European Parliament approves proxy vote for pregnant MEPs. Council approval now awaited

Brussels – “Honorable” maternity: the European Parliament is trying to rewrite the rules of the decision-making game by allowing proxy and delegated voting for women who are unable to perform their duties as mothers. From three months before the estimated date of birth until six months after childbirth, anyone who so wishes will be able to delegate the task of voting on measures to someone else, in committees as well as in the House. The Chamber of the European Parliament approved, by a show of hands, the proposal that the Constitutional Affairs Committee had already endorsed. It now leaves it to the Council to amend the European Act for the Election of MEPs. 

Unanimity will only be required to amend the international treaty that regulates the EU’s election and institutional functioning rules. Then, in the event of a green light, each national parliament will have to approve the changes. Nothing is therefore really decided, but Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament, nevertheless shows satisfaction: “It took decades to get here, it was difficult, but it is a starting point,” she chimes in after the plenary vote. “I am proud,” she admits. “As a politician, a woman, and a mother, I hope that the member states agree with us that the modernisation of our voting rules is long overdue and do everything they can to update not only the rules of the European Parliament, but also those of the national parliaments.” The optimism is justified by the fact that what is being called for is a “targeted change” of the European Election Act.

As a Parliament, “we have done our part”, cuts short a satisfied Juan Fernando López Aguilar (S&D), the text’s rapporteur. “For us, it was obvious that the rules had to be changed” and allow women to continue to contribute to the democratic and decision-making process. Not least because, the socialist member recalls, “the EU is founded on equality before the law, the fight against discrimination,” and proxy and delegated voting help to meet these imperatives. 

Juan Fernando López Aguilar (S&D), rapporteur for the proxy vote for pregnant MEPs, and European Parliament president Roberta Metsola [Brussels, November 13, 2025. Photo: Emanuele Bonini]

This is a significant victory,” emphasises Leila Chaibi, a member of the Labour and Social Affairs Committee. “Allowing proxy voting during and after pregnancy is a step in the right direction, not for convenience, but for democracy.” Now, she adds, “I hope that this is only the beginning. We still need to do more, in particular by recognising paternity leave. Male politicians must also assume their share of domestic responsibilities.”

Yes, fatherhood. The plenary debate that preceded the vote turned into a confrontation, at times even in harsh tones, over the role of the father. The Socialists and Democrats (S&D), Greens, and Liberals (RE) also called for proxy voting for men, a hypothesis rejected by Conservatives (ECR), Sovereignists (PfE), and Eurosceptics (ESN).