Report on the application of Directive 94/80/EC on the right to vote and to stand as a candidate in municipal elections

Background and further information:

Municipal or local government is the level of governance closest to European citizens and an essential part of European political life that affects people directly. Participating democratically in municipal elections reflects wider engagement in the local community. It is also linked to better inclusion in society, a sense of belonging and broader democratic engagement. However, EU citizens who have exercised their right to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States (‘mobile EU citizens’) risk disconnecting from local political culture when they move.

EU citizenship gives every EU citizen the right to vote and stand as candidate in municipal and European Parliament elections regardless of whether they are a national of the EU country in which they reside, and this under the same conditions as nationals. This right is enshrined in Article 22(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. The detailed arrangements for the exercise of this right are laid down by Council Directive 94/80/EC.

With this third report, which follows up on the 2017 EU citizenship report, the Commission takes stock of the extent to which since 2012 EU citizens have been exercising their right to vote in municipal elections in the Member State of residence.

+ EU citizenship report 2017: Strengthening citizens' rights in a Union of democratic change