Baby in the Bundestag: Klöckner wants to support parents with children

Bundestag President Julia Klöckner (CDU) has presented concrete proposals with which she wants to make it easier for MPs to reconcile “mandate and baby”. This is “an important concern” for her as President of the German Bundestag, said a letter from Klöckner that was available to the newspapers of the Funke media group (Thursday edition).

The CDU politician spoke out against “excessively long” plenary sessions until late in the evening. “Fixed meeting ends are an essential prerequisite for being able to combine mandate-related and family obligations.”

In the letter to the chairman of the Rules of Procedure Committee in the Bundestag, Macit Karaahmetoglu (SPD), the President of the Bundestag also criticized consecutive weeks of meetings: “The sometimes very large geographical distance of the constituencies from Berlin represents a very big problem – often a burden – for parents with mandates and their children.” Especially in double session weeks, there is hardly any time left with the family on the weekends other than a quick ‘hello’ before heading back to the capital. It would therefore be helpful if there was a “sensible equalization of the meeting weeks”.

Klöckner also demanded that roll-call votes can no longer be requested “until the proverbial last minute,” but only with a reasonable amount of time. For substantive votes, the head of parliament suggested “voting windows” in which votes can be cast. “Participation in voting requires physical presence throughout, which represents a significant challenge for colleagues in the first months of their children’s lives,” said Klöckner.

The President of the Bundestag also criticized the fact that many committees still had reservations about hybrid meetings. However, caring for babies and small children could be a reason not to attend meetings in person. “As long as there are no conflicting confidentiality concerns, there should be a right to be connected in the first year of a child’s life and not an optional decision by the committees,” demanded Klöckner.

The CDU politician criticized the fact that mothers in the Bundestag receive maternity leave after giving birth, but parents among parliamentarians are not entitled to parental leave like employees. “The MPs Act provides a minimum level of protection for mothers, while fathers currently do not even have the opportunity to excuse themselves on the day of birth,” wrote Klöckner. This regulation is no longer up to date and is not a good signal. “The first months after the birth of a child are a very special time that can be clearly distinguished from other phases of life.”