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Franchise and Electoral Participation of Third Country Citizens Residing in the European Union and of Eu Citizens Residing in Third Countries

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Franchise and Electoral Participation of Third Country Citizens Residing in the European Union and of Eu Citizens Residing in Third Countries DIRECTORATE GENERAL FOR INTERNAL POLICIES POLICY DEPARTMENT C: CITIZENS' RIGHTS AND CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS FRANCHISE AND ELECTORAL PARTICIPATION OF THIRD COUNTRY CITIZENS RESIDING IN THE EUROPEAN UNION AND OF EU CITIZENS RESIDING IN THIRD COUNTRIES STUDY Abstract This Study analyses some key trans-border situations in which citizens may find difficulties in exercising their electoral rights – both to vote in elections, and to stand as candidates. It focuses on the electoral rights of EU citizens when resident outside the state where they are citizens, and on the electoral rights of third country citizens resident in the EU Member States. It also covers several complementary issues by examining the consular representation of EU citizens outside the territory of the Union, and also the restrictions placed by the Member States on the access of non-citizens to high public office. PE 474.441 EN This document was requested by the European Parliament's Committee on Constitutional Affairs. AUTHOR(S) Jean-Thomas Arrighi Rainer Bauböck Michael Collyer Derek Hutcheson Madalina Moraru Lamin Khadar Jo Shaw RESPONSIBLE ADMINISTRATOR Mr Petr Novak Policy Department C - Citizens' Rights and Constitutional Affairs European Parliament B-1047 Brussels E-mail: [email protected] Editorial assistance : Sandrina MARCUZZO LINGUISTIC VERSIONS Original: EN Executive summary: FR ABOUT THE EDITOR To contact the Policy Department or to subscribe to its newsletter please write to: poldep- [email protected] Manuscript completed in April 2013 European Parliament © European Union, 2013 This document is available on the Internet at: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/studies DISCLAIMER The opinions expressed in this document are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position of the European Parliament. Reproduction and translation for non-commercial purposes are authorized, provided the source is acknowledged and the publisher is given prior notice and sent a copy. Franchise and electoral participation of third country citizens residing in EU and of EU citizens residing in third countries ____________________________________________________________________________________________ CONTENTS LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 6 LIST OF TABLES 9 Executive SUMMARY 10 1 Introduction 16 2 The external voting rights of non-resident first country citizens 21 2.1 Electoral Rights: Voting and Candidacy Rights for EU Citizens residing in another Member State or in Third States 22 2.1.1 Active Voting Rights 22 2.1.2 Candidacy Rights 26 2.1.3 Temporary Absence 29 2.2.4. Compulsory Voting 30 2.2 Accessing Electoral Rights 30 2.2.1. Registration Requirements 30 2.2.2. Casting a Ballot 32 2.2.3. Other Requirements 34 2.3. Representation and Participation 34 2.3.1. General and Special Representation 34 2.3.2. Registration and Participation Rates Among Non-Resident FCCs 35 2.4. External Citizenship and the Franchise 38 3 practical and legal consequences of the absence of diplomatic and EU representation for Eu citizens residing in a country where their Member State is not represented 41 3.1 The pre-Lisbon Treaty Forms of Securing Protection of EU Citizens in third countries 44 3.2 The Added Value of the Treaty of Lisbon: Increased Powers for the EU to Secure Protection of EU Citizens Abroad 47 4 Franchise and electoral participation of third country citizens residing in the EU 51 4.1 Mapping Electoral Rights across Member States, Categories of Third Country Citizens and Types of Elections 53 4.1.1 Voting Rights 53 4.1.2 Candidacy Rights 56 4.2 Additional Restrictions on Enfranchisement 57 4.2.1 Durational Residency Requirements 58 4.2.2 Legal Status of Residence 58 4.2.3 Registration Procedure 59 3 Policy Department C: Citizens' Rights and Constitutional Affairs ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 4.2.4 Membership of an International Association of States other than the EU 60 4.2.5 Bilateral Agreements 61 4.2.6 Special Ties Based upon Cultural and Linguistic Affinity 61 4.3 Electoral Participation 62 4.4 Obstacles to the Enfranchisement of Third Country Citizens 63 4.4.1 Voting – A Citizen’s Privilege? Legal and Political Obstacles to the Enfranchisement of Third Country Citizens 63 4.4.2 Territorial Access to Citizenship and the Franchise 65 5 Eligibility of non-nationals for high public office in the EU 70 5.1 Existing EU Law Legal Framework 71 5.2 Head of State 73 5.3 Head of Government 74 5.4 Minister in the Executive Branch of Government 75 5.5 Civil Servant in the Executive Branch of Government 76 5.6 Judiciary 77 5.7 High Ranking Officer in the National Army 78 6 EU citizens residing in third countries and third country citizens residing in the EU: AN OVERVIEW OF electoral rights in ten third countries 80 6.1 Brazil 82 6.2 Canada 83 6.3 India 84 6.4 Morocco 85 6.5 New Zealand 86 6.6 Serbia 86 6.7 Switzerland 87 6.8 Turkey 88 6.9 Ukraine 89 6.10 USA 89 7 Policy recommendations 91 7.1 The External Franchise of EU Citizens in EP Elections 91 7.2 The External Franchise of EU Citizens in National and Sub-national Elections 92 7.3 Diplomatic and EU Representation in Third Countries 93 7.4 Electoral Rights of Third Country Citizens in EU Member States 94 7.5 Access to High Public Office 95 4 Franchise and electoral participation of third country citizens residing in EU and of EU citizens residing in third countries ____________________________________________________________________________________________ ANNEX I 97 ANNEX II 106 ANNEX III 132 ANNEX IV 135 ANNEX V 141 ANNEX VI 142 REFERENCES 143 5 Policy Department C: Citizens' Rights and Constitutional Affairs ____________________________________________________________________________________________ LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AIRE L’Anagrafe degli Italiani Residenti all’Estero AT Austria BE Belgium BG Bulgaria CCME Conseil de la Communauté Marocaine a l’Etranger CFR Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union CH Switzerland CJEU Court of Justice of the European Union CPLC Community of Portuguese-language countries CY Cyprus CZ Czech Republic DE Germany DK Denmark ECHR European Convention on Human Rights (Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms) ECtHR European Court of Human Rights EE Estonia EEA Members of the European Economic Area comprising the countries of the European Union, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway EEA/CH Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland EEAS European External Action Service EL Greece 6 Franchise and electoral participation of third country citizens residing in EU and of EU citizens residing in third countries ____________________________________________________________________________________________ EP European Parliament ES Spain EU European Union EU 27 All 27 current member states of the European Union EU/EEA All 27 current member states of the European Union plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway EU/EEA/CH All 27 member states of the European Union plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland EUDO European Union Democracy Observatory FCC First Country Citizen FI Finland FPTP First past the post (election system) FR France FRA European Agency for Fundamental Rights HR Croatia HU Hungary IDEA International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance IE Ireland IJC International Court of Justice IS Iceland IT Italy LI Liechtenstein LT Lithuania LU Luxembourg LV Latvia 7 Policy Department C: Citizens' Rights and Constitutional Affairs ____________________________________________________________________________________________ MEP Member of European Parliament MOVE Military Overseas Voters Empowerment Act (USA) MT Malta NL Netherlands NO Norway PL Poland PR Proportional representation (election system) PT Portugal RO Romania SCC Second Country Citizen SE Sweden SI Slovenia SK Slovakia TC Third country TCC Third Country Citizen TEU Treaty on the European Union TFEU Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union UK United Kingdom UNPD United Nations Population Division USA United States of America USSR Union of Soviet Socialist Republics VCCR Vienna Convention on Consular Relations 8 Franchise and electoral participation of third country citizens residing in EU and of EU citizens residing in third countries ____________________________________________________________________________________________ LIST OF TABLES LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Voting Rights of non-resident FCCs in European, national, regional and local election 22 Table 2: Candidacy rights of non-resident FCCs in European, national, regional and local elections 26 Table 3: Methods of voting for resident FCCs temporarily abroad on polling day 29 Table 4: Active or automatic registration for the franchise (European and national levels) 31 Table 5: Voting methods available to non-resident FCCs, European and national elections 32 Table 6: Counting and representation of non-resident FCCs 34 Table 7: Counting and representing non-resident FCC votes (national parliamentary elections) 35 Table 8: Turnout in Foreign Constituencies, 2008 Chamber of Deputies, Italy 37 Table 9: Inclusiveness of extraterritorial citizenship and access to the franchise 39 Table 10: Voting rights in EU MS plus Croatia by the level of enfranchisement and by election type 54 Table 11: Registration and turnout in 2006 and 2006 Swedish elections by categories of voters 62 Table 12: Inclusiveness of the local franchise and of territorially-based access to citizenship 67 Table 13: key
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