & Social Affairs	EMPL
ENVI	Environment & Public Health	ENVI
TRAN	Transport & Tourism	TRAN
REGI	Regional Development	REGI
AGRI	Agriculture & Rural Development	AGRI
PECH	Fisheries	PECH
CULT	Culture & Education	CULT
JURI	Legal Affairs	JURI
LIBE	Civil Liberties & Justice	LIBE
AFCO	Constitutional Affairs	AFCO
FEMM	Gender Equality	FEMM
AFET	Foreign Affairs & Security	AFET, SEDE, DROI
DEVE	Development	DEVE
PETI	Petitions	PETI

Domain Assignment Rules

Always assign a primary domain — use the lead committee's domain code
Secondary domains are optional but recommended for cross-committee dossiers
AFCO takes precedence when Treaty or institutional changes are at stake
AFET/SEDE takes precedence for security/defence events
When in doubt, check which EP committee has the rapporteur

⏰ Urgency Matrix

Urgency Level	EP Legislative Trigger	Real-World Trigger	Max Delay to Classify
⚪ ROUTINE	Written question filed; own-initiative report published	No immediate action required	24–48 hours
🔵 ELEVATED	Committee vote scheduled; trilogue round announced	Commission response expected within 2 weeks	4–8 hours
🟠 URGENT	Plenary vote within 48 hours; emergency debate called	Immediate institutional action required	1–2 hours
🔴 CRITICAL	Article 7 proceedings; institutional crisis; emergency session	Acute democracy/security event	Immediate

📊 The 7 Classification Dimensions

Dimension	What It Measures	Scale Levels
Public Interest Sensitivity	Political explosiveness for citizens	explosive / sensitive / standard / routine
Democratic Integrity Impact	Threat to EU democratic processes	critical / significant / moderate / minor
Policy Urgency	Time-sensitivity for action	immediate / short-term / medium-term / long-term
Economic Impact	Fiscal/monetary consequence	transformative / major / moderate / minimal
Governance Impact	Effect on EU institutional operations	systemic / significant / procedural / routine
Political Capital Impact	Effect on political group/MEP standing	career-defining / significant / notable / negligible
Legislative Impact	Change to EU legal framework	treaty-level / directive / regulation / administrative

Scoring Weights

Public Interest Sensitivity  × 0.20
Democratic Integrity Impact  × 0.20
Policy Urgency               × 0.10
Economic Impact              × 0.15
Governance Impact            × 0.15
Political Capital Impact     × 0.10
Legislative Impact           × 0.10
────────────────────────────────────
                Total:        1.00

Classification Score Thresholds

Score Range	Classification	Editorial Action
≥ 70	CRITICAL	Immediate deep investigation; breaking news
≥ 50	HIGH	Priority coverage; include in daily analysis
≥ 30	MEDIUM	Standard coverage; monitor for escalation
< 30	LOW	Archive; include in weekly digest if relevant

🔍 MCP Data Sources for Classification

EP Document Type	MCP Tool	Classification Baseline
Adopted legislative text	`get_adopted_texts`	HIGH for directives/regulations
Committee report	`get_committee_documents`	MEDIUM (elevated if contested)
Plenary resolution	`get_plenary_documents`	HIGH if non-legislative resolution on crisis
Legislative procedure	`get_procedures`	Varies by stage and subject
MEP question	`get_parliamentary_questions`	ROUTINE (elevated for oral questions to Council)
Plenary speech	`get_speeches`	ROUTINE (elevated for political group leaders)
Voting record	`get_voting_records`	MEDIUM (elevated for roll-call on contested votes)

🤖 AI Analysis Protocol for Classification

The AI agent MUST follow this protocol when classifying political documents:

Read this guide — understand sensitivity levels, domain taxonomy, urgency matrix
Extract key fields from the document (title, type, committee, political groups involved, date)
Determine sensitivity — PUBLIC (default), SENSITIVE (triggers apply), RESTRICTED (editorial review)
Assign primary domain + up to 2 secondary domains from the EP committee taxonomy
Assess urgency using the EP legislative calendar markers
Score significance per the 5-dimension rubric in significance-scoring.md

Borderline Classification Guidance

Scenario	Resolution
SENSITIVE vs. RESTRICTED	If any single trigger exceeds threshold, classify as RESTRICTED. When in doubt, err toward higher classification.
ROUTINE vs. ELEVATED urgency	Check the EP plenary calendar — if within 2 weeks of a key vote, use ELEVATED.
Domain ambiguity	Assign the domain with strongest evidence as primary; use secondary for remaining relevance. AFCO and LIBE always take precedence when applicable.
Manual vs. automated divergence (>3 points)	Use the higher score and flag for editorial review.

🚨 Anti-Pattern Warning: Classification without explicit sensitivity level, domain code, and urgency is REJECTED. Every document must receive all three classifications with cited evidence.

🌡️ Advanced Dimension 1: Political Temperature Index

The Political Temperature Index (PTI) is a composite score (0–100) measuring how politically heated an EP event is — beyond simple sensitivity classification:

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graph LR
    PTI["🌡️ Political<br/>Temperature Index<br/>(0-100)"]
    PTI --> P1["📊 Partisan Charge<br/>(0-20)"]
    PTI --> P2["🏛️ Institutional Impact<br/>(0-20)"]
    PTI --> P3["📰 Media Amplification<br/>(0-20)"]
    PTI --> P4["👥 Public Salience<br/>(0-20)"]
    PTI --> P5["⏰ Temporal Pressure<br/>(0-20)"]

    style PTI fill:#dc3545,color:#fff
    style P1 fill:#fd7e14,color:#fff
    style P2 fill:#fd7e14,color:#fff
    style P3 fill:#fd7e14,color:#fff
    style P4 fill:#fd7e14,color:#fff
    style P5 fill:#fd7e14,color:#fff

Temperature Component	Score Range	Assessment Criteria
Partisan Charge	0–20	How divided are political groups? (0=consensus, 20=deep partisan division across EP groups)
Institutional Impact	0–20	Does this affect EU institutions? (0=routine, 20=inter-institutional crisis)
Media Amplification	0–20	Is media likely to amplify? (0=below radar, 20=front-page across member states)
Public Salience	0–20	Does the public care? (0=technical, 20=pocketbook/safety issue for EU citizens)
Temporal Pressure	0–20	How urgent is action? (0=no deadline, 20=imminent crisis or expiring legislative deadline)

Temperature Classification

PTI Score	Temperature	Colour	Implication
0–20	❄️ Cold	🔵 Blue	Routine EP activity; standard monitoring
21–40	🌤️ Warm	🟢 Green	Active interest; regular reporting
41–60	🔥 Hot	🟡 Yellow	Politically significant; priority analysis across 14 languages
61–80	🔥🔥 Very Hot	🟠 Orange	Crisis-adjacent; intensive monitoring and breaking news consideration
81–100	🌋 Explosive	🔴 Red	Constitutional/political crisis; immediate response and all-language deployment

🎯 Advanced Dimension 2: Strategic Significance Assessment

Not all politically heated events have long-term significance, and some seemingly routine events have major strategic importance. Distinguish news value (short-term) from strategic significance (long-term):

Dimension	News Value (Short-Term)	Strategic Significance (Long-Term)
Time horizon	Today's headlines	Next 6–24 months
Question	"Will this make the news?"	"Will this change the EU political landscape?"
Indicators	Media interest, public reaction	Institutional change, precedent setting
Example (high news, low strategic)	MEP's controversial statement goes viral	Temporary embarrassment, no policy change
Example (low news, high strategic)	Technical trilogue agreement on pension portability	Quietly reshapes retirement policy for 450M EU citizens

Strategic Significance Score (1–5)

Score	Level	Criteria
1	Ephemeral	No lasting impact; forgotten within a week
2	Routine	Standard EP activity; minor adjustments
3	Significant	Affects a policy domain meaningfully for 6+ months
4	Major	Reshapes EP political dynamics; affects Grand Coalition/opposition positioning
5	Transformative	Changes EU governance, institutions, or democratic norms

🧭 Advanced Dimension 3: Coalition Impact Vector

For every classified event, assess its impact on EP coalition dynamics using a directional vector:

Vector	Description	Example
→ Stabilising	Strengthens Grand Coalition cohesion or majority	EPP–S&D–Renew coalition secures comfortable majority on Green Deal legislation
← Destabilising	Weakens Grand Coalition cohesion or threatens majority	ECR breaks with EPP on rule of law vote, fragmenting centre-right bloc
↕ Neutral	No significant impact on coalition dynamics	Routine committee report on fisheries regulation
↗ Opportunity	Creates an opening for coalition to strengthen position	Popular digital rights initiative with cross-group support
↘ Vulnerability	Exposes coalition weakness that opposition may exploit	Budget dispute between EPP and S&D reveals structural disagreements

🏖️ Recess-Period Event Classification Rules (New in v2.1)

During EP recess periods, the volume and nature of classifiable events changes significantly. These rules ensure consistent classification when normal parliamentary activity is paused.

Recess-Period Urgency Adjustment

During confirmed recess periods, the urgency matrix is adjusted:

Normal Urgency	Recess Adjustment	Rationale
⚪ ROUTINE	⚪ ROUTINE (unchanged)	Routine events remain routine
🔵 ELEVATED	⚪ ROUTINE (downgrade)	No upcoming committee votes or plenary sessions to elevate urgency
🟠 URGENT	🔵 ELEVATED (downgrade)	Plenary is not in session; urgency reduced but flagged for post-recess action
🔴 CRITICAL	🔴 CRITICAL (unchanged)	Genuine crises (Article 7, institutional emergency) remain critical regardless of recess

Events That Still Occur During Recess

Event Type	Classification Baseline	Recess-Specific Notes
Written parliamentary questions	ROUTINE	Filed but answers delayed; classify normally
Commission proposals published	Varies (use standard 7 dimensions)	Classify as normal; note "Parliament response expected post-recess"
Trilogue informal contacts	SENSITIVE	May continue during recess informally; classify if reported
External geopolitical events affecting EU	Varies	Classify using standard dimensions; note EP cannot respond until session resumes
MEP public statements	ROUTINE (unless coalition-relevant)	Individual statements have reduced impact during recess
Court of Justice rulings	Varies	Classify normally; legal effects are not paused by recess

Classification Anti-Patterns During Recess

Anti-Pattern	Why Prohibited	Correct Alternative
Classifying non-events as HIGH/CRITICAL	Inflates significance during quiet period	Apply standard 7-dimension scoring; recess events rarely score ≥ 50
Ignoring events because "Parliament is in recess"	Events still have political significance even without immediate EP response	Classify normally; note temporal context
Using pre-recess urgency for post-recess planning	Urgency may change when Parliament reconvenes	Re-classify when session schedule is confirmed

🛠️ Worked Classification Walkthroughs

The 7-dimension scoring rubric is best understood by walking through real EP classification scenarios. Each walkthrough scores all seven dimensions and arrives at a final classification band.

Walkthrough 1 — AI Act Implementing Regulation, ENVI tabling

Event: Commission tables an implementing regulation for the AI Act with significant EU-27-wide compliance obligations.

Dimension	Score	Rationale
Institutional impact	9	EU-wide regulatory regime, all 27 MS bound
Coalition implications	7	EPP-S&D-Renew likely; Greens/EFA conditional; PfE/ESN opposed
Public-policy stakes	9	Cross-sectoral: health, finance, employment, consumer protection
Legal-procedural complexity	7	Comitology + delegated acts + national implementation
Time-sensitivity	6	24-month implementation window; not immediate crisis
Stakeholder mobilisation	8	Industry, civil society, MS regulators, third countries
Geopolitical resonance	8	Brussels-effect on US, UK, JPN regulatory frameworks

Total: 54 / 70 → Tier-1 SIGNIFICANT classification. Urgency: 🟠 URGENT (tabling triggers 2-month response window). Sensitivity: SENSITIVE — coalition arithmetic public, internal whip positions are confidential.

Walkthrough 2 — MEP press statement on enlargement

Event: Three EPP MEPs publish a joint open letter calling for accelerated UKR accession track.

Dimension	Score	Rationale
Institutional impact	2	No procedural standing; press only
Coalition implications	4	EPP-internal signal but limited reach
Public-policy stakes	5	Touches enlargement but no procedural follow-through
Legal-procedural complexity	1	None — a statement, not a motion
Time-sensitivity	3	Press cycle relevance only
Stakeholder mobilisation	3	Civil society uptake limited
Geopolitical resonance	6	Resonates with Russian / US framing

Total: 24 / 70 → Tier-3 ROUTINE classification (likely Tier-4 if no media uptake within 48h). Urgency: 🔵 ELEVATED. Sensitivity: PUBLIC.

Walkthrough 3 — Trilogue collapse on Critical Raw Materials Act

Event: Council position diverges from EP mandate; trilogue suspended.

Dimension	Score	Rationale
Institutional impact	8	Negotiation breakdown affects Council-EP balance
Coalition implications	6	EP rapporteur (S&D) under coalition pressure
Public-policy stakes	8	Strategic-autonomy file, supply-chain stakes
Legal-procedural complexity	8	Conciliation procedure may be triggered
Time-sensitivity	8	Window before recess closes; presidency change ahead
Stakeholder mobilisation	7	Industry lobbying intense; trade unions engaged
Geopolitical resonance	7	China-EU rare-earths context

Total: 52 / 70 → Tier-1 SIGNIFICANT. Urgency: 🔴 CRITICAL trilogue collapse with shrinking calendar window. Sensitivity: RESTRICTED (internal positions in conciliation are confidential).

Walkthrough 4 — Routine ENVI committee adoption

Event: ENVI adopts amendments to a non-controversial revision of an existing directive (e.g. minor technical update to fluorinated-gas rules).

Dimension	Score	Rationale
Institutional impact	3	Procedural step, not the headline vote
Coalition implications	2	Cross-coalition consensus expected
Public-policy stakes	3	Technical update; limited downstream effects
Legal-procedural complexity	4	Multiple amendments but no controversy
Time-sensitivity	2	Standard schedule
Stakeholder mobilisation	2	Sectoral interest only
Geopolitical resonance	1	Negligible

Total: 17 / 70 → Tier-4 BACKGROUND. Urgency: ⚪ ROUTINE. Sensitivity: PUBLIC.

📐 Border-line cases — when scoring straddles tiers

Score totals near tier boundaries (47-50 between Tier-1 and Tier-2; 28-32 between Tier-2 and Tier-3) are common. Use the tie-break rule:

If any dimension scores ≥ 8, escalate one tier upward.
If three or more dimensions score ≥ 7, escalate one tier upward.
If urgency is 🔴 CRITICAL, classification is at minimum Tier-1 regardless of total.
If sensitivity is RESTRICTED, classification is at minimum Tier-2 regardless of total.

These rules prevent under-classification of asymmetric events (one dimension dominates) and align with the political-significance rubric in political-style-guide.md §Significance Bands.

🛂 Cross-border events — special handling

Events originating outside EU institutions (third-country actions, geopolitical shifts, court rulings, ECB decisions) must still be classified when they impact EP work. The 7-dimension rubric applies, with these adjustments:

Event class	Dimension adjustments
Court of Justice ruling	"Legal-procedural complexity" anchored at +2 (binding effect); "Institutional impact" depends on which institution is bound
ECB monetary decision	"Public-policy stakes" anchored at +1 (every member state's economy); "Coalition implications" usually 0 (ECB independence)
Third-country act (e.g. US tariff)	"Geopolitical resonance" is the lead dimension; "Stakeholder mobilisation" varies with industry exposure
Member-state election	Weight to "Coalition implications" if it changes EP party arithmetic (Eurosceptic / pro-EU shift)
Treaty-change proposal	Always Tier-1 regardless of sub-scores; institutional-impact cap removed

⚠️ Urgent procedure (Rule 163) — auto-classification triggers

EP Rule 163 ("urgent procedure") accelerates a file's calendar to a single plenary. When urgent procedure is invoked, classification jumps to:

Urgency: minimum 🟠 URGENT
Tier: minimum Tier-2
Time-sensitivity dimension: minimum 7

If the file is also Article-7 / treaty-change / sanctions-related, the combined effect is Tier-1 / 🔴 CRITICAL automatically.

🧪 Anti-patterns — classification errors to avoid

Anti-pattern	Why prohibited	Correct alternative
Scoring without naming the dimension	Stage-C cannot validate	Use the 7-dimension table; cite each cell
Classifying without procedure code	No anchor for re-classification	Cite procedure code or event ID
Inflating to Tier-1 for press-release events	Loses meaning of Tier-1	Apply rubric strictly; press → Tier-3
Using "MEDIUM" / "HIGH" without tier number	Imprecise	Use Tier-1 to Tier-4 nomenclature
Single-dimension classification	Ignores 6 other dimensions	All 7 dimensions must be scored
Classifying recess events using session rubric	Recess-adjustment rules ignored	Apply §Recess-Period Urgency Adjustment
Re-classifying mid-run	Breaks reproducibility	Lock classification at Pass-2; document drift in next run
"Cannot classify yet" excuses	Stage-C blocker	Classify with low confidence; document confidence label
Mixing significance and urgency	They are orthogonal	Score significance (1-70) AND urgency (4 bands) separately
Ignoring sensitivity dimension	RESTRICTED facts leak	Always tag PUBLIC / SENSITIVE / RESTRICTED

templates/political-classification.md — Classification template
templates/per-file-political-intelligence.md — Per-file template with classification section
political-risk-methodology.md — Risk scoring (uses classification output)
political-threat-framework.md — Multi-framework threat analysis
reference/isms-classification-adaptation.md — ISMS mapping
ai-driven-analysis-guide.md — Per-file analysis protocol

Document Control:

Path: /analysis/methodologies/political-classification-guide.md
ISMS Reference: CLASSIFICATION.md
Adapted from: Riksdagsmonitor classification guide
Classification: Public