EU lawmakers on the European Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee have backed changes that would allow MEPs who are pregnant or have recently given birth to delegate their votes in plenary sessions to another member.
The committee approved the proposed amendments to the Statute for Members of the European Parliament unanimously, with 24 votes in favour, the Parliament informed on Thursday.
Under the proposal, eligible MEPs could use a proxy vote for up to three months before an estimated due date and for up to six months after giving birth.
Proxy voting would be available only for plenary votes.
An MEP’s decision to delegate their vote would be voluntary and could be revoked.
No MEP would be allowed to hold more than one delegated vote at a time.
The names of both the MEP delegating their vote and the MEP acting as proxy would be recorded in the sitting minutes and in the published voting results.
Proxy votes would count towards quorums, thresholds and the majorities needed for votes.
If a delegating member later disagreed with a vote cast on their behalf, that would not change the voting result, although corrections would be possible under the usual conditions.
Quote and next steps
“In the JURI committee this morning we took another small but impactful step towards proxy voting for pregnant MEPs,” said Lara Wolters, the committee’s rapporteur on the file, according to the European Parliament.
The proposed changes are due to be put to a vote in a future plenary session.
After that, an opinion from the European Commission and the consent of EU governments in the Council would be required before a final vote in the European Parliament.
The European Parliament President Roberta Metsola initiated the proposal in 2025, and the Council adopted changes to the European Electoral Act in May 2026.
