CELEX: 51988PC0371
Language: en
Date: 1988-06-24
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL DIRECTIVE ON VOTING RIGHTS FOR COMMUNITY NATIONALS IN LOCAL ELECTIONS IN THEIR MEMBER STATE OF RESIDENCE

20. 9. 88                             Official Journal of the European Communities                              No C 246/3
                                                             II
                                                      (Preparatory Acts)
                                                COMMISSION
              Proposal for a Council Directive on voting rights for Community nationals in local elections in
                                              their Member State of residence
                                                     COM(88) 371 final
                                     (Submitted by the Commission on 24 June 1988)
                                                       (88/C 246/04)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                          Whereas the right to vote in local elections is withdrawn
                                                                  from citizens of certain Member States residing in
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European             another Member State; whereas exercise of the right to
Economic Community, and in particular Article 235                 vote in the municipality of residence should therefore be
thereof,                                                          one of the objectives of Community action; whereas, to
                                                                  this end, steps must be taken to ensure that free
                                                                  movement of persons is not achieved at the expense of a
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
                                                                  loss of political rights at local level;
Having regard       to  the  opinion   of   the   European
Parliament,
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and                  Whereas the right to vote in local elections should be
Social Committee,                                                 granted in the country of residence to nationals of the
                                                                  other Member States on request, provided that they can
                                                                  demonstrate that they have been continuously resident in
Whereas Article 3 (c) of the EEC Treaty stipulates that
                                                                  that Member State for at least the term of office of one
the activities of the Community include the abolition, as
                                                                  municipal council; whereas other requirements applicable
between Member States, of obstacles to freedom of
                                                                  to nationals should apply equally to nationals of the
movement for persons;
                                                                  other Member States;
Whereas Article 8a of the EEC Treaty requires the
Community to adopt measures with the aim of
progressively establishing an area without internal
frontiers in which the free movement of persons is                Whereas the right to stand for election should be
ensured in accordance with the provisions of the Treaty;          granted to nationals of the other Member States in the
                                                                  municipality where they are voters provided that they
Whereas if the right to move freely is to be exercised, by        have been resident for at least the term of office of two
objective standards, in freedom and dignity, Community            municipal     councils; whereas        other  requirements
nationals must be integrated into the life of the host            applicable to nationals should apply equally to nationals
country;                                                          of the other Member States;
Whereas the right to vote and stand for election in local
elections in the Member State of residence is a necessary
step towards achieving such integration, contributing to          Whereas, however, provision should be made for the
 respect for democratic rights which Member States                exclusion of non-nationals from the exercise of functions
 pledged themselves to promote in the Single European             such as Mayor or Deputy Mayor which involve duties
Act;                                                               extending beyond the municipality, and from invol-
                                                                  vement in the election of a parliamentary assembly;
 Whereas the need for action on recognition of the right
 to vote ia local elections in the Member State of
 residence has been reaffirmed on many occasions by the
 highest Community bodies from the Paris Summit in
 1974 to the report of the ad hoc Committee on a                   Whereas account should be taken of the situation in
 People's Europe approved by the Milan European                    Member States in which nationals of the other Member
 Council in June 1985;                                             States account for more than 20 % of the population;
 ---pagebreak--- No C 246/4                               Official Journal of the European Communities                                   20. 9. 88
Whereas, in such cases, Member States should be                     The authorities concerned shall inform nationals of the
entitled to waive application of the Directive to the first         other Member States of this right in the same way as
local elections to which it would otherwise apply;                  nationals are informed of their right to vote.
whereas the Commission should draw up a report on this
problem and, where appropriate, propose further transi-
tional measures for subsequent elections;
                                                                    2.    For this purpose, such nationals shall produce a
                                                                    document issued by a consulate of their Member State of
Whereas Member States should be free, for the first two
                                                                    origin certifying that:
elections governed by the Directive, to limit the number
of seats held by non-nationals on a local council to
25 % ;
                                                                   — they have not been deprived of their civic rights in
Whereas the Commission should report to the Council                     their Member State of origin, and
on implementation of this Directive three years after the
end of the transitional period;
                                                                   — they can no longer exercise the right to vote in local
Whereas the Treaty has not provided specific powers for                 elections in their Member State of nationality, either
this purpose,                                                           by virtue of residence in another Member State or
                                                                        because they have asked to be transferred from the
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:                                             electoral register of the municipality in which they
                                                                        were previously registered, with a view to exercising
                                                                        the right to vote in their municipality of residence.
                           TITLE I
                   GENERAL PROVISIONS
                                                                                               Article 4
                           Article 1
                                                                    1.    Any national of another Member State may apply
For the purposes of this Directive the term:                       for entry on the electoral register of his municipality of
1. 'nationals of the Member States' shall mean persons             residence following a period of continuous residence in
    who have the nationality of one of the Member States           the host Member State of not less than the term of office
    of the European Community who enjoy the civic                  of a municipal council.
    rights stemming from that nationality;
2. 'local elections' shall mean elections of bodies                Proof of residence shall be provided by a document
    (municipal councils or mayors) elected by direct               certifying residence issued by the authorities of the host
    universal suffrage and having, under national legis-           Member State. The period of residence shall run from
    lation, powers to manage and administer the first tier         the date of application for this document.
    of political and administrative organization;
3. 'the right to vote' shall mean the right exercised by
    voters when they participate in elections held by               2.    Application for entry on the electoral register can
    direct universal suffrage;                                     be made only in the municipality in which the applicant
4. 'the right to stand for election' shall mean the right of       is actually resident and shall be subject to the rules laid
    an individual to stand as a candidate and be elected           down by national legislation, in particular as regards the
                                                                    minimum period of residence in the municipality and the
    by direct universal suffrage.
                                                                    deadlines for applying for entry on the electoral register.
                           TITLE II
                   THE RIGHT TO VOTE
                                                                                               Article 5
                           Article 2                               The provisions laid down by national legislation in the
                                                                    Member State of residence as regards the minimum
The Member States shall grant nationals of the other               voting age and disqualification shall apply equally to
Member States, recognized as residing on their territory,           nationals of the other Member States.
the right to vote in local elections in the municipality in
which they are resident subject to the conditions set out
in Articles 3 to 6 below.
                                                                                               Article 6
                           Article 3
                                                                    A national of another Member State entered on a
 1.    Nationals of the other Member States who intend              municipal electoral register in his Member State of
to exercise the right to vote referred to in Article 2 above        residence shall be subject to the electoral requirements
shall make application to the authorities responsible for           applicable to nationals of that Member State, in
elections in the municipality of residence for entry on the         particular as regards provisions which make voting
municipal electoral register.                                       compulsory.
 ---pagebreak--- 20. 9. 88                             Official Journal of the European Communities                             No C 246/5
                        TITLE III                                of the other Member States who are members of the
         THE RIGHT TO STAND FOR ELECTION                         municipal council may not take part in the election.
                         Article 7                                                        TITLE IV
The Member States shall grant nationals of the other                           TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS
Member States the right to stand and be elected in local
elections in the municipality on whose electoral register                                Article 11
they appear subject to the conditions set out in Articles 8
to 10 below.                                                     1.    If the proportion of nationals of the other Member
                                                                 States resident in a Member State exceeds 20 % of the
                         Article 8                               total population, that Member State shall be entitled to
                                                                waive application of the Directive to the first general
1.    A national of one Member State may stand as a              local elections to which it would otherwise apply under
candidate in local elections in the municipality of             Article 14.
residence in another Member State following a period of
continuous residence in that Member State of not less           After these elections, the Commission shall report to the
than two terms of office of a municipal council.                 Council and, where appropriate, propose whatever
                                                                 measures might be needed for gradual application of the
2.    The provisions of the second paragraph of Article          Directive.
4 (1) shall also apply.
                                                                                         Article 12
                         Article 9
                                                                 Member States may stipulate that, in the first two
The provisions laid down by national legislation in the         general local elections to which the provisions of this
Member State of residence as regards:                            Directive apply, nationals of the other Member States
                                                                elected as municipal councillors may not occupy more
— minimum age,
                                                                than one quarter of the seats on a municipal council.
— incompatibility and
— disqualification                                                                        TITLE V
for the purpose of local elections shall apply equally to                           FINAL PROVISIONS
nationals of the other Member States.
                                                                                         Article 13
                        Article 10
                                                                Three years after the end of the transitional period
1.    The Member States may exclude nationals of other          referred to in Articles 11 and 12 the Commission shall
Member States from holding an office such as Mayor,             report to Parliament and the Council on implementation
Deputy Mayor or any equivalent position.                         of this Directive.
2.    If members of a municipal council are by virtue of
                                                                                         Article 14
such membership electors of a parliamentary assembly,
the Member States may provide that nationals of the             The Member States shall adopt the measures required to
other Member States who are members of the municipal            transpose this Directive into national law within three
council may not take part in the election. They shall be        years of notification.
replaced in accordance with national rules governing the
appointment of additional electors.                             They shall notify the Commission of these provisions.
If the members of a municipal council appoint the                                        Article 15
electors of a parliamentary assembly from among their
number, the Member States may provide that nationals            This Directive is addressed to the Member States.