Committee on Legal Affairs – Extraordinary Meeting

Name: Committee on Legal Affairs – Extraordinary Meeting
Uploaded: 2026-07-02T08:00:00+00:00
Duration: 2742 s

25:35 - 30:08

Speaker 2

That is the end of the vote and the end of the in-camera part of this meeting. And with that, we can move to item 12, which is on proxy voting. And I invite colleagues to leave the room quietly so that we can move on to this item. And there, so on the exchange of views on proxy voting, I will now speak in my capacity as rapporteur on this file and not as chair of this meeting. So as you may remember, last November, Parliament put forward with an overwhelming majority a proposal to change the European Electoral Act to allow members in the periods immediately before and after becoming mothers to fully exercise their mandates.

And during the last three months of pregnancy and until six months after having given birth, the future new mother would have the possibility to delegate her vote in plenary to a colleague that she trusts, and this on a strictly voluntary basis. And following that initiative, the Council drafted a corresponding amending decision and seized Parliament for consent, which Parliament gave at its plenary sitting of the 26th of April 2026. The Council decision amending the electoral law was formally adopted on the 26th of May 2026, and although the decision will enter into force after it has been ratified by the member states in accordance with their respective constitutional requirements, Parliament should already do as much preparatory work as possible, I think. And the Irish presidency informed us that they are very supportive of this proposal also. The next step to making proxy voting in Parliament a reality is the corresponding necessary modification of the Statute for Members of Parliament.

And that is where our committee is competent, hence this INL report. Then, for the sake of completeness of information, I can also add that the last step, or potentially a parallel step in this process, is the detailed arrangements in the rules of procedure. And as you all know, AFCO is responsible on that part. Long story short, today we are starting the procedure in JURI with a first exchange of views. And although the work ahead can be regarded as technical in some aspects, it will nevertheless entail some careful reflections on paragraph 1b of Article 6 of the electoral law, as amended by the Council decision, in which the Council provided that the general conditions for proxy voting to be laid down in the statutes for MEPs must ensure compliance with the principles of transparency, accountability, traceability, legal certainty, and integrity of the vote.

We therefore must conduct this delicate task carefully to ensure that no last-minute hitches appear in the Council, since they need to consent to what we do here. I am all too aware that some colleagues, including myself, have been on maternity leave and have come back from maternity leave whilst this reform has been debated. That's long we have now been talking about this, and the last thing that I would want is for our own committee to hold up the procedural steps any further. Seeing as we have a broad consensus that we should have a proxy voting system, I hope that we can do our work here swiftly. And in order to facilitate that, I want to work very openly and consensually with colleagues, beginning with a kickoff shadows meeting next Monday in Strasbourg before I start writing the draft report.

Once we are ready with the draft amendments of the statute, Parliament must submit them to the Commission for opinion and to the Council for consent before it can formally adopt them. So, with these first broad brushstrokes, I invite the shadow rapporteurs that are present today for their first remarks for two minutes if they wish to use them. And the first is for EPP, Mr. Vazquez Lazara.

30:08 - 30:43

Speaker 4

Thank you, Lara. I think that is something that we should, in my opinion, do in a quite quick and fast manner. I think also that we should encourage AFCO to do the same and at the same time, because I think they are a little bit dragging their feet on this. And we need to change both the status and the rules of procedure almost on a same timing. And I think that the key for that, and to successfully deliver this that I think is much needed for the house, is that we do not open the scope and we stick to what we have to change as soon as possible.

Thank you.

30:43 - 30:47

Speaker 1

Thank you very much. Then for the Patriots, Mr. Ton Diepeveen.

30:47 - 32:02

Speaker 3

Dank u wel, voorzitter. Ja, voorzitter, ik denk dat het een belangrijke regeling is. Zoals u al aangaf, de kieswet vraagt ons een regeling uit te werken die de beginselen van transparantie, traceerbaarheid, rechtszekerheid en integriteit van het stemproces waarborgt. Het is geen eenvoudige opdracht, beseffen we ook, want ook de wijzigingen die we voorstellen zullen opnieuw de goedkeuring van de Raad moeten krijgen. Ik denk dat het belangrijk is om de volmachtregeling voldoende stevig te verankeren in het statuut van de parlementsleden en niet teveel over te laten aan het reglement van orde, dat eveneens aan een grondige herziening toe is.

Voorzitter, de Patriots for Europe willen garanderen dat de volmachtgever voldoende controlemechanismen heeft om ervoor te zorgen dat de gevolmachtigde de steminstructies van de volmachtgever naleeft. Een volmacht mag immers geen vrijgeleide zijn voor de gevolmachtigde en zwangerschap verhindert namelijk enkel het fysiek uitbrengen van de stem, niet de beraadslaging over de stemintentie en deze gedachte moet volgens ons dan ook verankerd worden in het statuut. Voorzitter, ik kijk uit naar een samenwerking met u als schaduwrapporteur, u als rapporteur, ik als schaduwrapporteur over dit belangrijke onderwerp. Dank u wel.

32:02 - 32:17

Lara Wolters

Dank u wel. En dan voor de ECR of for the ECR, I don't know if we have anyone present. Okay, Mr. Zipper for Renew or perhaps a colleague, Mr. Zalimas, go ahead.

32:17 - 34:44

Dainius Žalimas

Yes, indeed, I will read the comments on behalf of my colleague Lukas Zipper. So dear colleagues, examples in new politics such as ministers and MEPs bringing their children into plenary sessions and council meetings show that families are already an integral part of our political life. Our statute should catch up and offer a safe, transparent legal framework so that parenthood and parliamentary work are not in conflict. The rules should be clear. You do not have to choose between your child and your mandate.

Amending the statute on proxy voting is a very long overdue small legal change with a major political message and a life-changing impact on our colleagues. We have a simple and straightforward stance. Do we accept that colleagues who go through late pregnancy and recovery after childbirth must pay a hidden price for doing this job, or do we finally match the rules to the realities of our lives? We have already agreed to be bold and make this long-wished change into reality. Now we must make it airtight, flexible, easy to use, transparent and not water down our promises.

For Renew, our stance is clear. Parenthood should never silence a democratic mandate. In a modern democracy, it should be obvious that no one be forced to choose between being a parent and being present for key votes in the European Parliament. Of course, with rights must come safeguards. The statute should lay down clear eligibility conditions and a defined timeframe, a straightforward and flexible user-friendly notification and designation procedure leaving a robust auditable trail but not over-burdening members with bureaucracy at an already demanding time, full transparency so that citizens and colleagues can see when a proxy has been used, guarantees against any misuse of the system or manipulation of votes.

If we are serious about democratic participation, gender equality and bringing a younger, more diverse generation into politics, our own statute must show that we are ready to modernize our rules. Thank you.

34:44 - 35:20

Sergey Lagodinsky

Thank you very much. For the Greens, Mr. Lagodinsky.

Yes, thank you very much, a very timely and an important initiative and of course we support it. Just one minor remark as we on the level of AFCO during negotiations have represented the position, I think the Left was also on our side, that it should be about all parents and not just mothers. In the final text it is limited to mothers only. We continue to be interested in a broader position on that, but of course we support the general, the general position as well.

35:20 - 36:18

Lara Wolters

Thank you very much.

Then for the Left, I don't see anyone present, neither do I see anyone for the ESN. So with that, I think we've concluded this round. Thank you, colleagues, and I look forward to the work ahead starting in Strasbourg on Monday with our first shadows meeting. I think that brings us then to item 13 on the agenda, that is any other business. I don't see anyone here with any other business, and that takes us to item 14 then, next meetings.

The next committee meeting will be held on the 15th of July in the morning and in the afternoon in Brussels, and on the 16th of July in the morning also in Brussels. And with that, I close the meeting and I wish you all an excellent rest of the week. Thank you.