Changes from plenary report to adopted text

Change 4

RemovedEXPLANATORY STATEMENT

AddedRecital 2: (2) The 1992 Treaty on European Union (the ‘Maastricht Treaty’) marked a new stage in the process of creating an ever-closer union among the peoples of Europe by introducing the legal concept of EU citizenship with the aim to strengthen the protection of the rights and interests of the nationals of its Member States by adding to existing EU entitlements a number of new political and electoral rights. Article 20(2), point (b) and Article 22(2) of the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union (TFEU) confers on Union citizens residing in a Member State of which they are not nationals the right to vote and to stand as a candidate in elections to the European Parliament in their Member State of residence under the same conditions as nationals of the host Member State. The right, which is also affirmed in Article 39 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (Charter) gives specific expression to the principle of equality and non-discrimination on grounds of nationality set out in Article 21. It is also a corollary of the right to move and reside freely enshrined in Article 20(2) point (a) and Article 21 TFEU and Article 45 of the Charter. The right to vote and to stand as a candidate also allows citizens to effectively participate in the democratic life of the Union and to have a stake in the European Union as a political entity. It is imperative that all Union citizens, including mobile Union citizens, citizens with disabilities and citizens in a situation o…

RemovedPursuant to Article 20(2)(b) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), Article 22(2) TFEU and Article 39 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (CFREU), EU citizens residing in an EU Member State other than their own are entitled to vote and stand as candidates in European and municipal elections, under the same conditions as nationals.

AddedRecital 2 a (new): (2a) According to the European Parliament legislative resolution of 3 May 2022 on the proposal for a Council Regulation on the election of the members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage, repealing Council Decision (76/787/ECSC, EEC, Euratom) and the Act concerning the election of the members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage annexed to that Decision, the aim of this Directive should be to make the elections to the European Parliament more accessible, more competitive, and more European.

Change 5

ChangedNearlyRecital 13.74: million(4) In its EU citizensCitizenship –Report of202024 whom, aboutthe 11millionCommission arestressed the need to update, clarify and strengthen the rules on the exercise of votingthe ageright –to residevote inand to stand as a Membercandidate Statein otherelections thanto thatthe ofEuropean theirParliament nationality.in Detailedorder provisionsto onensure that they support the politicalbroad rightsand grantedinclusive underparticipation EUof citizenshipUnion citizens residing in a Member State of which they are setnot outnationals. Taking also into account the experience gained in the application of Council Directive 93/109/EC regardingto successive elections and the participationchanges ofintroduced non-nationalby Unionthe citizensamendments into Europeanthe ParliamentTreaties, electionsseveral inof theirthe countryprovisions of residence.that Directive should be updated.

Change 6

RemovedDespite the arrangements under Directive 93/109/EC, non-national Union citizens still face certain obstacles in exercising their electoral rights in elections to the European Parliament. These concern the accessibility of information, the registration processes, the effects of deregistration in the Member State of origin and the exchange of information between Member States with the aim of preventing multiple voting.

AddedRecital 5: (5) Article 20 (2) TFEU is without prejudice to Article 223(1) TFEU, which provides for the establishment of a uniform procedure for elections to the European Parliament in all Member States in accordance with principles common to all Member States.

RemovedYour rapporteur thus welcomes the proposed revision of Directive 93/109/EC as provided in the Council draft of 16 September 2024. In his viewpoint, the amended proposal by the Council strikes the right balance between on the one hand mobile voters’ and candidates’ needs for timely information, equal treatment with nationals of Member States - including regarding possibilities of advance voting, postal voting, and electronic and internet voting available in a Member State - and the administrative burden on Member States’ national authorities on the other hand.

AddedRecital 6: (6) In order to ensure that Union citizens who reside in a Member State of which they are not nationals (“non-national Union citizens”) are able to exercise their right to vote and to stand as candidates in elections to the European Parliament under the same conditions as nationals of their host Member State, the conditions governing registration and participation in such elections should be clarified in order to ensure equal treatment between national and non-national Union citizens. In particular, Union citizens seeking to vote and to stand as candidates in elections to the European Parliament in their Member State of residence should be treated equally to nationals of that Member State as regards any periods of residence that are to be fulfilled as a condition for the exercise of the right, as well the proofs for demonstrating compliance with such a condition.

RemovedHe is also of the opinion that the Council draft improves at the same time the exchange of necessary information between Members States in order to avoid multiple voting or instances where the same person would stand as a candidate more than once at the same elections, and introduces concrete reporting and data collecting and sharing obligations regarding the application of this Directive in the territory of the Member States thus permitting for the identification of measures necessary to ensure the effective exercise of Union citizens’ electoral rights.

AddedRecital 6 a (new): (6a) Non-national Union citizens should receive information about the possibility of voting or standing as a candidate upon registration as residents of a Member State of which they are not nationals. Information pertaining to the registration as a voter or as a candidate should also be provided periodically, ahead of European elections, in a timely manner, to all voters and persons entitled to stand as candidates in accordance with the conditions governing the right to vote and stand as a candidate provided for in this Directive. Moreover, non-national Union citizens should be duly informed, upon registration as voters and sufficiently in advance of the elections, about their specific rights under the European electoral system.

RemovedYour rapporteur would therefore propose that the Council draft be approved with no amendments.

AddedRecital 7: (7) Given that most Member States allow non-national Union citizens to retain under national law their right to vote for a home country list, the possibility to choose between two or more countries to vote in requires clear information provision for non-national Union citizens and coordination among Member States to reduce the risk of multiple voting. The freedom of Union citizens to choose the Member State in which to take part in elections to the European Parliament should be respected, while the appropriate measures to ensure that no one may vote more than once or stand as a candidate in more than one country. When receiving information about the possibility of voting or standing as a candidate in their Member State of residence, non-national Union citizens should be duly informed of the possibility to vote or stand as candidate either in their home country or in their country of residence, in line with their choice and the respective applicable national provisions. Non-national Union citizens should make the final choice of the Member State in which they would like to vote.