Electoral Rights for Third-Country Nationals in Europe The EP-AFCO Report Dr Derek Hutcheson ([email protected])[email protected] 6 March 2014.

Electoral Rights for Third-Country Nationals in EuropeThe EP-AFCO Report

Dr Derek Hutcheson ([email protected])

6 March 2014

26 February 2013

www.eudo-citizenship.eu• Access to Citizenship and its

Impact on Immigrant Integration (ACIT).• €581,000 (EC) • 1/10/2011-31/3/2013

• Franchise and Electoral Participation (FRACIT): • €57,000 (EP)• (1/6/2012- 28/2/2013)

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FRACIT(http://eudo-citizenship.eu/about/fracit)

• Electoral Laws (http://eudo-citizenship.eu/databases/national-electoral-laws)

• 28 national experts• Questionnaire on 4 categories of voter• National Reports (15-20pp) (http://eudo-citizenship.eu/electoral-rights/electoral-rights-

reports)

• ‘The Matrix’ [48 categories x 280 elections!]• Study for European Parliament

• (http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/etudes/join/2013/474441/IPOL-AFCO_ET%282013%29474441_EN.pdf)

• Report to AFCO, 26 February 2013• (http://www.europarl.europa.eu/ep-live/en/committees/video?event=20130226-1500-

COMMITTEE-AFCO)

• Electoral Rights database (http://eudo-citizenship.eu/electoral-rights/comparing-electoral-rights ) 3

The AFCO ReportArrighi, J-Th., Bauböck, R. , Collyer, M., Hutcheson, D., Moraru, M., Khadar, L. and Shaw, J). (2013), Franchise and electoral participation of third country citizens residing the European Union and of EU citizens residing in third countries (Brussels: European Parliament/Directorate General for Internal Policies), Study 474.411. Available online: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/etudes/join/2013/474441/IPOL-AFCO_ET%282013%29474441_EN.pdf

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OVERVIEW - Electoral Rights of Third-Country Nationals in EU

•Map out electoral rights across EU Member States

•Identify additional restrictions on enfranchisement which do not

apply to the default category of citizen residents

•Discuss the grounds for enfranchisement of selected categories of

TCCs

•Examine electoral participation rates in local elections

•Formulate policy recommendations on the basis of key findings

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Overview in respect of TCNs

• Map out electoral rights across EU Member States

• Identify additional restrictions on enfranchisement

• Explain enfranchisement of selected categories of TCCs

• Examine electoral participation rates in local elections

• Formulate policy recommendations on the basis of key

findings

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Legal Context• EU broadly in favour through ‘soft’ law, as integration tool:

- Common Basic Principles for Immigrant Integration in the EU (JHA Council, 2004).

- The EP has advocated the extension of the local franchise since 1996.- Article 6 of the 1992 Council of Europe Convention on the

Participation of Foreigners in Public Life (signed by 8 Member states and ratified by 5 only).

• BUT hardly constrained in ‘hard’ law:• “[t]he European Parliament and the Council, acting in accordance

with the ordinary legislative procedure, may establish measures to provide incentives and support for the action of Member States with a view to promoting the integration of third-country nationals residing legally in their territories, excluding any harmonisation of the laws and regulations of the Member States.” (Art. 79.4 TFEU) 7

Electoral Rights vary greatly• No electoral rights for TCCs (12 states)

• Voting Rights: • rare at national level (2 states, selectively) • increasingly common at regional (5) and local level (16)

• Candidacy rights: more restricted than those for voting• rare at national level (2 states, selectively)• 4 In regional elections (UK, PT, SE and DK) and • 10 in local elections (DK, FI, SE, IE, EL, LU, NL, PT, SK, UK).

• Selective enfranchisement• Special categories only (PT, ES, UK)• facilitated access - 4 states (FI, SE, DK, EL)

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Voting rights in local legislative elections (EU28)

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Candidacy rights in local legislative elections (EU27 + Croatia)

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Additional restrictions

• Durational residency requirements• From 6 months (IE) to 5 years (BE, LU, NL)

• Legal status of residence• Holders of permanent residence permits only (e.g., LT, EE, SI, SK)• de facto durational requirement

• Registration procedures• Same as for natives in 9 states• Additional requirements in 7 states (BE, EL, ES, HU, LU, ,PT)• e.g., Belgian oath, Greek criminal certificate, etc. 11

Selective enfranchisement• Membership of an international association of states other

than the EU:- Nordic Union (Norway and Iceland) in DK, FI & SE- Commonwealth citizens in the United Kingdom- Citizens of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries

(CPLP) in Portugal (only applies to Brazil and Cape Verde)

• Bilateral agreements applied on the basis of reciprocity- Inactive provisions in Cyprus and the Czech Republic- Growing and eclectic list of countries in Spain and Portugal

• Special ties based on linguistic or cultural affinities- Irish citizens residing the UK- Facilitated access for holders of a ‘omogenis’ I.D. in Greece

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Turnout• Scarce data on electoral participation of TCCs, mainly because

ballots are generally assimilated into the broader voting total.

• Participation rates in Swedish local elections

• In other countries where secondary data could be collected, turnout in local elections fluctuates considerably from a minimum of 10% in Luxembourg (2009) to a maximum of 57% in Denmark (2009). In Estonia, reported participation rates of Russian citizens and stateless persons in the 2009 local elections were even higher (respectively 75 and 63%). 13

Policy recommendations

• Converging towards a common approach• Harmonising residence-based conditions is beyond EU

competence• BUT Council Directive 2003/109/EC lays down criteria for long-

term residence requirements• Recommendation that these should be considered the maximum

requirements for enfranchisement

• Increasing Electoral Participation• Lowering registration barriers • Information campaigns promoting the benefits of voting.

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• See www.eudo-citizenship.eu for:• Electoral rights database• Country reports• Information on citizenship and

integration across Europe

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