Compiled from an official source version. Later amendments or repeals may not be reflected; the official text prevails. · Read the official text ↗
Subject matter and scope
1. This Directive lays down the detailed arrangements whereby Union citizens residing in a Member State of which they are not nationals (‘non-national Union citizens’) may exercise the right to vote and to stand as a candidate there in elections to the European Parliament. 2. Nothing in this Directive shall affect each Member State’s provisions concerning the right to vote or to stand as a candidate of its nationals who reside outside its electoral territory.
Definitions
For the purposes of this Directive, the following definitions apply: (1) ‘elections to the European Parliament’ means elections by direct universal suffrage to the European Parliament of representatives in accordance with the Act concerning the election of the members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage, annexed to Council Decision 76/787/ECSC, EEC, Euratom of 20 September 1976 ( 8 ) (‘the Electoral Act’); (2) ‘electoral territory’ means the territory of a Member State in which, in accordance with the Electoral Act and, within that framework, in accordance with the electoral law of that Member State, members of the European Parliament are elected by the people of that Member State; (3) ‘Member State of residence’ means a Member State in which a Union citizen resides but of which the Union citizen is not a national; (4) ‘home Member State’ means the Member State of which a Union citizen is a national; (5) ‘Union voter’ means any Union citizen who is entitled to vote in elections to the European Parliament in the Member State of residence in accordance with this Directive; (6) ‘Union citizen entitled to stand as a candidate’ means any Union citizen who has the right to stand as a candidate in elections to the European Parliament in the Member State of residence in accordance with this Directive; (7) ‘electoral roll’ means the official register of all voters entitled to vote in a given constituency or locality, drawn up and kept up to date by the competent authority under the electoral law of the Member State of residence, or the population register if it indicates eligibility to vote; (8) ‘reference date’ means the day or the days as of which Union citizens have to satisfy, under the law of the Member State of residence, the requirements for voting or for standing as a candidate in that State; (9) ‘formal declaration’ means a declaration by the person concerned, inaccuracy in which makes that person liable to penalties, in accordance with the applicable national law.
Conditions governing the right to vote and to stand as a candidate
Any person who, on the reference date: (a) is a Union citizen within the meaning of Article 20(1) TFEU; and (b) is not a national of the Member State of residence, but satisfies the same conditions in respect of the right to vote and to stand as a candidate as that Member State imposes by law on its own nationals, shall have the right to vote and to stand as a candidate in elections to the European Parliament in the Member State of residence unless deprived of those rights pursuant to Articles 6 and 7. Where, in order to stand as a candidate, nationals of the Member State of residence must have been nationals for a certain minimum period, non-national Union citizens shall be deemed to have met this condition when they have been nationals of a Member State for the same period.
Prohibition from voting more than once or standing as a candidate in more than one Member State
1. Union voters shall exercise their right to vote either in the Member State of residence or in their home Member State. No person may vote more than once in the same election. 2. No person may stand as a candidate in more than one Member State in the same election.
Residence requirements
If, in order to vote or to stand as candidates, nationals of the Member State of residence must have spent a certain minimum period as a resident in the electoral territory of that Member State, Union voters and Union citizens entitled to stand as candidates shall be deemed to have fulfilled that condition where they have resided for an equivalent period in other Member States. This Article shall apply without prejudice to any specific conditions as to length of residence in a given constituency or locality.
Ineligibility
1. Union citizens who reside in a Member State of which they are not nationals and who, through an individual judicial decision or an administrative decision provided that the latter can be subject to judicial remedies, have been deprived of their right to stand as a candidate under either the law of the Member State of residence or the law of the home Member State shall be precluded from exercising that right in the Member State of residence in elections to the European Parliament. 2. The Member State of residence shall check that the Union citizens who have expressed a desire to exercise their right to stand as a candidate there have not been deprived of that right in the home Member State through an individual judicial decision or an administrative decision provided that the latter can be subject to judicial remedies. 3. For the purposes of paragraph 2 of this Article, the Member State of residence shall notify the home Member State of the declaration referred to in Article 10(1). To that end, the relevant information that is available from the home Member State shall be provided in any appropriate manner within 5 working days from the reception of the notification or, where possible, within a shorter time limit, if so requested by the Member State of residence. Such information may include only details which are strictly necessary for the implementation of this Article and may be used only for that purpose. If the information is not received by the Member State of residence within the time limit, the candidate shall none the less be admitted. 4. If the information provided invalidates the content of the declaration, the Member State of residence, irrespective of whether it receives the information within the time limit or at a later stage, shall take the appropriate steps in accordance with its national law to prevent the person concerned from standing as a candidate or, where this is not possible, to prevent this person either from being elected or from exercising the mandate. 5. Member States shall designate a contact point to receive and transmit the information necessary for the application of paragraph 3. They shall communicate to the Commission the name and contact details of the contact point and any updated information or changes concerning it. The Commission shall keep a list of contact points and make it available to the Member States.
Disqualification from voting
1. The Member State of residence may check that the Union citizens who have expressed a desire to exercise their right to vote there have not been deprived of that right in the home Member State through an individual civil law or criminal law decision. 2. For the purposes of paragraph 1 of this Article, the Member State of residence may notify the home Member State of the declaration referred to in Article 9(2). To that end, the relevant and normally available information from the home Member State shall be provided in a timely and appropriate manner; such information may only include details which are strictly necessary for the implementation of this Article and may only be used for that purpose. If the information provided invalidates the content of the declaration, the Member State of residence shall take the appropriate steps to prevent the person concerned from voting. 3. The home Member State may, in a timely and appropriate manner, submit to the Member State of residence any information necessary for the implementation of this Article.
Freedom to choose to vote in the Member State of residence
1. Union voters shall exercise their right to vote in the Member State of residence if they have expressed the wish to do so. 2. If voting is compulsory in the Member State of residence, Union voters who have expressed the wish to vote in that Member State shall be obliged to vote.
Articles on this page are reproduced verbatim from official open data. See the attribution line.
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.