📆 Session Baseline Template

May 3, 2026 · View on GitHub

📌 Template Instructions: Copy to analysis/daily/{date}/{article-type}-run{N}/existing/session-baseline.md (or intelligence/session-baseline.md for newer layouts). Used by motions (which covers quarterly scope), propositions, week-in-review, and month-in-review workflows. See methodologies/per-artifact-methodologies.md §session-baseline.

🎯 Purpose: The comprehensive, structured fact layer of which plenary sessions met during the period, how long they sat, where they were held, and which texts they adopted. Distinct from historical-baseline.md (metric trending) — this file is the calendar + roster, the data-dense reference every other artifact in the run points back to.

📋 Run Context

Field	Value
Date	`[REQUIRED: YYYY-MM-DD]`
Run ID	`[REQUIRED]`
Analysis Directory	`[REQUIRED: analysis/daily/{date}/{type}-run{N}]`
Article Type	`[REQUIRED]`
Parliament Term	`[REQUIRED: EP9 / EP10]`
Period Covered	`[REQUIRED: e.g. Q1 2026 (January–March)]`

1️⃣ Plenary Session Calendar

Session 1 — `[REQUIRED: e.g. January Part-Session I]`

Field	Detail
Dates	`[REQUIRED: e.g. 19-22 January 2026]`
Location	`[REQUIRED: Strasbourg / Brussels]`
Sitting Days	`[REQUIRED: #]`
Texts Adopted	`[REQUIRED: # (± 2)]`
Roll-Call Votes	`[REQUIRED: # (± 5)]`
Key Theme	`[REQUIRED: 1-line]`
EP Session ID	`[REQUIRED: if available]`

Session 2 — `[REQUIRED]`

Field	Detail
Dates	`[REQUIRED]`
Location	`[REQUIRED]`
Sitting Days	`[REQUIRED]`
Texts Adopted	`[REQUIRED]`
Roll-Call Votes	`[REQUIRED]`
Key Theme	`[REQUIRED]`
EP Session ID	`[REQUIRED]`

(repeat per session in scope; most runs cover 2–4 sessions)

2️⃣ Session Calendar Diagram

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gantt
    title Plenary Session Calendar — [PERIOD]
    dateFormat YYYY-MM-DD
    section Strasbourg
    Session 1 : [start], [end]
    Session 3 : [start], [end]
    section Brussels
    Session 2 : [start], [end]
    Session 4 : [start], [end]

3️⃣ Period Totals

Metric	Value
Total sitting days	`[REQUIRED]`
Total texts adopted	`[REQUIRED]`
Total roll-call votes	`[REQUIRED]`
Total resolutions (non-binding)	`[REQUIRED]`
Total legislative acts (binding)	`[REQUIRED]`
Plenary-day attendance mean	`[REQUIRED: % where available, else N/A]`

4️⃣ Adopted Texts Roster (by session)

Session 1 — `[REQUIRED]`

#	Adopted-text ID	Title (first 80 chars)	Procedure Code	Committee	Domain
1	`[REQUIRED: TA-10-YYYY-NNNN]`	`[REQUIRED]`	`[COD/CNS/APP/INI]`	`[ENVI/AGRI/…]`	`[REQUIRED]`
2	`[REQUIRED]`	`[REQUIRED]`	`[...]`	`[...]`	`[REQUIRED]`
…

5️⃣ Committee Activity Map

Committee	Texts Reported	Rapporteurships	Shadow Rapporteurships	Dominant Group
`[REQUIRED: e.g. ENVI]`	`[#]`	`[#]`	`[#]`	`[REQUIRED]`
`[REQUIRED: e.g. ECON]`	`[#]`	`[#]`	`[#]`	`[REQUIRED]`
`[REQUIRED]`	`[#]`	`[#]`	`[#]`	`[REQUIRED]`
`[REQUIRED]`	`[#]`	`[#]`	`[#]`	`[REQUIRED]`

≥5 committees required (or all committees active in the period, whichever is smaller).

6️⃣ Procedure-Code Distribution

Procedure type	Count	% of total
COD (Ordinary legislative)	`[#]`	`[%]`
CNS (Consultation)	`[#]`	`[%]`
APP (Consent)	`[#]`	`[%]`
INI (Own-initiative)	`[#]`	`[%]`
Budget / Discharge	`[#]`	`[%]`
Other	`[#]`	`[%]`

7️⃣ Historical Anchor

Comparable period	Sitting days	Texts	RCVs	Delta
Current period	`[#]`	`[#]`	`[#]`	—
Same quarter, prior year	`[#]`	`[#]`	`[#]`	`[±]`
Prior quarter	`[#]`	`[#]`	`[#]`	`[±]`
Term-to-date average	`[#]`	`[#]`	`[#]`	`[±]`

Narrative anchor: [REQUIRED: ≥100 words — is the period above, at, or below baseline, and what does that mean?]

8️⃣ Data-Source Ledger

MCP tool	Records fetched	Status	Notes
`get_plenary_sessions`	`[#]`	`[✅/⚠️/❌]`	`[REQUIRED]`
`get_adopted_texts`	`[#]`	`[✅/⚠️/❌]`	`[REQUIRED]`
`get_meeting_decisions`	`[#]`	`[✅/⚠️/❌]`	`[REQUIRED]`
`get_procedures`	`[#]`	`[✅/⚠️/❌]`	`[REQUIRED]`
`get_voting_records`	`[#]`	`[✅/⚠️/❌]`	`[REQUIRED: note roll-call publication delay if applicable]`

7️⃣ EP MCP Tool Inputs

EP MCP tool	Used for which section	Notes
`get_plenary_sessions`	§1 Calendar (sitting numbers, dates, location)	Authoritative for Strasbourg vs. Brussels.
`get_meeting_decisions`	§2 Adopted decisions baseline	Per-sitting decision counts.
`get_meeting_activities`	§3 Agenda baseline	Slow endpoint — use limit ≤20 per sitting.
`get_adopted_texts`	§4 Adopted-text baseline	Year-filterable.
`get_voting_records`	§5 RCV baseline (aggregate margins)	Note 4-8 week publication delay.
`get_procedures`	§6 Procedure baseline	COD/CNS/APP procedure activity.
`get_committee_documents`	§7 Committee throughput baseline	Per ENVI/AGRI/ECON/LIBE volume.
`get_speeches`	§8 Speech-volume baseline	Topic-tag distribution.
`get_parliamentary_questions`	§9 Question-volume baseline	Pending vs. answered ratio.
`get_meeting_foreseen_activities`	§3 Look-ahead agenda	Slow endpoint — use limit ≤20.

8️⃣ Worked Pass-1 → Pass-2 Example (Strasbourg-I November 2025 baseline)

❌ Pass-1 (thin, 18 words):

"Strasbourg session held November 10-13. Multiple votes. Several committees met. AI Act discussed. Standard plenary week."

✅ Pass-2 (compliant, 102 words, sourced):

Strasbourg-I 2025-11 (sittings #15-#18, 10-13 November) covered 47 agenda items per get_meeting_activities (limit=20×3 calls). 31 RCVs adopted per get_voting_records (lower than 38-RCV baseline for November plenaries 2022-2024 — see §6 below). Top item: AI-Office implementing-act final vote (Tue afternoon, 392/214/41). Committee meetings in margin: ENVI (CO₂ standards interim review), LIBE (data-retention scrutiny), ITRE (CRA implementation review). 89 questions tabled (baseline 95). Verbatim-record publication delay: 7 days (vs 5-day baseline — flag for transparency-deficit watch). 4 urgency-procedure motions adopted (vs baseline 2). Net: HIGHER procedural intensity, LOWER voting volume than 3-year baseline.

9️⃣ Worked 4-Day Strasbourg Plenary Calendar

Day	Date	Sitting #	Opening	Closing	Agenda items	RCV count (est.)	Anchor item
Mon	2025-11-10	#15	17:00	23:00	6	0 (no votes Mon)	Resumption + commemoration + opening statements
Tue	2025-11-11	#16	09:00	22:00	17	12	AI-Office implementing-act final vote (12:00)
Wed	2025-11-12	#17	09:00	22:00	16	14	Council statement (BE-PL Presidency rotation) + CRA review
Thu	2025-11-13	#18	09:00	16:30	8	5	Urgency motions + voting time
Totals					47	31

Estimate methodology: agenda-items proxied from get_meeting_foreseen_activities; RCV counts proxied from prior 3 Nov plenaries (3-year average 38 ± 6).

🔟 Anti-patterns — REJECT on Pass-2 Review

#	Banned pattern	Why it fails
1	Calendar table without `get_plenary_sessions` confirmation of sitting numbers	Sitting #s must be authoritative, not narrated.
2	RCV-count claim within 4 weeks of session date without LOW-confidence flag	EP roll-call publication delay; tradecraft violation.
3	Comparing current session to "previous one" without naming sitting #s	Baseline ambiguous.
4	Anchor-item identification without `get_meeting_decisions` evidence	Could be agenda noise.
5	Calendar omits committee meetings held in plenary margin	Strasbourg week ≠ plenary alone; committees still meet.
6	"Standard plenary week" verdict — too generic, no Δ vs baseline	Verdict must be Δ-anchored.

1️⃣1️⃣ Cross-References — Controlling Methodology

../methodologies/per-artifact-methodologies.md#session-baseline — construction rules.
../methodologies/structural-metadata-methodology.md — sitting-number + date discipline.
../methodologies/osint-tradecraft-standards.md — Admiralty grade per session-decision claim.
./historical-baseline.md — sister artifact for 30/90/365-day windows (longer than session).
./cross-session-intelligence.md — companion for two-session continuity.
./voting-patterns.md — consumes RCV baseline established here.

1️⃣2️⃣ Stage-C Completeness Signals

scripts/validate-analysis-completeness.js checks for this artifact:

Check	Threshold	Source
Line floor	per article-type (motions 200, month-in-review 180, breaking 130)	`reference-quality-thresholds.json`
Required H2 substrings	"Calendar", "Adopted", "Baseline", "Coverage"	structural contract
Mermaid block	≥1 (Gantt of sittings preferred)	visual contract
Tradecraft markers	Admiralty grade per session-decision; LOW flag on RCVs <4 weeks old	`osint-tradecraft-standards.md`
Source diversity	≥4 EP MCP tools (sessions, decisions, activities, texts)	per-artifact rule
Coverage discipline	All sittings in window indexed; no missing days	template logic

1️⃣3️⃣ Worked Δ-vs-Baseline Highlights (Strasbourg-I 2025-11)

Metric	Current	3-y Nov-plenary baseline	Δ	Signal
RCVs adopted	31	38 ± 6	-7	LOWER (within tolerance)
Urgency-procedure motions	4	2	+2	HIGHER (procedural-pressure flag)
Verbatim-publication delay	7 days	5 days	+2 days	HIGHER (transparency-deficit watch)
Adopted-text count	12	11 ± 3	+1	within baseline
Committee meetings in margin	18	15	+3	HIGHER (committee throughput up)

Net signal: procedural intensity up (urgency motions + transparency delay), voting volume slightly down — pattern consistent with "high-friction, low-throughput" plenary, frequent precursor to right-flank consolidation.

Document Control: /analysis/daily/{date}/{type}-run{N}/{existing|intelligence}/session-baseline.md · Template v1.2 · Depth floor: per article-type minimum defined in reference-quality-thresholds.json (authoritative — e.g. motions 200, month-in-review 180).