The European Parliament has approved a rule allowing proxy voting for new mothers before and after childbirth. However, it raises questions about gender equality, as it does not cover male MEPs.
Women MEPs will be allowed to delegate their vote to a colleague before and after childbirth, thanks to a new measure aimed at strengthening work-life balance – despite claims that it runs against the European Parliament’s gender equality policy.
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The changes, adopted by MEPs in Strasbourg on Wednesday, introduce a temporary waiver to the rule requiring in-person voting for the Parliament's plenary sessions.
The rules will let female MEPs delegate their vote to a trusted fellow lawmaker for up to three months before their due date and for six months after giving birth.
The Parliament already gives new mothers the right to take six months of maternity leave, from two months before the birth to four months after. Until now, their vote could not be exercised during this period.
The change aims to help lawmakers who might otherwise face a difficult choice between casting a vote and caring for a child.
“I spent three months on maternity leave not being able to vote,” French Socialist MEP Chloé Ridel, who has a three-month-old baby, told Euronews. “When you have a small baby, you cannot come to Strasbourg without him. If you cannot vote, you cannot represent the people who elected you."
Ridel is still skipping one day in each plenary session to care for her child, who remains in Brussels while she travels to Strasbourg. “I have to miss the votes on Monday evening. Voting implies not being with my baby for three days and three nights, which is already a lot for me.”
The change was overwhelmingly approved by MEPs, with 616 votes in favour, 24 against and eight abstentions. It now needs ratification by the EU national parliaments to enter into force.
But only for women
However, the new rules will only apply to women, raising questions about the equal sharing of childcare between partners — an issue usually championed by MEPs.
While the Parliament's parental leave covers both parents, the option to be replaced in the voting list will only be granted to women.
“Introducing a proxy vote for fathers was impossible, due to a male-dominated view of parenthood,” Italian Green/EFA MEP Cristina Guarda, who has also recently given birth, told Euronews.
She was known for bringing her baby into the plenary chamber to vote, even breastfeeding during debates.
Left-wing parties had tried to include male MEPs in the change, but failed to secure support from other political groups.
In November 2025, MEPs rejected an amendment seeking to extend the rule to fathers. The vote was not a roll call, so the MEPs who rejected the proposal cannot be identified.
However, far-right group Patriots for Europe (PfE) had fiercely opposed the measure.
“The liberals and the Greens demanded that this arrangement be extended to all parents, either because they believe it is not only women who can become pregnant and give birth, or because they think that fathers spending three nights on a camping bed in hospital is somehow to be compared with the situation of women giving birth," Dutch PfE MEP Marieke Ehlers said during the debate.