European affairs ministers meeting in the General Affairs Council on Tuesday voted in favor of a plan to allow MEPs to cast proxy ballots in the final three months of pregnancy and the first six months after childbirth.
A senior EU diplomat told POLITICO that the Council will now need to forward the text to the European Parliament for its official green light, before it returns to the Council for final approval. The proposal will then have to be ratified by EU member countries before it can enter into force.
The plan “represents a positive step for democratic representation,” the diplomat said, and will help MEPs “reconcile private life and work and ensure inclusive representation.”
The EU aims to implement the proposal by the next European Parliament election in 2029, as reported in Tuesday’s POLITICO Brussels Playbook.
Metsola said on social media: “We’re not there yet, but we are turning this commitment into reality.”