Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on measures to be taken by Member States to ensure participation of all citizens of the Union to the 2004 elections to the European Parliament in an enlarged Union
Date: 2003-04-08
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Community acquis, European Parliament, European citizenship, European election, civil rights, dissemination of information, enlargement of the Union, national implementing measure, turnout of voters

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

Brussels, 8.4.2003
COM(2003) 174 final

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL

on measures to be taken by Member States to ensure participation of all citizens of the
Union to the 2004 elections to the European Parliament in an enlarged Union

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL

on measures to be taken by Member States to ensure participation of all citizens of the
Union to the 2004 elections to the European Parliament in an enlarged Union

1.

INTRODUCTION

By  successfully  concluding  the  accession  negotiations  in  December  2002,  the
European  Union  honoured  its  commitment  that  the  ten  acceding  States,  Czech
Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and
Slovakia, would be able to participate in the 2004 European Parliament elections as
members.1 These elections will thus take place in a Union of 25 Member States.

Citizens of an enlarged Union will then elect their representatives to a new European
Parliament  for  the  period  from  2004  to  2009.  The  new  Parliament  will  have
732 seats,  representing  the  number  of  seats  allocated  in  accordance  with  the
provisions of the Protocol on the Enlargement of the European Union annexed to the
Nice Treaty.2

Every Union citizen has the right to vote and to stand as a candidate in elections to
the European Parliament in the  Member State in  which he  or  she resides under the
same conditions as nationals of that State.3

The  right to vote and  stand in elections  to the  European Parliament  is  enshrined  in
Article  19(2)  of  the Treaty  establishing the  European  Community and was put into
effect  by  Council  Directive 93/109/EC4  laying  down  detailed  arrangements  for  the
exercise  of  the  right  to  vote  and  stand  as  a  candidate  in  elections  to  the  European
Parliament for citizens of the Union residing in a Member State of which they are not
nationals (hereafter ‘the Directive’).5

2.

PURPOSE OF THE COMMUNICATION

As a result of accession, there will be new citizens affected by the right to vote and to
stand as a candidate at elections to the European Parliament; citizens of the current
15 Member States living in the ten acceding States and citizens of the ten acceding

1

2

3

4

5

Point  7  of  the  Presidency  Conclusions,  Copenhagen  European  Council,  12-13  December  2002,  nro
400/02.
See  Article  2  of  the  Protocol,  which  stipulates  that  the  total  number  shall  be  equal  to  the  number  of
representatives  specified  in  Article  190(2)  of  the  EC  Treaty  plus  the  number  resulting  from  the
accession  treaties,  taking  into  account  the  pro  rata  correction,  so  that  the  total  number  is  as  close  as
possible to 732.
Article 39(1) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, OJ C 364, 18.12.2000, p. 1.
OJ L 329, 30.12.1993, p. 34.
The Directive relates only to voting in the Member State of residence for the list of candidates of that
Member State.  Some  Member States  give  their  nationals  residing  in  other  Member State  the  right  to
vote  for  lists  in  the  home  country.  This  is  governed  solely  by  the  domestic  law  of  the  home
Member State, cf. Article 1(2) of the Directive.

2

                                                
States  living  in  the  current  15  Member  States  or  in  other  acceding  States  are  all
included. These citizens’ political rights are fundamental rights acknowledged by the
Charter of Fundamental Rights6 that must be respected already in the  first elections
after the enlargement.

The official date for accession has been set for 1 May 2004, while the polling days in
the  elections  to  the  European  Parliament  are  10-13  June  2004.  The  tight  time
schedule means that practical arrangements to prepare for the elections will already
start before the official accession.

The Commission stresses the importance  of full  legal  and  practical  implementation
of  the  Directive  in  relation  to  the  2004  elections  to  the  European  Parliament.  The
purpose of this Communication is to add momentum to the implementation process
in the acceding States and to the early entry of all citizens on electoral rolls both in
the current Member States and in the acceding States.

3.

LEGAL  FRAMEWORK  FOR  PARTICIPATION  TO  ELECTIONS  TO  THE  EUROPEAN
PARLIAMENT

The  detailed  arrangements  for  the  exercise  of  the  right  to  vote  and  to  stand  as  a
candidate  in  elections  to  the  European  Parliament  were  laid  down  in  1994  by  the
Directive.  All  the  Member  States  have  transposed  the  Directive,  generally  in  a
satisfactory manner.7

On  joining  the  European  Union,  the  acceding  States  are  expected  to  adopt  and
implement the “acquis”.8 They thus commit themselves to transposing the Directive
by  the  time  of  accession.  None  of  the  acceding  States  has  requested  transitional
arrangements or derogations concerning the Directive.9

Progress in transposal is presented in Annex 1. It shows that, to date, three acceding
States  –  the  Czech  Republic,  Estonia  and  Slovenia  –  have  adopted  the  legislation
transposing the Directive.

The Commission urges all acceding States to take the necessary measures to finalise
transposal, in order to have a firm legal basis for arrangements concerning the 2004
elections. The Commission follows progress as part of the monitoring exercise, and it
recently  drew  the  acceding  States’  attention  to  their  obligations  relating  to  the
elections.

The Directive contains certain requirements concerning electoral procedure from the
point  of  view  of  non-national  citizens  of  the  Union.  The  Member  States  and  the
acceding States have to ensure that steps are taken as follows:

(1) 

(2) 

to identify non-nationals entitled to vote and stand as a candidate (Article 3);

to inform them of their rights (Article 12);

6

7

8

9

OJ C 364, 18.12.2000, p. 1.
COM(2000)843  final,  18.12.2000:  Communication  of  the  Commission  on  the  application  of
Directive 93/109/EC to the June 1999 elections to the European Parliament.
This will be binding by the Treaty of Accession due to be signed on 16 April 2003.
The Directive belongs to Chapter 2 of the EU acquis, which has been closed in the negotiations with all
the acceding States.

3

                                                
(3) 

(4) 

(5) 

(6) 

to receive expressions of the wish to vote (Article 8);

to  enter  voters  on  the  electoral  rolls  and  receive  applications  to  stand  as  a
candidate (Article 9 and 10);

to inform those concerned about the action taken on the application for entry
on electoral rolls or for admissibility to stand as a candidate (Article 11);

to  exchange  information  with  other  States  to  prevent  double  voting
(Article 13).

Besides transposal into legislation, the Member States and the acceding States must
take practical measures to apply the main requirements of the Directive correctly in
the context of the 2004 elections. Early planning is essential in view of the tight time
schedule. As mentioned above, the States will need to carry out part of the practical
arrangements  already  before  the  official  date  of  accession  to  ensure  that  all
non-national Union citizens can participate actively on polling day.

4.

NEW COMMUNITY VOTERS AND COMMUNITY CANDIDATES IN THE 2004 ELECTIONS

The  Directive  defines  a  ‘Community  voter’  as  “any  citizen  of  the  Union  who  is
entitled to vote in elections to the European Parliament in his or her Member State of
residence”. A ‘Community national entitled to stand as a candidate’ (called hereafter
a ‘Community candidate’), is defined as “any citizen of the Union who has the right
to  stand  as  a  candidate  in  elections  to  the  European  Parliament  in  his  or  her
Member State of residence”.

According  to  Article  3  of  the  Directive  the  criteria  for  deciding  that  a  person  is  a
Community voter or a Community candidate are that, on the reference date, he or she
is:

(1) 

(2) 

a Union citizen within the meaning of Article 17(1) of the EC Treaty;

not  a  national  of  the  Member  State  of  residence,  but  satisfies  the  same
conditions  in respect of the  right to vote and to stand  as  a  candidate  as  that
State imposes by law on its own nationals.

The basic criterion for the benefit of the Directive is Union citizenship. Article 17(1)
of the EC Treaty stipulates that nationals of the Member State are Union citizens. In
the  context  of  the  accession  this  means  that  citizens  of  the  acceding  States  will
officially become Union citizens only when the accession treaties enter into fore and
the acceding States accordingly become Member States.

The  second  criterion  is  that  the  person  resides  in  a  Member  State  that  is  not  their
home  State.  The  Directive  does  not  define  conditions  for  being  resident,  but  it
requires equal treatment with nationals: if in order to vote or to stand as a candidate,
nationals  of  the  Member  State  of  residence  must  have  spent  a  certain  minimum
period  as  a  resident  in  the  electoral  territory  of  that  State,  Community  voters  are
deemed  to  have  fulfilled  that  condition  where  they  have  resided  for  an  equivalent
period in other Member States.

Otherwise requirements for non-national citizens of the Union to vote and stand as a
candidate  are  regulated  by  each  Member  State’s  national  electoral  legislation.  The
requirements must, however, be equal to those imposed on nationals. They must be

4

satisfied on the reference date, which is decided by the law of the Member State of
residence.

When applying these criteria in the accession situation, there are three groups of new
Community voters and Community candidates:

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

Current Union citizens (nationals of the current 15 Member States) living in
the ten acceding States;

Citizens of the ten acceding States living in the current 15 Member States;

Citizens of the ten acceding States living in other acceding States.

The numbers of new Community voters and candidates per State are presented in the
table  at Annex  2.  It  can be seen  that there will  be a  total of almost  1  million  new
citizens with right to vote and to stand as a candidate in their State of residence
in the 2004 EP elections.

5.

INFORMING THE NEW COMMUNITY VOTERS AND CANDIDATES OF THEIR RIGHTS

The  2004 elections are  a new situation  to the  almost  1  million  Europeans  enjoying
the right to vote and to stand as a candidate in their Member State of residence. It is
clear that a considerable information effort will be needed if the rights conferred by
Union citizenship are to be exercised, as these citizens are unfamiliar not only with
their rights but also with how to go about availing themselves of these rights in their
Member State of residence. Moreover, the relevant procedures might well differ from
those in their home Member State.

Under  Article  12  of  the  Directive,  Member  States  must  inform  Community  voters
and  Community  nationals  entitled  to  stand  as  candidates  in  good  time  and  in  an
appropriate  manner  of  the  conditions  and  detailed  arrangements  for  the  exercise  of
the right to vote and to stand as a candidate in elections in that State.

Full  realisation  of  requirements  of  Article  12  of  the  Directive  is  therefore  of  the
utmost importance.  The  Commission  considers  that  States  must  specifically  inform
new  Community  voters  of  the  detailed  arrangements  and  conditions  for  exercising
their  electoral  rights.  This  means  that  a  State  cannot  fulfil  its  obligation  under
Article 12  merely  by  providing  the  information  it  normally  provides  for  its  own
nationals.  The  information  must  be  tailored  to  meet  the  specific  information
requirements of Community voters.

The Commission encourages all Member States and acceding States which have not
yet done so to use a system of direct personal letters mailed to Community electors
residing on their territory. States can also provide them with appropriate information
whenever they have contact with the local or national authorities. As far as possible,
States  should  enable  citizens  to  enter  their  names  on  the  electoral  roll  simply  by
filling in a form and returning it by post.10

10

COM(2000)843 final, 18.12.2000.

5

                                                
6.

REGISTRATION TO ELECTORAL ROLLS

Under Article 8 of the Directive, Community voters exercise their right to vote in the
Member  State  of  residence  if  they  have  expressed  their  wish  to  do  so.  It  must
therefore be made absolutely clear that nobody may vote more than once at the same
elections  to  the  European  Parliament,  and  Community  voters  must  choose  to  vote
either in the home country11 or in the country of residence.

In most cases, a wish to vote is in practice expressed by applying to be entered on the
electoral roll of the State of residence. The following table indicates the last dates for
Community voters residing in the Member States and in the acceding States to apply
for registration in the 2004 elections to the European Parliament.

Deadlines for non-national citizens of the Union to apply for registration
regarding the June 2004 EP election

Last date to apply for registration12

31 December 2003
15 February 2004
29 February 2004
15 March 2004
22 March 2004
30 March 2004
31 March 2004
1 April 2004
2 April 2004
7 April 2004
10 April 2004
11 April 2004
28 April 2004
29 April 2004
30 April 2004

1 May 2004

2 May 2004
3 May 2004
14 May 2004
23 May 2004
26 May 2004

Member State; Acceding State13
France
Hungary
Greece, Luxembourg
Italy
Finland
Austria
Malta
Belgium
Cyprus
United Kingdom
Portugal, Slovenia
Poland
Netherlands
Denmark
Slovak Republic

Date of accession

Czech Republic
Spain
Sweden, Estonia
Germany
Ireland

10 – 13 June 2004

Polling days in the EP elections

11

12

13

It is up to the Member States whether they allow their nationals residing in other Member State to vote
for lists in the home country. This is governed solely by the domestic law of the home Member State,
cf. Article 1(2) of the Directive.
The  deadlines  are  estimations,  counted  on  the  basis  of  information  received  from  the  States.  When
polling date was not yet known, 10 June has been used as basis for counting.
The information was not yet available for Latvia and Lithuania.

6

                                                
It is clear from the table that the deadline for application is before the official date
of  accession,  1  May  2004  in  at  least  17  Member  States/acceding  States.  The
deadlines in the Czech Republic and in Spain are also so close to the accession date
that  is  not  feasible  to  think  that  new  Community  voters  would  be  able  to  register
during the couple of days.

The  Commission  urges  the  Member  States  and  acceding  States  to  take  specific
measures to ensure that all Community voters, including those becoming citizens of
the  Union  in  1  May  2004,  are  able  to  apply  for  entry  on  the  electoral  rolls  even
before official accession.

This  request  is  confirmed  by  Article  9  of  the  Directive,  which  provides  that  the
Member States shall take the necessary measures to enable a Community voter who
has expressed the wish to be entered on the electoral roll to be entered sufficiently in
advance of polling day.

Lastly,  the  States  must  inform  those  concerned  about  the  action  taken  on  their
application for entry on the electoral rolls.  Any  person  who  is refused entry on  the
electoral  roll  is  entitled  to  legal  remedies  on  the  same  terms  as  the  legislation
prescribes for voters who are nationals (cf. Article 11 of the Directive).

7.

EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION TO PREVENT DOUBLE VOTING

Article  13  of  the  Directive  provides  that  Member  States  shall  exchange  the
information  required  to  implement  the  ban  on  double  voting.  To  that  end,  the
Member State of residence is required to supply the home Member State, sufficiently
in advance of polling day, with information on the latter State’s nationals entered on
electoral rolls or standing as candidates. The home Member State, in accordance with
its  national  legislation,  must  then  take  appropriate  measures  to  ensure  that  its
nationals  do  not  vote  more  than  once  or  stand  as  candidates  in  more  than  one
Member State

The  Commission  considers  that  the  acceding  States  should  participate  in  the
information exchange system regarding the 2004 elections and the exchange should
also cover new Community voters.

8.

CONCLUSIONS

The Commission fully recognises that electoral procedures, including time schedules
and  the  rules  governing  entry  on  the  electoral  rolls,  are  within  the  powers  of  the
Member States and the acceding States, and the attention of the Member States and
the  acceding  States  should  be  drawn  to  the  importance  of  guaranteeing  the
fundamental  rights  of  political  participation  for  all  Union  citizens  in  the  2004
elections to the European Parliament. This is essential so that the common project of
enlargement is meaningful also at the level of citizens in the whole Europe.

The Commission accordingly recommends that

–  The  acceding  States,  who  have  not  yet  done  so,  transpose  Directive  93/109/EC
without delay, in order to establish a legal basis for the right of Union citizens to
vote and stand as candidates in the 2004 elections to the European Parliament;

7

–  the current 15 Member States take the necessary measures to ensure that nationals
of the acceding States residing in their territory are entered on the electoral rolls
for  the  2004  elections  to  the  European  Parliament  in  good  time  before  the
elections;

–  the  acceding  States  take  the  necessary  measures  to  ensure  that  Union  citizens
residing in their territory are entered on the electoral rolls for the 2004 elections to
the European Parliament in good time before the elections;

–  the acceding States to take necessary measures to ensure that non-national citizens
of other acceding States residing in their territory are entered on the electoral rolls
for  the  2004  elections  to  the  European  Parliament  in  good  time  before  the
elections.

The  Commission  will  monitor  the  situation.  The  Commission  will  also  convene  a
meeting of representatives of the Member States and the acceding States to exchange
information on practical arrangements taken at the end of 2003.

8

Transposition of the Directive by acceding States
State of play on 6 March 2003

ANNEX 1

Country

Directive 93/109/EC

Czech Republic

Estonia

Cyprus

Latvia

Lithuania

Hungary

Malta

Poland

Slovenia

Slovakia

The  directive  has  been 
the
European Parliament Election Act, adopted on 19
February 2003.

transposed  by 

The  directive  has  been 
the
European  Parliament  Election  Act,  adopted  on
18 December 2002.

transposed  by 

Bill, not yet adopted

European  Parliament  Election  Bill;  not  yet
adopted

Legislation in preparation; not yet adopted

Legislation  being  prepared  by  the  Ministry  of
Interior; not yet adopted

Legislation in preparation; not yet adopted

European  Parliament  Election  Bill;  not  yet
adopted

Transposed  by  Act  on  elections  of  Slovene
representatives 
the  European  Parliament,
adopted on 25 October 2002.

to 

European  Parliament  Election  Bill;  not  yet
adopted

9

Community voters covered by Directive 93/109/EC at the 2004 elections

ANNEX 2

Non-national citizens of the Union and citizens of acceding States (in voting age)

residing in Member States and acceding States14

Country

Nationals

Non-national Union
citizens

Non-national citizens
of the acceding States

Community voters
in total

61 432 000
41 812 000
42 870 000
7 387 000
11 612 000
6 566 000
31 365 000

Germany
France
UK
Belgium
Netherlands
Sweden
Spain
Luxembourg 210 000
Austria
Ireland
Italy
Denmark
Portugal
Greece
Finland
Czech Rep.
Estonia
Cyprus
Latvia
Lithuania
Malta
Hungary
Poland
Slovenia
Slovakia

5 796 000
2 659 000
46 552 000
4 000 000
7 751 000
8 244 000
3 960 000
8 228 000
1 152 000
576 000
1 920 000
2 728 000
312 000
8 070 000
30 794 000
1 606 000
4 316 000

1 617 000
1 004 000
790 000
456 000
194 000
143 000
133 000
108 000
95 000
76 000
56 000
48 000
26 000
16 000
9 000
17 200
1 600
13 000
700
600
1 000
9 400
20 000
1 200
1 500

412 000
53 000
62 700
8 000
9 100
23 000
8 500
8 000
150 000
1 000
35 500
8 300
500
7 500
12 600
63 000
20 000
2 000
2 000
2 000
100
5 500
2 000
300
2 000

2 029 000
1 057 000
852 700
464 000
203 100
166 000
141 500
116 000
245 000
77 000
91 500
56 300
26 500
23 500
21 600
80 200
21 600
15 000
2 700
2 600
1 100
14 900
22 000
1 500
3 500

Grand Total 337 922 000 4 837 200

898 600

5 735 800

Grey boxes = new Community voters at 2004 elections, in total 964 800

14

The numbers are very rough estimates that serve to give an overall picture of new Community voters.
They  are  based  on  population  statistics  of  Eurostat,  but  come  from  different  years,  from  different
collections of population data (e.g. estimations drawn from total population/active population etc).

10