On Monday 19 April, the European Commission launched a public consultation with a view, in the last quarter of this year, to presenting a draft directive aimed at supporting EU citizens who reside in another EU Member State with the right to vote and to stand as a candidate in both municipal and European elections.
Indeed, as part of its roadmap, the Commission noted that while over 14 million mobile EU citizens are eligible to vote, “turnout rates and the number of mobile EU citizens standing as candidates continue to be lower than for comparable groups nationally and they still face difficulties in the exercise of their electoral rights”.
The Commission therefore proposes to review EU rules that govern the exercise of voting rights and the right to stand as a candidate in elections to the European Parliament (Directive 93/109) and in municipal elections (Directive 94/80) for those EU citizens residing in a Member State of which they are not nationals.
With regard to participation in European elections, the legislative initiative should particularly make it possible to improve cooperation and communication between Member States, as well as being able to “better deal with the issue of multiple votes”, explained the Commission.
With regard to the right to participate in municipal elections, the institution intends to work to raise awareness of this and to update its legislation to take into account recent developments, including Brexit.
The public consultation on this draft directive is open until 12 July. Access the consultation on participation in European elections: https://bit.ly/3goNYin; and access the one on participation in municipal elections: https://bit.ly/3gmIR2l (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)