Article 1 Subject matter and scope
1. This Directive lays down the detailed arrangements whereby Union citizens residing in a Member State of which they are not nationals (‘non-national Union citizens’) may exercise the right to vote and to stand as a candidate there in elections to the European Parliament. 2. Nothing in this Directive shall affect each Member State’s provisions concerning the right to vote or to stand as a candidate of its nationals who reside outside its electoral territory.
Article 2 Definitions
For the purposes of this Directive, the following definitions apply: (1) ‘elections to the European Parliament’ means elections by direct universal suffrage to the European Parliament of representatives in accordance with the Act concerning the election of the members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage, annexed to Council Decision 76/787/ECSC, EEC, Euratom of 20 September 1976 ( 8 ) (‘the Electoral Act’); (2) ‘electoral territory’ means the territory of a Member State in which, in accordance with the Electoral Act and, within that framework, in accordance with the electoral law of that Member State, members of the European Parliament are elected by the people of that Member State; (3) ‘Member State of residence’ means a Member State in which a Union citizen resides but of which the Union citizen is not a national; (4) ‘home Member State’ means the Member State of which a Union citizen is a national; (5) ‘Union voter’ means any Union citizen who is entitled to vote in elections to the European Parliament in the Member State of residence in accordance with this Directive; (6) ‘Union citizen entitled to stand as a candidate’ means any Union citizen who has the right to stand as a candidate in elections to the European Parliament in the Member State of residence in accordance with this Directive; (7) ‘electoral roll’ means the official register of all voters entitled to vote in a given constituency or locality, drawn up and kept up to date by the competent authority under the electoral law of the Member State of residence, or the population register if it indicates eligibility to vote; (8) ‘reference date’ means the day or the days as of which Union citizens have to satisfy, under the law of the Member State of residence, the requirements for voting or for standing as a candidate in that State; (9) ‘formal declaration’ means a declaration by the person concerned, inaccuracy in which makes that person liable to penalties, in accordance with the applicable national law.
Article 3 Conditions governing the right to vote and to stand as a candidate
Any person who, on the reference date: (a) is a Union citizen within the meaning of Article 20(1) TFEU; and (b) is 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 Member State imposes by law on its own nationals, shall have the right to vote and to stand as a candidate in elections to the European Parliament in the Member State of residence unless deprived of those rights pursuant to Articles 6 and 7. Where, in order to stand as a candidate, nationals of the Member State of residence must have been nationals for a certain minimum period, non-national Union citizens shall be deemed to have met this condition when they have been nationals of a Member State for the same period.
Article 4 Prohibition from voting more than once or standing as a candidate in more than one Member State
1. Union voters shall exercise their right to vote either in the Member State of residence or in their home Member State. No person may vote more than once in the same election. 2. No person may stand as a candidate in more than one Member State in the same election.
Article 5 Residence requirements
If, in order to vote or to stand as candidates, nationals of the Member State of residence must have spent a certain minimum period as a resident in the electoral territory of that Member State, Union voters and Union citizens entitled to stand as candidates shall be deemed to have fulfilled that condition where they have resided for an equivalent period in other Member States. This Article shall apply without prejudice to any specific conditions as to length of residence in a given constituency or locality.
Article 6 Ineligibility
1. Union citizens who reside in a Member State of which they are not nationals and who, through an individual judicial decision or an administrative decision provided that the latter can be subject to judicial remedies, have been deprived of their right to stand as a candidate under either the law of the Member State of residence or the law of the home Member State shall be precluded from exercising that right in the Member State of residence in elections to the European Parliament. 2. The Member State of residence shall check that the Union citizens who have expressed a desire to exercise their right to stand as a candidate there have not been deprived of that right in the home Member State through an individual judicial decision or an administrative decision provided that the latter can be subject to judicial remedies. 3. For the purposes of paragraph 2 of this Article, the Member State of residence shall notify the home Member State of the declaration referred to in Article 10(1). To that end, the relevant information that is available from the home Member State shall be provided in any appropriate manner within 5 working days from the reception of the notification or, where possible, within a shorter time limit, if so requested by the Member State of residence. Such information may include only details which are strictly necessary for the implementation of this Article and may be used only for that purpose. If the information is not received by the Member State of residence within the time limit, the candidate shall none the less be admitted. 4. If the information provided invalidates the content of the declaration, the Member State of residence, irrespective of whether it receives the information within the time limit or at a later stage, shall take the appropriate steps in accordance with its national law to prevent the person concerned from standing as a candidate or, where this is not possible, to prevent this person either from being elected or from exercising the mandate. 5. Member States shall designate a contact point to receive and transmit the information necessary for the application of paragraph 3. They shall communicate to the Commission the name and contact details of the contact point and any updated information or changes concerning it. The Commission shall keep a list of contact points and make it available to the Member States.
Article 7 Disqualification from voting
1. The Member State of residence may check that the Union citizens who have expressed a desire to exercise their right to vote there have not been deprived of that right in the home Member State through an individual civil law or criminal law decision. 2. For the purposes of paragraph 1 of this Article, the Member State of residence may notify the home Member State of the declaration referred to in Article 9(2). To that end, the relevant and normally available information from the home Member State shall be provided in a timely and appropriate manner; such information may only include details which are strictly necessary for the implementation of this Article and may only be used for that purpose. If the information provided invalidates the content of the declaration, the Member State of residence shall take the appropriate steps to prevent the person concerned from voting. 3. The home Member State may, in a timely and appropriate manner, submit to the Member State of residence any information necessary for the implementation of this Article.
Article 8 Freedom to choose to vote in the Member State of residence
1. Union voters shall exercise their right to vote in the Member State of residence if they have expressed the wish to do so. 2. If voting is compulsory in the Member State of residence, Union voters who have expressed the wish to vote in that Member State shall be obliged to vote.
Article 9 Entry on and removal from the electoral roll
1. Member States shall take the measures necessary to enable a Union voter who has expressed the wish to be registered as a voter to be entered on the electoral roll sufficiently in advance of polling day. 2. In order to have their name entered on the electoral roll, Union voters shall produce the same documents as voters who are nationals. They shall also produce a formal declaration, which shall contain the following elements: (a) their name, nationality, date and place of birth, and address in the electoral territory of the Member State of residence; (b) where applicable, the locality or constituency in their home Member State on the electoral roll of which their name was last entered; and (c) a statement that they will exercise their right to vote in the Member State of residence only. 3. The Member State may also require Union voters to: (a) produce a valid identity document; (b) state in their declaration under paragraph 2: (i) that they have not been deprived of the right to vote in their home Member State; (ii) where applicable, the personal identification number issued by the home Member State or the Member State of residence; (iii) the type and serial number of the identity document or travel document issued by the home Member State; (iv) the date of the declaration; and (v) their contact details, such as a telephone number or email address; (c) indicate the date from which they have been resident in that Member State or in another Member State. 4. Union voters who have been entered on the electoral roll shall remain thereon, under the same conditions as voters who are nationals, until they request to be removed or until they are removed because they no longer satisfy the requirements for exercising the right to vote. Where provisions are in place to notify nationals of such a removal from the electoral roll, those provisions shall apply to Union voters in the same way. 5. Member States may use the template set out in Annex I for the purposes of the declaration referred to in paragraph 2. 6. The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 20 to amend the list referred to in paragraph 3, point (b), of this Article only by adding elements to it.
Article 10 Registration as a candidate
1. When submitting an application to stand as a candidate, Union citizens shall produce the same supporting documents as candidates who are nationals. They shall also produce a formal declaration, which shall contain the following elements: (a) their name, nationality, date and place of birth, last address in the home Member State and address in the electoral territory in the Member State of residence; (b) a statement that they are not standing as a candidate for election to the European Parliament in any other Member State; (c) where applicable, the locality or constituency in their home Member State on the electoral roll of which their name was last entered; and (d) a statement that they have not been deprived of the right to stand as a candidate in the home Member State through an individual judicial decision or an administrative decision, provided that the latter can be subject to judicial remedies. 2. The Member State of residence may also require Union citizens entitled to stand as candidates to: (a) produce a valid identity document; (b) state in their declaration under paragraph 1: (i) where applicable, the personal identification number issued by the home Member State or Member State of residence; (ii) the type and serial number of the identity document or travel document issued by the home Member State; (iii) the date of the declaration; and (iv) their contact details, such as a telephone number or email address; (c) indicate the date from which they have been nationals of a Member State. 3. Member States may use the template set out in Annex II for the purposes of the declaration referred to in paragraph 1. 4. The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 20 to amend the list referred to in paragraph 2, point (b), of this Article only by adding elements to it.
Article 11 Decision on registration and legal remedies
1. The Member State of residence shall inform the person concerned in a timely manner and in clear and plain language of the decision taken on that person’s application for entry on the electoral roll or of the decision concerning the admissibility of that person’s application to stand as a candidate. 2. Should a Union citizen be refused entry on the electoral roll, or a Union citizen’s application to stand as a candidate be rejected, the person concerned shall be entitled to legal remedies on the same terms as the law of the Member State of residence prescribes for voters and persons entitled to stand as candidates who are its nationals. 3. In the event that there are errors in the electoral rolls or in the lists of candidates for election to the European Parliament, the person concerned shall be entitled to legal remedies on the same terms as the law of the Member State of residence prescribes for voters and persons entitled to stand as candidates who are its nationals. 4. Member States shall inform the person concerned clearly and in a timely manner of the decision referred to in paragraph 1 and of the legal remedies referred to in paragraphs 2 and 3.
Article 12 Provision of information
1. Member States shall designate one or more authorities with responsibility for taking the measures necessary to ensure that non-national Union citizens are informed in a timely manner of the conditions and detailed rules for registration as a voter or candidate in elections to the European Parliament. 2. Member States shall ensure that the authorities designated pursuant to paragraph 1 make the following information available to registered Union voters and registered Union citizens entitled to stand as candidates, in a timely manner: (a) the status of their registration, upon request; (b) the date of the election and how and where to vote; (c) the relevant rules on voter and candidate rights and obligations, including those concerning prohibitions, incompatibilities and sanctions for violating electoral rules, in particular those pertaining to multiple voting; (d) means of obtaining further information relating to the organisation of the election, including the list of candidates. 3. The information on conditions and detailed rules for registration as a voter or candidate in elections to the European Parliament and the information referred to in paragraph 2 shall be made available in accordance with the quality requirements set out in Article 9(1) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1724 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 9 ) in one or more official languages of the Member State of residence. General information on the national framework for the organisation of elections to the European Parliament, including the conditions for registration as a voter or candidate, the date of the election and how and where to vote shall also be available in at least one other official language of the Union that is broadly understood by Union citizens residing on its territory. Member States may request the Commission to provide assistance for such translations in accordance with Article 12 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1724. Such translations shall be purely informative and shall have no legal effect. 4. Member States shall ensure that information on conditions and detailed rules for registration as a voter or candidate in elections to the European Parliament and information referred to in paragraph 2 are made accessible, in particular to persons with disabilities, by using appropriate means, modes and formats of communication.
Article 13 Information exchange mechanism
1. Member States shall exchange the information collected pursuant to Articles 9 and 10, sufficiently in advance of polling day. To that end, without prejudice to national provisions on the entry of voters on the electoral roll and the submission of candidates, the Member State of residence shall begin supplying that information to the home Member State, no later than six weeks before the first day of the electoral period referred to in Article 10(1) of the Electoral Act. The Member State of residence shall also provide the registration date on its electoral roll for requests of registrations made after the transposition date of this Directive. The home Member State shall, in accordance with its national law, take appropriate measures to ensure that its nationals do not vote more than once or stand as candidates in more than one Member State. 2. The home Member State shall ensure that the measures referred to in paragraph 1 do not prevent its nationals from voting or standing as candidates in other types of election. 3. The Commission shall provide a framework supporting the exchange of the information referred to in paragraph 1 by Member States. The framework shall allow Member States of residence to provide that information in an encrypted form. 4. The Commission is empowered to adopt implementing acts for the purpose of defining the technical standards for the operation of the framework referred to in paragraph 3 and the responsibilities and obligations, in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2016/679. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 19(2).
Article 14 Specific means of voting
Member States that provide for the possibility of advance voting, postal voting, or electronic or internet voting in elections to the European Parliament shall ensure the availability of those voting methods to Union voters under conditions similar to those applicable to their own nationals.
Article 15 Provision of statistical data
Member States shall enable the collection of relevant statistical data on the participation of non-national Union citizens in elections to the European Parliament and, where available, provide such data to the public and the Commission.
Article 16 Derogations
1. If, in a given Member State, the proportion of Union citizens of voting age who reside in it but are not nationals of it exceeds 20 % of the total number of national Union citizens and non-national Union citizens residing there who are of voting age, that Member State may, by way of derogation from Articles 3, 9 and 10: (a) restrict the right to vote to Union voters who have resided in that Member State for a minimum period, which may not exceed 5 years; (b) restrict the right to stand as a candidate to Union citizens entitled to stand as candidates who have resided in that Member State for a minimum period, which may not exceed 10 years. The first subparagraph is without prejudice to appropriate measures which that Member State may take with regard to the composition of lists of candidates and which are intended in particular to encourage the integration of non-national Union citizens. However, Union voters and Union citizens entitled to stand as candidates who, owing to the fact that they have taken up residence outside their home Member State or by reason of the duration of such residence, do not have the right to vote or to stand as a candidate in their home Member State shall not be subject to the conditions as to length of residence set out in the first subparagraph. 2. Where the law of a Member State prescribes that the nationals of another Member State who reside there have the right to vote for the national parliament of that Member State and, for that purpose, may be entered on the electoral roll of that Member State under exactly the same conditions as national voters, the first Member State may, by way of derogation from this Directive, refrain from applying Articles 6 to 13 in respect of such nationals. 3. 18 months prior to each election to the European Parliament, the Commission shall submit to the European Parliament and to the Council a report in which it shall assess whether the grant to the Member States concerned of a derogation pursuant to Article 22(2) TFEU is still warranted and shall propose that any necessary adjustments be made. Member States which invoke derogations under paragraph 1 shall furnish the Commission with all the necessary background information.
Article 17 Reporting
1. Within 6 months after each election to the European Parliament, each Member State shall send to the Commission information on the application of this Directive in its territory. The report shall contain statistical data on participation in elections to the European Parliament, in particular, where available, the participation of Union voters and Union citizens entitled to stand as candidates and a summary of the measures taken to support it. 2. Within one year after each election to the European Parliament, the Commission shall submit a report to the European Parliament and the Council on the application of this Directive.
Article 18 Evaluation
Within 2 years after the 2034 elections to the European Parliament, the Commission shall assess the application of this Directive and produce an evaluation report on the progress made towards the achievement of the objectives contained herein. That evaluation shall also include a review of the functioning of Article 13.
Article 19 Committee procedure
1. The Commission shall be assisted by a committee. That committee shall be a committee within the meaning of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011. 2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 shall apply.
Article 20 Exercise of the delegation
1. The power to adopt delegated acts is conferred on the Commission subject to the conditions laid down in this Article. 2. The power to adopt delegated acts referred to in Articles 9(6) and 10(4) shall be conferred on the Commission for an indeterminate period of time from 28 September 2025. 3. The delegation of power referred to in Articles 9(6) and 10(4) may be revoked at any time by the Council. A decision to revoke shall put an end to the delegation of the power specified in that decision. It shall take effect on the day following that of the publication of the decision in the Official Journal of the European Union or at a later date specified therein. It shall not affect the validity of any delegated acts already in force. 4. Before adopting a delegated act, the Commission shall consult experts designated by each Member State in accordance with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement of 13 April 2016 on Better Law-Making. 5. As soon as it adopts a delegated act, the Commission shall notify it to the Council. 6. A delegated act adopted pursuant to Articles 9(6) and 10(4) shall enter into force only if no objection has been expressed by the Council within a period of 2 months of notification of that act to the Council or if, before the expiry of that period, the Council has informed the Commission that it will not object. That period shall be extended by 2 months at the initiative of the Council. 7. The European Parliament shall be informed of the adoption of delegated acts by the Commission, of any objection formulated to them, or of the revocation of the delegation of powers by the Council.
Article 21 Transposition
1. Member States shall adopt and publish, within 29 September 2027, the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with Article 9(2) and (4), Article 10(1), Article 11(1), (3) and (4), Article 12, Article 13(1), (2) and (3), Articles 14 and 15, and Article 17 (1). They shall immediately communicate the text of those measures to the Commission. When Member States adopt those measures, they shall contain a reference to this Directive or be accompanied by such a reference on the occasion of their official publication. They shall also include a statement that references in existing laws, regulations and administrative provisions to the Directive repealed by this Directive shall be construed as references to this Directive. Member States shall determine how such reference is to be made and how that statement is to be formulated. 2. Member States shall communicate to the Commission the text of the main measures of national law which they adopt in the field covered by this Directive.
Article 22 Repeal
Directive 93/109/EC, as amended by the Directive listed in Annex III, Part A, is repealed with effect from 30 September 2027, without prejudice to the obligations of the Member States relating to the time limits for the transposition into national law of the Directives set out in Annex III, Part B. References to the repealed Directives shall be construed as references to this Directive and shall be read in accordance with the correlation table in Annex IV.
Article 23 Entry into force and application
This Directive shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union . Articles 1 to 8, Article 9(1) and (3), Article 10(2) and Article 11(2) shall apply from 30 September 2027.
Article 24 Addressees
This Directive is addressed to the Member States.