# EUR-Lex - 52013PC0055 - EN

*|*

# 52013PC0055

**Proposal for a COUNCIL DIRECTIVE adapting Directive 94/80/EC laying down detailed arrangements for the exercise of the right to vote and to stand as a candidate in municipal elections by citizens of the Union residing in a Member State of which they are not nationals, by reason of the accession of Croatia /* COM/2013/055 final - 2013/0034 (NLE) */**

			*

			*

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

1.           CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL

The proposal for a Council Directive adapting
Directive 94/80/EC laying down detailed arrangements for the exercise of the
right to vote and to stand as a candidate in municipal elections by citizens of
the Union residing in a Member State of which they are not nationals is
necessitated by the upcoming accession of the Republic of Croatia to the
European Union.

The Treaty concerning the accession of the Republic of Croatia to the European Union[1]
was signed by all Member States of the European Union and the Republic of Croatia at Brussels on 9 December 2011.

Article 3 (3) of the Treaty of Accession
provides that it shall enter into force on 1 July 2013 provided that all the
instruments of ratification have been deposited before that date.

Article 3(4) of the Treaty of Accession enables
the institutions of the Union to adopt before accession measures referred to,
inter alia, in Article 50 of the Act concerning the conditions of accession of
the Republic of Croatia[2].
These measures shall enter into force only subject to and on the date of the
entry into force of the Treaty of Accession.

Article 50 of the Act of Accession provides that where acts of the institutions adopted prior to
accession require adaptation by reason of accession, and the necessary
adaptations have not been provided for in this Act or its Annexes, the Council
or the Commission (if the original acts were adopted by the Commission) shall
adopt the necessary acts.

Point 2 of the Final Act[3] refers
to the political agreement on a set of adaptations to be adopted by the
institutions which was reached between the Member States and Croatia in the
context of the approval of the Treaty of Accession; the High Contracting
Parties of the Treaty of Accession invited the Council and the Commission to
adopt these adaptations before accession in accordance with Article 50 of the
Act of Accession, completed and updated where necessary to take account of the
evolution of the law of the Union.

In the field of judiciary and fundamental
rights – corresponding to negotiation chapter 23 - only Directive 94/80/EC
laying down detailed arrangements for the exercise of the right to vote and to
stand as a candidate in municipal elections by citizens of the Union residing in
a Member State of which they are not nationals, requires technical adaptation.

The present proposal is part of a series of
proposals for Council directives by the Commission to the Council which regroup
the technical adaptations to Council directives as well as to European
Parliament and Council directives corresponding to negotiation chapters into
separate proposals for different Council directives. This structure is designed
to facilitate the transposition of the directives concerned by Member States into
their respective legal orders. The package of proposals for legal acts which
the Commission has transmitted to the Council is composed of this series of
proposals for Council directives on the one hand, as well as of a proposal for
a single Council regulation which covers the relevant European Parliament and
Council regulations and decisions as well as the relevant Council regulations
and decisions on the other hand. This is in line with the approach which was
taken in the past in view of the accession of Bulgaria and Romania[4].

It is foreseen that all the legal acts included
in this package will be published in the Official Journal of the European
Union at the same date.

The present proposal and the other proposals
included in this package will take into account technical adaptations to the acquis
which were published in the Official Journal of the European Union until 1
September 2012. The reasons for this are to provide sufficient time for the
legislative processes involved on the one hand, and for the fulfilment of the ensuing
transposition and notification obligations by Member States as regards
directives on the other hand. Adaptations which may be necessary to the acquis
published in the Official Journal of the European Union after 1 September 2012
will be foreseen in the relevant acts themselves or done at a later stage
through the appropriate procedure. In addition, the Commission intends to
informally provide a list of such legislation to Member States in early July
2013.

2.           RESULTS OF CONSULTATIONS WITH THE
INTERESTED PARTIES AND IMPACT ASSESSMENTS

As this proposal is of a purely technical
nature and does not involve any political choices, consultations with
interested parties or impact assessments would not have made sense.

3.           LEGAL ELEMENTS OF THE PROPOSAL

The proposal is based on Article 50 of the Act
concerning the conditions of accession of the Republic of Croatia.

The principles of subsidiarity and
proportionality are fully respected. The action of the Union is necessary under
the principle of subsidiarity (Article 5 (3) TEU) because it concerns technical
adaptations to legal acts which were enacted by the Union. The proposal
respects the principle of proportionality (Article 5 (4) TEU) because it does
not go beyond what is necessary to reach the objective pursued.

4.           BUDGETARY IMPLICATION

The proposal has no budgetary implications.

2013/0034 (NLE)

Proposal for a

COUNCIL DIRECTIVE

adapting Directive 94/80/EC laying down
detailed arrangements for the exercise of the right to vote and to stand as a
candidate in municipal elections by citizens of the Union residing in a Member
State of which they are not nationals, by reason of the accession of Croatia

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the
Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to the Treaty of Accession of
the Republic of Croatia, and in particular Article 3(4) thereof,

Having regard to the Act of Accession of
the Republic of Croatia, and in particular Article 50 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the
Commission,

Whereas:

(1)       Pursuant to Article 50 of
the Act of Accession, where acts of the institutions adopted prior to accession
require adaptation by reason of accession, and the necessary adaptations have
not been provided for in the Act of Accession or its Annexes, the Council,
acting by qualified majority on a proposal from the Commission, shall, to this
end, adopt the necessary acts, if the original act was not adopted by the
Commission.

(2)       The Final Act of the
Conference which drew up the Treaty of Accession indicated that the High
Contracting Parties had reached political agreement on a set of adaptations to
acts adopted by the institutions required by reason of accession and invited
the Council and the Commission to adopt these adaptations before accession,
completed and updated where necessary to take account of the evolution of the
law of the Union.

(3)       Council Directive 94/80/EC
of 19 December 1994 laying down detailed arrangements for the exercise of the
right to vote and to stand as a candidate in municipal elections by citizens of
the Union residing in a Member State of which they are not nationals[5] should therefore be amended
accordingly,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:

Article 1

Directive 94/80/EC shall be amended as set
out in the Annex.

Article 2

1.           Member States shall adopt
and publish, by the date of accession of the Republic of Croatia to the
European Union at the latest, the laws, regulations and administrative
provisions necessary to comply with this Directive. They shall forthwith communicate
to the Commission the text of those provisions.

They shall apply those provisions from the date
of accession of the Republic of Croatia to the European Union.

When Member States adopt those provisions, they
shall contain a reference to this Directive or be accompanied by such a
reference on the occasion of their official publication. Member States shall
determine how such reference is to be made.

2.           Member States shall
communicate to the Commission the text of the main provisions of national law
which they adopt in the field covered by this Directive.

Article 3

This Directive shall enter into force
subject to, and as from the date of the entry into force of the Treaty of
Accession of the Republic of Croatia.

Article 4

This Directive is addressed to the Member
States.

Done at Brussels,

For
the Council

The
President

ANNEX

JUDICIARY AND FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS

EU CITIZENS' RIGHTS

31994 L 0080: Council Directive 94/80/EC of 19 December 1994 laying down
detailed arrangements for the exercise of the right to vote and to stand as a
candidate in municipal elections by citizens of the Union residing in a Member
State of which they are not nationals (OJ L 368, 31.12.1994, p. 38):

In the ANNEX,
the following is inserted after the entry for Bulgaria:

'in Croatia:

općina, grad, županija,'.

[1]               OJ L 112, 24.4.2012, p. 10.

[2]               OJ L 112, 24.4.2012, p. 21.

[3]               OJ L 112, 24.4.2012, p. 95.

[4]               OJ L 363, 20.12.2006, p. 1.

[5]               OJ L 368, 31.12.1994, p. 38.