MEPs back voting rights for new mothers – but fathers miss out

Published on 12 November 2026 - 14:33 GMT+1•Updated 14:33 Female members of the European Parliament will be able to delegate their votes to colleagues before and after giving birth. Their male counterparts, however, will not enjoy the same right. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The measure, given final approval on Thursday, introduces a temporary exemption from the rule requiring MEPs to vote in person during plenary sessions. Female lawmakers will be able to appoint a trusted colleague to vote on their behalf for up to three months before their due date and six months after giving birth. The change is intended to ensure that new mothers can continue to have their voices heard in Parliament while caring for their children. But the exclusion of fathers raises questions about the equal sharing of childcare responsibilities, a principle MEPs routinely champion. “I wish we could be doing the same for young fathers, or those adopting children,” said Dutch Socialist MEP Lara Wolters, who was in charge of the file through the chamber. Parliament’s own rules on leave already cover both parents: any MEP is entitled to a justified absence from two months before the birth to four months after. The new rule passed by an overwhelming majority and most MEPs welcomed it, but many remain dissatisfied. “We wanted to extend this possibility to male lawmakers, but we had to adopt a pragmatic approach,” Spanish Socialist MEP Juan Fernando López Aguilar told Euronews. He drafted a parallel amendment to the European Electoral Act, which was needed to change the in-person voting rule. “It is an extremely complex process, which requires not only the backing of all 27 EU member states, but also ratification by national parliaments,” he said, adding that including male MEPs would have been too ambitious and could have sunk the entire provision. Extending the measure to fathers has already proved contentious. In November 2025, MEPs rejected an amendment that would have covered them. The vote was not a roll call, so those who opposed the proposal cannot be identified, but far-right lawmakers openly reject legal parity between men and women in this context. “This amendment only deals with mothers who are physically incapacitated to cast their vote, either because they are about to give birth, or they have to nurse their newborn. Therefore, it cannot be extended to men or foster parents,” Marieke Ehlers, a Dutch MEP from the Patriots for Europe group, told Euronews. She argued that the rule addresses the “physical consequences of childbirth,” which affect only women. The provision will take effect once all member states have ratified the amended European Electoral Act through their national parliaments. So far, only ten countries have completed the process.