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
Date: 2013-02-08
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Croatia, European citizenship, accession to the European Union, approximation of laws, directive (EU), local election, right to stand for election, right to vote

EUROPEAN 
COMMISSION 

Brussels, 8.2.2013  
COM(2013) 55 final 

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 

EN 

   EN 

 
 
 
  
 
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 
Union1 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 Croatia2. 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 Act3 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 

1 
2 
3 

OJ L 112, 24.4.2012, p. 10. 
OJ L 112, 24.4.2012, p. 21. 
OJ L 112, 24.4.2012, p. 95. 

EN 

2 

   EN 

 
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 Romania4. 

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.  

4 

OJ L 363, 20.12.2006, p. 1. 

EN 

3 

   EN 

 
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) 

(2) 

(3) 

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. 

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. 

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 nationals1 
should therefore be amended accordingly, 

1 

OJ L 368, 31.12.1994, p. 38. 

EN 

4 

   EN 

 
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE: 

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

Article 1 

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 
this  Directive.  They  shall  forthwith 
communicate to the Commission the text of those provisions. 

to  comply  with 

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. 

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 3 

Article 4 

This Directive is addressed to the Member States. 

Done at Brussels,  

For the Council 
The President 

EN 

5 

   EN 

 
 
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,'. 

EN 

6 

   EN