June 2015. June 2015.

The institution’s audiovisual service captured the image and shared it on social media, with the message “The sweetest voting ever”.

Aiuto, like Ronzulli explained that the event aimed to give voice to mothers, who would, for example, be entitled to childcare by their company or part-time employment.

She commented on social media that “It’s possible!”

MEPs are allowed to bring their children with them to work. They cannot, however, take maternity leave or paternity leaves because they are not recognized in the same manner as the citizens they represent.

“It’s a shame the European Parliament does not lead by example, and show how paternity leave and maternity leaves can be good,” Green MEP Kira Marie Peter Hansen told EUobserver.

The Election Act and the Rules of Procedure in the Parliament do not mention maternity or parental leave.

The MEP can choose to be excused from plenary without being penalised if they are absent before or after the birth of their child. However, this will result in them losing the right to vote.

“(The current situation)

In a letter addressed to Roberta Metsola (President of the Parliament), Spanish socialist MEP Adriana M. Maldonado asks for this right to become recognised.

Maldonado, a spokesperson for EUobserver, said that the letter asks for recognition of this right and the right to be able to vote as a mother. “I want to protect you during this absence.”

EUobserver contacted cabinet of the Parliament’s President, but at the time of publication, had not received any response regarding plans to modernise the rules or to respond to the request for a review.

The rules do not allow for a temporary substitute (as in some national parliaments in northern Europe) to vote in the plenary. It is possible to send substitutes to committee meetings.

The political department of the institution concluded in a legal study that the Electoral Act must be amended to allow the temporary replacements of MEPs.

Maldonado’s petition rules out this option, even though it would be “best” for the Green MEP and the one requested in 2020 by Samira Rafaa (Renew Europe).

“The act is nominative,” she says. “The Spanish people elected my as their representative”.

The parliament has also digitalised its systems to respond to the coronavirus epidemic. This system allowed MEPs the opportunity to vote and discuss remotely, without having to interrupt their work during a pandemic.

In Spain, for instance, maternity leave and work-life integration are recognised, and MEPs who are on leave can vote online in plenary.

Maldonado says, “We’re not asking for the impossible.” “During the pandemic, it was shown that there is no danger and that it can be done. The institution is prepared for it.

MEP Soraya Rod, a Renew Europe member, supports the call for remote vote. “It is normal to keep remote voting for certain specific cases, like when an MEP becomes the mother or father of a child, or in other circumstances such as illness or treatment, where one can maintain a particular activity,” she says.

Some people may be discouraged from pursuing a career in politics if the rules are not modernised and adapted. “It will have a more detrimental effect on women and young people,” says Eugenia Rodrguez Palop, MEP from The Left.

Rodriguez also highlights another effect of modernisation – that of education.

She says that “women’s leadership is very positive.” “It shows women and girls we can hold positions of responsibility just like men.”

In 1979, only 31 women were MEPs. Four out of ten MEPs today are women. The letter claims that this is a record-breaking number.

Maldonado said, “We represent the people and we must be an example to the rest of the society of what we expect from them.”