Romania approves proxy voting for pregnant MEPs and those who have recently given birth; implementation requires approval from all EU member states

Romania is among the six Member States that have completed the national procedures for approving proxy voting for pregnant MEPs or those who have recently given birth, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola announced at the opening of the Strasbourg plenary session on 19 October. Romania’s approval was given through Law No. 195 of 7 October 2026. The mechanism cannot yet be used: the amendment to the European Electoral Act must be approved by all Member States, and implementation also requires the corresponding parliamentary rules.

In brief

1. Romania and Sweden joined Denmark, Bulgaria, Luxembourg and Greece in completing the national procedures, according to the announcement made by Roberta Metsola on 19 October. The list describes the situation communicated at that time by the President of the European Parliament.

2. Romanian Law No. 195/2026 accepts the amendment to the European Electoral Act. The Chamber of Deputies voted 273 in favour, with no votes against or abstentions; the Senate voted 70 in favour, 34 against and one abstention.

3. The new rule allows voting through another MEP for a maximum of three months before the expected date of birth and six months after childbirth. It concerns voting in plenary and does not transfer the parliamentary mandate.

4. The European decision enters into force on the day following receipt by the General Secretariat of the Council of the last national notification. Romania’s approval does not separately activate the mechanism for Romanian MEPs.

5. France, Italy, Ireland, Latvia and Estonia had confirmed that they were taking the final steps towards approval, according to Metsola. This stage should not be confused with the receipt of notifications by the Council.

6. The general conditions must comply with transparency, accountability, traceability, legal certainty and the integrity of the vote. The detailed arrangements are established by the Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament.

7. The file on the internal rules is still at the committee-decision stage. The Legislative Observatory gives 23 November 2026 as an indicative date for plenary consideration, without this being a certain date for adoption or for the start of proxy voting.

In her address, Metsola stated that Romania and Sweden had joined Denmark, Bulgaria, Luxembourg and Greece. She separately mentioned France, Italy, Ireland, Latvia and Estonia, which had confirmed that they were taking the final steps towards ratification. The President of Parliament urged MEPs to continue efforts with the national authorities to conclude the procedures in the remaining states.

The reform responds to a practical problem of representation. The personal-voting rule may prevent an MEP who cannot attend the plenary chamber during pregnancy or after childbirth from participating in votes on legislation or the budget. Absence does not mean loss of the mandate, but the proposed mechanism seeks to ensure that the vote can be cast through a colleague during the period defined by the European act.

Council Decision (EU, Euratom) 2026/1296, adopted on 26 May and published in the Official Journal of the EU on 10 June 2026, introduces the derogation in Article 6 of the 1976 Electoral Act. A woman Member of the European Parliament who is pregnant or has recently given birth will be able to vote through another member for a maximum of three months before the expected date of the child’s birth and a maximum of six months after childbirth. These are limits on the use of the mechanism, not an obligation to suspend parliamentary activity for nine months.

The proxy must himself or herself be an MEP. The rule does not constitute a transfer of the mandate and does not introduce a general remote-voting system. The reform concerns voting in plenary sittings; the act does not automatically create a similar procedure for votes in parliamentary committees.

In Romania, legislative file L570/2026 records that the proposal to accept the European decision became Law No. 195 of 7 October 2026, published in Official Gazette No. 845 on the same day. Romania’s agreement concerns the amendment of the EU Electoral Act; it does not, by itself, introduce proxy voting in the Romanian Parliament.

The Chamber of Deputies adopted the bill on 16 September with 273 votes in favour, with no votes against or abstentions. The Senate, the decision-making chamber, adopted it on 21 September with 70 votes in favour, 34 against and one abstention. The result confirms parliamentary approval, without in itself indicating the individual reasons for the votes.

National approval and entry into force are distinct stages. Article 2 of the European decision requires each state to notify the General Secretariat of the Council that it has completed its constitutional procedures. The act enters into force on the day following receipt of the last notification. The number of completed procedures announced in plenary is not, in itself, a register of notifications received by the Council.

The decision provides for the general conditions to be established in the Statute for Members, in compliance with transparency, accountability, traceability, legal certainty and the integrity of the vote. The detailed arrangements are left to the Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament. The entry into force of the amendment to the Electoral Act and the preparation of its practical application must therefore be followed separately.

As of the check on 20 October, procedure 2026/2105(REG) concerning the internal rules was listed in the Legislative Observatory as awaiting a committee decision. The file is handled by the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, with Juan Fernando López Aguilar, from the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats, as rapporteur. 23 November appears as an indicative deadline for consideration in plenary, not as a guaranteed adoption date or the first day on which the mechanism may be used.

The derogation is limited to pregnancy and the period after childbirth. It does not automatically create the same right for MEPs who become fathers, for caring for a family member or for absences on medical grounds. For a Romanian MEP who meets the specified conditions, the right may become usable within the common European framework, after the entry-into-force and implementation requirements have been fulfilled, without separate activation for Romania alone.