Article 4
1. 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 territory of that State, voters and persons entitled to stand as candidates within the scope of Article 3 shall be deemed to have fulfilled that condition where they have resided for an equivalent period in other Member States. 2. If, under the laws of the Member State of residence, its own nationals may vote or stand as candidates only in the basic local government unit in which they have their principal residence, voters and persons entitled to stand as candidates within the scope of Article 3 shall also be subject to this condition. 3. Paragraph 1 shall not affect the provisions of each Member State under which the exercise by any person of the right to vote and to stand as a candidate in a given basic local government unit is subject to his having spent a minimum period as a resident in that unit. Nor shall paragraph 1 affect any national provision already in force on the date of adoption of this Directive, whereby the exercise by any person of such right to vote and to stand as a candidate is subject to his having spent a minimum period in the constituent part of the Member State of which the basic local government unit forms a part.