Opinion on the proposal for a Council Directive laying down detailed arrangements for the exercise of the right to vote and to stand as a candidate to municipal elections by citizens of the Union residing in a Member State of which they are not nationals (95/C 210/06)

On 30 March 1994 the Council of the European Union decided to consult the Committee of the Regions under Article 8b(1) of the EC Treaty on the above-mentioned proposal.

At its 4th plenary session (meeting of 27 and 28 September 1994) the Committee of the Regions adopted the following Opinion in the majority with one abstention. The Rapporteur was Mr O'Neachtain.

1. Introduction

1.1. The Committee of the Regions congratulates the Commission on coming forward with a comprehensive and balanced Directive which seeks to redress the situation in some Member States where non-nationals did not have the right to vote or to stand as candidates in municipal elections. Article 8b(1) of the Treaty of European Union states that citizens of the Union are entitled to vote and to stand as candidates in municipal elections in their Member States of residence.

Moreover, although welcoming the opportunity to contribute its Opinion on this proposal, the Committee laments the fact that in this instance, such consultation is not explicitly provided for in the Treaty. The right of Union citizens to stand and to vote in municipal elections is a matter which is evidently central to the very nature and composition of the Committee of the Regions. Article 8.1 of the Treaty establishes citizenship of the Union while Article 8.2 states that said citizens shall be subject to the duties imposed by the Treaty. As the Institution which operates most closely with the individual citizens of the Union it is clearly inappropriate that the Treaty does not lay down that the Committee should be consulted on this matter and indeed on all other legislative proposals, not least those arising from Article N of the Treaty relating to the examination in 1996 of provisions of the Treaty for which revision is provided. The Committee therefore calls on the Commission to re-examine and extend the consultative scope of the Committee with a view to presenting a proposal to this effect to the Council by the end of 1994.

1.2. This Article is the result of many years of political debate on this important issue which has culminated in this Directive which lays down detailed arrangements whereby citizens of the Union residing in Member States of which they are not nationals may vote and may stand in local elections of that Member State.

1.3. Without prejudice to the principle of non-discrimination between the citizens of the Union, great care has been taken in this Directive not to seek overall change in the legislation which governs local elections in the Member States. It is very specific in its objective to replace the nationality requirement by the requirement of citizenship of the Union. This fundamental right which affects some five million citizens of the Member States is an important step in the development of European citizenship and it is to be welcomed both in the spirit and content of its objective.

1.4. As European Union takes shape and the challenging concept of 'European citizenship' is registered, it is essential to fill the 'democratic deficit' and bring the Union closer to the individual citizen. The proposed Directive is a significant step forward in achieving this goal. Its adoption would help prove to the many citizens who felt alienated from the 'Maastricht process' that the Union, whilst respectful of cultural diversity and of plurality of thought and of tradition, as enshrined in the Treaty, can nonetheless unite around basic, democratic values common to all, indissolubly linked to civil and political rights and duties. The Directive would help to give local, regional, national and transnational expression to these common democratic values.

1.5. In the same spirit, and as a follow-up to the current proposed Directive, the European Union should also address the civic rights and duties of third-country nationals, legally resident in the Union.

2. Specific comments

2.1. Article 2.2

The following sentence should be added to Article 2.2 of the Directive:

'It also covers votes by direct universal suffrage organized by basic local government units.'

2.2. Article 5.3

Whereas in the spirit of non-discrimination it would be desirable to ensure that the right to hold the offices of elected head or member of the executive of a basic local government unit be extended to all citizens of the Union resident in another Member State without prejudice to nationality, the Committee acknowledges that, in certain cases, such as when that office involves the performance of state-devolved duties, a Member State may exercise the right to reserve such positions for its own nationals.

However, the Committee would urge the Member States to minimize such restrictions, and further, in those Member States which choose to reserve this right that the decision be considered as a transitional measure keeping in mind the ultimate objective of extending the right to all citizens of the Union residing in their territories.

2.3. Article 7, paragraph 1

Method of entry onto the electoral role varies from Member State to Member State. In those Member States where entry onto the electoral role is officially carried out without request by the electoral office, a separate system whereby non-national Union citizens should have to formally express their wish to be officially registered could on first sight be regarded by some as discriminatory. However, the Committee recognizes that the requirement that there be an expression or declaration of the wish to vote is intended to protect the right of non-nationals to decide not to vote if that is their wish. The requirement to expressly declare the wish to vote protects, by extension, the right of the resident, non-national EU citizen not to vote if he so wishes in a Member State which exercises a compulsory voting system along with a system of automatic entry onto the electoral role.

However, since a system of automatic registration coupled with compulsory voting is not applied throughout the EU, and since there exists no other scenario whereby a non-national EU citizen could find himself in a position of being obliged to vote against his express wish, the Committee would recommend that the necessity to expressly declare the wish to vote be made mandatory only in those Member States which operate the aforementioned system. In those Member States which do not operate such a system, existing systems for registration and voting may remain unaffected.

The Committee would further recommend that in those Member States where an express declaration of the wish to vote is necessary, that the nature and form of this declaration be left to the individual Member State to decide.

2.4. Article 8

2.4.1. Article 8, paragraph 1

The Committee recommends that the words 'shall take' be replaced with 'shall adopt'. This is to ensure that a voter within the scope of Article 3 will have a clear legal reference-point in terms of expressing his wish to be included on the electoral register sufficiently in advance of election time.

2.4.2. Article 8, paragraph 2

Whether or not it should be mandatory for non-nationals to produce a formal declaration stating nationality and address in the country of residence at the time of expressing their wish to exercise their right to vote, should be left to the discretion of each Member State, insofar as if a Member State has already established the non-national's nationality and place of residence to its satisfaction by other means, such as through local registration of residence requirements, this system should be respected and deemed sufficient as regards the requirements of this Directive.

2.5. Article 9

2.5.1. Article 9, paragraph 1

In the interest of clarity and consistency between the text in the various EU languages the Committee would recommend the deletion of the word 'dichiarazione di' in the Italian text and 'declaration de' in the French text.

2.5.2. Article 9, paragraph 2

Similarly, the Committee would further recommend the deletion of the phrases 'en outre' from the French text and 'inoltre' from the Italian text.

2.6. Article 10, paragraph 1

In the case that the application of a non-national EU citizen to be included on the electoral register of his country of residence or to stand as a candidate be rejected, sufficient time for an appeal of such a decision should be provided for. The Committee would therefore recommend that the first paragraph of Article 10 be amended as follows:

'The Member State of residence shall inform the person concerned in good time of the action taken on his application for entry on the electoral roll or of the decision concerning the admissibility of his application to stand as a candidate.'

2.7. Article 12

Whereas pursuant to Article 8b(1), the Committee recognizes the possibility of obtaining derogations from the provisions of this Directive, the Committee is of the opinion that in accordance with the principle of non-discrimination, any such derogations should ultimately be regarded as transitional, and subject to future review. The Committee would also stress that derogations under Article 8b(1) should be as narrowly defined as possible, both as regards content and duration.

In this regard the Committee welcomes the report envisaged in Article 12.3 while noting that this report should also be submitted to the Committee of the Regions.

Furthermore, taking into account the diverse nature of regional concentrations of non-national citizens of the Union in the various Member States, the Committee wishes to acknowledge that there are some who may argue that any derogations under Article 12.1 might best be considered at local as opposed to national level. However, the Committee is satisfied that in reality, the operation of such a system would not only prove impracticable from an administrative point of view, but may also be construed as running counter to the spirit and principles underlying the very concept of citizenship of the Union.

2.8. To ensure that all Member States and their regions can avail of the benefits of this Directive, and in order to dissipate outstanding concerns as to the scope of its application, the Committee would propose the following addition to the Directive's Annex under Germany, at the end of the second indent:

'Stadtgemeinde Bremen in der Freien Hansestadt Bremen'

('Bremen municipal authority in the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen').

Done at Brussels, 28 September 1994.

The Chairman

of the Committee of the Regions

Jacques BLANC