7 Right to vote and stand as candidate
in European Parliament elections in Member State of residence
| (a)
(28220)
5214/07
COM(06) 790
+ ADDs 1-3
(b)
(28242)
5204/07
COM(06) 791
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Commission Communication: European elections 2004. Commission report on the participation of European Union citizens in the Member State of residence (Directive 93/109/EC) and on the electoral arrangements (Decision 76/787/EC as amended by Decision 2002/772/EC,Euratom)
Draft Council Directive amending Directive 93/109/EC 1993 as regards certain detailed arrangements for the exercise of the right to vote and stand as a candidate in elections to the European Parliament for citizens of the Union residing in a Member State of which they are not nationals
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| Legal base | (a) -
(b) Article 19(2)EC; consultation; unanimity
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| Document originated | (a) and (b) 12 December 2006
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| Deposited in Parliament | (a) 10 January 2007
(b) 16 January 2007
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| Department | Constitutional Affairs
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| Basis of consideration | EM of 31 January 2007
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| Previous Committee Report | None
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| To be discussed in Council | No date set
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| Committee's assessment | Legally and politically important
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| Committee's decision | Both documents cleared
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Background
7.1 The right to vote and stand as a candidate in elections to
the European Parliament in the Member State of residence (rather
than the Member State of nationality) is provided for in Article
19(2)EC, and detailed provisions on the exercise of this right
were made in Directive 93/109/EC.[28]
The Directive provides for the entitlement of a person who is
a citizen of the Union and resident in a Member State other than
that of his nationality (a "Community voter") to vote
and stand for election on the same conditions as those applying
to nationals of that State.
7.2 Since the elections for the European Parliament
do not take place simultaneously in all the Member States, provision
is made in the Directive (Article 4) to require a Community voter
to vote either in his Member State of his nationality, or in that
of his residence. The Directive also provides that no person may
vote more than once in the same election, or stand as a candidate
in more than one Member State in the same election.
7.3 The Directive requires Member States to enter
the name of a Community voter on the electoral roll sufficiently
in advance of polling day. The Member State of residence may require
the Community voter to state in a declaration that he has not
been deprived, in his State of nationality, of the right to vote,
and may seek confirmation of this fact from the State of nationality
.
7.4 Where an EU national has been deprived of the
right to stand as a candidate, Article 6 of the Directive provides
for such a decision to preclude the person from standing either
in his State of origin, or his State of residence. Where a person
wishes to stand as a candidate in the Member State of residence,
Article 10 requires him to produce a declaration that he is not
standing elsewhere and an attestation from his State of nationality
that he is not under a disqualification from standing in that
State.
The Commission's communication
7.5 The Commission's communication (document (a))
reports on the operation of these provisions in the European Parliament
elections in 2004, and recommends amendments to the Directive.
7.6 The communication notes that, prior to the 2004
election, the Commission did not propose any change in the derogation
granted to Luxembourg, allowing that Member State to require a
minimum period of residence of up to five years as a condition
of being eligible to vote. (Article 14 of the Directive allows
a Member State to impose such a residence requirement where the
proportion of non-nationals of voting age exceeds 20% of the total
number of EU citizens of voting age and residing there). The communication
also recalls that, pursuant to Protocol 10 on Cyprus to the Act
of Accession of 2003, elections were not held for the 2004-2009
electoral term in that part of Cyprus over which the Government
of the Republic of Cyprus does not exercise effective control.
The communication notes that in 2004 the United Kingdom held European
Parliament elections for the first time in Gibraltar, and that
the ECJ subsequently dismissed the challenge by Spain to these
elections, ruling that the United Kingdom was entitled to include
"qualified Commonwealth citizens" (which includes certain
non-British third country nationals) among those permitted to
vote in the EP elections in Gibraltar.[29]
7.7 In the communication, the Commission expresses
its concern over the continued fall in turnout in elections to
the European Parliament. It notes that the overall turnout in
2004 was 45.6%, compared with 49.8% in 1999, even including the
turnout in those Member States where voting is compulsory (such
as Belgium, Greece and Luxembourg in the EU of 15). The turnout
in the UK was 38.83%, and among the 15 Member States there were
similarly low turnouts in Austria (42.43%), Finland (39.4%), France
(42.76%), the Netherlands (39.3%), Portugal (38.6%) and Sweden
(37.8%).
7.8 The Commission notes that the percentage of EU
citizens registered to vote in the Member State of residence remains
low and that there was a fall in the number of non-national candidates
from 62 in the 1999 elections (in an EU of 15) to 57 in 2004 (in
an EU of 25). Of the factors which may lie behind the downward
trend, the communication notes that in a number of Member States,
non-nationals are not free to join political parties or to found
new parties. In a number of Member States there has been criticism
of the administrative burden placed on potential candidates by
the requirements of Article 10(2) of the Directive to produce
an attestation from the State of origin that the person is not
disqualified from standing.
7.9 The communication recalls that, in order to enforce
the provisions of Article 4 of the Directive (which prevents a
person from voting or standing twice) a system for the exchange
of information had been instituted by Article 13 of the Directive.
On the basis of information communicated by the State of residence,
the State of origin would delete from its electoral roll any person
who has been added to the electoral roll in the State of residence.
However, it appears that almost all of the Member States have
encountered serious problems with the exchange of data, with the
data provided being incomplete to identify the person in question,
or supplied too late to be taken into account. In some cases,
the system has led to EU citizens being deprived of the right
to vote in their home State, after having returned from their
State of residence. The communication concludes that the information
provided by Member States "seems to indicate the number of
cases of double registration or double voting by non-national
EU citizens is low".
The draft Directive
7.10 Basing itself on the practical difficulties
revealed in its communication, the Commission proposes a Directive
(document (b)) to make a number of amendments to Directive 93/109/EC.
There are two main objectives of the proposal, first to replace
the obligation to exchange information under Article 13 of the
parent Directive by less burdensome means and, secondly, to abolish
the requirement on a person wishing to stand as a candidate to
produce an attestation that he is not disqualified in his home
State.
7.11 It is accordingly proposed to amend the parent
Directive by removing the requirement of attestation in Article
6(2) and 10(2), replacing it with a requirement on the candidate
to declare that he is not disqualified, and an obligation of the
Member State of residence to notify the State of residence of
the declaration. Article 13 (which provided for a system for the
exchange of information between Member States) would be replaced
by a new Article 13 which would require Member States to ensure
that inaccuracies in the declarations made by candidates are subject
to "effective, proportionate and dissuasive penalties".
The Government's view
7.12 In her Explanatory Memorandum of 31 January
2007 the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department
for Constitutional Affairs (Baroness Ashton of Upholland) explains
that the Government supports the view expressed by the vast majority
of Member States that the current requirements imposed by the
Directive for information exchange are in effect unworkable in
the context of the very different arrangements for electoral registration
and voting across the EU. The Minister adds that the proposal
to abolish the system for the exchange of information "seems
a sensible step which will help free up the resources of electoral
administrations to concentrate on the immediate task of conducting
the election".
7.13 The Minister also considers that the proposal
to remove the requirement for an attestation as to eligibility
to stand for election "would appear a sensible step to remove
an overly burdensome obstacle to encouraging people to stand for
election". The Minister further explains that the Government
believes that "inclusion of an appropriate statement in nomination
papers for a European Parliament election would be a reasonable
approach, and UK law already provides for provision of false information
in nomination papers to be an offence".
Conclusion
7.14 We agree with the Minister's assessment of
these two minor, but beneficial, changes to the system for election
to the European Parliament which should relieve electoral administrations
in the Member States. The problem of double voting does not seem
to have been a real issue in practice, and the present requirements
appear to have been burdensome.
7.15 We clear both documents.
28 OJ No. L 329, 30.12.93, p. 34. Back
29
Case C-145/04 Spain v. United Kingdom judgment of 12 September
2006. Back
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