Swedish Climate Minister Brings Three‑Month‑Old Son to EU Council Meeting

During a lengthy EU Council meeting on climate policy last Thursday, ministers were surprised to find an unexpected, fresh‑faced participant: a three‑month‑old baby.

Swedish Climate Minister Romina Pourmokhtari attended the EU Council meeting in Luxembourg with her three‑month‑old son, Adam, to illustrate how strong parental‑leave policies can help women avoid choosing between career and family.

“I wanted to show that it’s possible not to have to choose between work and family,” Pourmokhtari told Reuters. “That also requires a partner who isn’t a ‘dinosaur’—someone modern and willing to tag along.”

An EU Council official confirmed that, to the institution’s knowledge, this was the first time a baby had attended a ministerial meeting.

At age 30, Romina Pourmokhtari became Sweden’s youngest minister when she took office in 2022. She has recently returned from parental leave, and her husband, who is also on leave until Sweden’s September election, joined her in Luxembourg to care for Adam.

Sweden has one of the world’s best parental policies

Sweden offers one of the world’s most generous parental‑leave systems, funded through its high‑tax model. The policy has become a key issue in the upcoming election campaign.

Parents receive roughly 16 months of paid leave in total, with 90 days allocated exclusively to each parent and non‑transferable. Unused days are forfeited.

These non‑transferable periods, commonly referred to as “dad months,” were instituted to encourage fathers to spend more time with their children.

Pourmokhtari credits the policy, along with support from her team, for making it “much less controversial” for her husband to care for Adam while she works.

She emphasized that supportive policies are not merely about allocating tax revenue for longer leave, urging governments to also consider more flexible rules for sharing leave and improving affordable childcare.

“It’s creating a lot of value that shouldn’t be underestimated,” she said. “That value may not always be economic, but in the end it can also be economic, in terms of not having burnt‑out workers,” she noted, highlighting the broader societal burden on parents trying to balance work and family.

Krzysztof Bolesta, Poland’s deputy climate minister, said having a baby present at the meeting caused no difficulty.

“I think it’s great,” he told Reuters. “It’s not a handicap, it’s just a part of life.”

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