Brussels, 29/01/2004 (Agence Europe) - Twenty-three countries of the EU are ready to allow nationals of other Member States to vote in European elections in June this year. Only Cyprus and Latvia have not yet completed preparation for this but plan to do so rapidly, it is stated at the Commission.
Elections at the European Parliament will take place between 10 and 13 June 2004. European citizens living in a Member State other than that of which they are nationals should be able to vote and to run for election in the Member State where they are residing. This concerns over 5,700,000 citizens of the future EU. This number includes 900,000 nationals of future members residing in one of the fifteen current members or one of the nine other acceding countries. Some 66,200 nationals of the EU15 live in one of the ten acceding countries. They are in addition to over 4,700,000 nationals of the EU15 who live in another current Member States.
Just five months from elections, the Commission is pleased with measures taken. "Participation in the political life of the Member State of residence is an extremely important element in the quality of Union citizenship. I am therefore very pleased to note that the Member States and the acceding States have taken the matter seriously and have adopted the necessary measures", Antonio Vitorino said on Thursday. Just a few months ago, the Commissioner said he was "concerned" about the fact that the timetable for voters' registration on lists is "very tight", as, in most countries, the deadline for inscription on voting lists precedes the date of accession (EUROPE of 9 April 2003).
The European directive provides for an exchange of information so that a person does not vote in his/her state of origin and also in his/her state of residence. According to the Commission, around one hundred people were in this situation for the 1999 elections, "mostly because they did not know it was not possible", and not because of any deliberate will to fraud, an official said.
All Member and acceding states must also foresee votes for European citizens in municipal elections. Cyprus, Latvia, Hungary and Poland have not yet done so.