STRASBOURG, France, April 29, 2026 (AFP): The European Parliament on Wednesday voted to allow EU lawmakers who are pregnant or on maternity leave to vote by proxy.
The reform, voted through to applause in the chamber in Strasbourg, will allow MEPs to pick a colleague to vote in their place for up to three months before their child’s expected due date and six months after they give birth.
“This is progress, this is real representation, this is a modern parliament,” said the chamber’s President Roberta Metsola, herself a mother of four.
The measure must still be ratified by the European Union’s 27 members before coming into force.
Until then, MEPs are not allowed to delegate their vote under any circumstances.
“When I became a mother, I had a very firsthand experience of what it means for a parliament not to be designed for parents,” said Socialist lawmaker Delara Burkhardt, who gave birth in June 2025.
“While I was recovering from childbirth and taking care of my newborn, my vote was lost. This is not only unfair, it is anti-democratic,” she added.
Although the parliament’s far-right bloc supported the text, it expressed reservations about the extension of proxy voting.
On the left, Green MEP Daniel Freund welcomed a “historic” decision, but expressed regret that the possibility was not also opened to men on paternity leave.
