Verbatim report of proceedings

Tuesday, 2 October 2018 - Strasbourg

Disenfranchisement of voting rights in the EU (debate)

  Cecilia Wikström, author. – Mr President, it’s very interesting to be discussing this issue, which is of great importance to EU citizens, at this hour. However, I’m very pleased that this debate is taking place since voting rights is a key issue for the committee of which I am Chair, namely the Committee on Petitions, in this House.

Participation in the democratic life of the EU and the electoral rights of EU citizens living abroad in another Member State in the Union is frequently the subject of petitions to my committee. Six Member States – namely Cyprus, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Malta and the United Kingdom – systematically deprive their nationals of the right to vote in national elections due to their residence in another Member State. The same Member States also disenfranchise their nationals in European elections if they live permanently in a third country.

However, the right to vote is a fundamental right. Therefore, depriving citizens of the right to vote once they move to another EU Member State is effectively equivalent to punishing these citizens for having exercised their right to free movement in the Union.

These persons very often feel like second—class citizens. These practices can change their whole lives without giving them the opportunity to participate, which was the case for all the British citizens who were not allowed to participate in the referendum about Brexit because they had lived in another Member State for some time. However, they were directly affected by the result when Brexit was a fact. It is therefore high time that the Member States in this Union address this very concrete concern because disenfranchisement has huge consequences for all the individuals concerned.

The loss of electoral rights for citizens moving to another Member State can be seen as an infringement upon freedom of movement under EU law. It could potentially stop EU citizens from exercising their right to free movement in the Union. Indeed, the discouraging effect in each individual case may be difficult to prove, but the violation of EU citizenship rights does not require statistical or other evidence. It’s enough to read the petitions to our committee.

The main justification for disenfranchisement, that citizens living abroad no longer have sufficient links with their home country, seems completely outdated in the globalised world of today. We are interconnected with each other. The nationality bond with a state is still the main connecting factor for the rights and obligations of each citizen, but citizens resident abroad still have obligations deriving from their nationality so they should also be conferred their corresponding rights. In addition, there has been a Eurobarometer on electoral rights, where two—thirds of the respondents thought that it was not at all justified that people lose the right to vote in national elections in their country simply because they reside in another EU country.

The Committee on Petitions considers that EU citizens who move to reside in another Member State should have the possibility to exercise their right to vote in the national elections of their country of origin. The committee therefore calls on those Member States that disenfranchise nationals who choose to live for an extended period in another Member State to ease the conditions for these nationals and preserve their right to vote in national elections. The committee is aware of the fact that the decision on who is conferred the right to vote in national and European elections lies with the Member States. Nevertheless, we also know that the problem of the disenfranchisement of voting rights has been known for a long time. It is therefore high time to take action now.

We therefore urge the Commission to propose specific measures for removing any obstacles to free movement. Especially in view of the upcoming elections in May next year, we must safeguard the right of all EU citizens to choose to vote either in their Member State of origin or in the host Member State where they reside. I look forward to hearing your answers to the questions put forward by the Committee on Petitions.