A Luxembourg member of the European Parliament who gave birth last month has welcomed proposals to grant more parental leave rights to elected representatives in the EU assembly, despite the planned changes having come too late for her.
CSV MEP Martine Kemp became a mother for the first time on 5 May, as she recently announced on her Instagram page.
Currently MEPs are not legally entitled to pregnancy or maternity leave, and new parents in the EU Parliament currently only have the right to be excused for a period of three months before and six months after the birth. This prevents their pay from being cut – which would otherwise happen if they miss a certain number of votes.
However, under existing rules, MEPs cannot be represented by another politician or vote by proxy, meaning elected members who are unable to attend meetings of the EU Parliament effectively lose their vote.
A series of proposed reforms – which have to be agreed on by EU member states – are set to be presented by European Parliament President Roberta Metsola at the next EU summit on 26 June in Brussels.
The planned changes include allowing affected MEPs to delegate their vote to colleagues during their parental leave, making it mandatory for the reason for the MEP’s absence to be reflected in the minutes and introducing a type of paternity leave for new fathers.