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Electoral Rights of Third-Country Nationals in the EU countries

Electoral Rights of Third-Country Nationals in the EU countries. 26 February 2013. Dr Derek Hutcheson ‘Politická participace migrantu’, Prague, 8-9 April 2015. EUDO/FRACIT (http://eudo-citizenship.eu/about/fracit). Electoral Laws http://eudo-citizenship.eu/databases/national-electoral-laws

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Electoral Rights of Third-Country Nationals in the EU countries

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  1. Electoral Rights of Third-Country Nationals in the EU countries 26 February 2013 Dr Derek Hutcheson ‘Politická participace migrantu’, Prague, 8-9 April 2015

  2. EUDO/FRACIT(http://eudo-citizenship.eu/about/fracit) • Electoral Laws • http://eudo-citizenship.eu/databases/national-electoral-laws • 28 national Reports • http://eudo-citizenship.eu/electoral-rights/electoral-rights-reports • 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. 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

  4. Normative boundaries of the demos Derived from Iseult Honohan and Derek S. Hutcheson (forthcoming 2015), ‘Transnational Citizenship and Access to Electoral Rights: Defining the Demos in European States’, in Johan A. Elkink and David Farrell, The Act of Voting (Routledge).

  5. Differential voting rights at national and local level • ‘Restricting the local franchise to national citizens, or EU citizens, or to the citizens of those states that grant a reciprocal franchise introduces a conditionality for the local franchise that has nothing to do with the powers and functions of local self-government.’ – Bauböck 2015. • Immigration status in principle no different from intra-country migrants. • Nested within national regimes. • No local immigration/citizenship status.

  6. 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 not through ‘hard’ law: • “[t]he European Parliament and the Council, acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure, mayestablish 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)

  8. Voting rights in local legislative elections (EU28)

  9. Candidacy rights in local legislative elections (EU28)

  10. 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

  12. Turnout – limited information • In Estonia, reported participation rates of Russian citizens and stateless persons in the 2009 local elections were even higher (respectively 75 and 63%). Bhatti et al 2014, p.28 (http://cvap.polsci.ku.dk/forskning/publikationer/arbejdspapirer/Hvem_stemte_og_hvem_blev_hjemme__final_.pdf)

  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.

  14. See http://eudo-citizenship.eu for: • Electoral rights database • Country reports • Information on citizenship and integration across Europe

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