Sittings · Document
Draft report (09789/2024 – 2021/0372(CNS)) 2025-04-07
Laying down detailed arrangements for the exercise of the right to vote and stand as a candidate in elections to the European Parliament for Union citizens residing in a Member State of which they are not nationals (recast)
Committee on Constitutional Affairs
Amendment 1
Alexandre Varaut, Jean-Paul Garraud
Draft legislative resolution
Paragraph 1
| Draft legislative resolution | Amendment |
| 1. Approves the Council draft as adapted to the recommendations of the Consultative Working Party of the legal services of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission; | 1. Approves the Council draft as adapted to the recommendations of the Consultative Working Party of the legal services of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission and as amended as follows; |
Or. fr
Amendment 2
Sandro Gozi, Marc Angel, Nikolas Farantouris, Reinier Van Lanschot
Draft legislative resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
| Draft legislative resolution | Amendment |
| 1a. Deeply regrets that the Council, while formally in compliance with Article 22(2) TFEU, has not engaged with the substance of Parliament’s opinion in any meaningful way; points out that this practice is indicative of a wider trend in recent years, for the Council and the European Council to refuse to cooperate constructively and in good faith in a number of pending special legislative procedures; recalls the recommendations contained in its report of 13 December 2023, and reiterates its calls on the Council and on the European Council to collaborate constructively in finding policy solutions that work in the interest of European citizens; |
Or. en
Amendment 3
Alexandre Varaut, Jean-Paul Garraud
Draft legislative resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
| Draft legislative resolution | Amendment |
| 1a. Calls on the Commission to alter its proposal accordingly, in accordance with Article 293(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union; |
Or. fr
Amendment 4
Jean-Paul Garraud, Alexandre Varaut
Draft Council directive
Recital 5 a (new)
| Text proposed by Council | Amendment |
| (5a) The purpose of this directive is not to establish a common European electoral constituency or to support the establishment of transnational lists. The applicable electoral framework should continue to ensure that the people are represented by their national representatives. Any change in that direction would be a major political decision and would need to be expressly endorsed by the people. |
Or. fr
Amendment 5
Jean-Paul Garraud, Alexandre Varaut
Draft Council directive
Recital 14
| Text proposed by Council | Amendment |
| (14) It should be possible for the Member State of residence to check that Union citizens who have expressed a desire to exercise their right to stand as candidates have not been deprived of that right in their home country. Where a Member State receives a request to that effect from the Member State of residence, it should provide the necessary confirmation within a time-limit allowing for the admissibility of the candidacy to be effectively assessed. Given the fundamental importance of electoral rights, failure by the home Member State to provide timely information on the status of a Union citizen should not result in the deprivation of the right to stand as a candidate in the Member State of residence. In cases where the relevant information is provided at a later stage, the Member State of residence should ensure, by appropriate measures and in accordance with the procedures provided for by its national law, that Union citizens deprived of the right to stand in their home Member State who were registered as candidates or have already been elected, are prevented from being elected or from exercising their mandate. | (14) It should be possible for the Member State of residence to check that nationals of other Member States have not been deprived of their right to stand as candidates in their home country. That check should take place before applications are validated. The exchange of information should be limited to this strict use, under the responsibility of the requesting Member State. In the absence of a reply from the home Member State within a reasonable time, it should be possible to suspend the application pending clarification. It should also be stressed that under no circumstances should this directive be interpreted as a step towards the establishment of transnational electoral lists or a unified European electorate. Participation in the European elections should continue to be based on national frameworks. |
Or. fr
Amendment 6
Jean-Paul Garraud, Alexandre Varaut
Draft Council directive
Recital 17
| Text proposed by Council | Amendment |
| (17) The information exchange between Member States to prevent multiple voting or instances where the same person would stand as a candidate more than once at the same election should not prevent their nationals from voting or standing as candidates in other types of elections. To facilitate communication between national authorities, Member States should be required to designate one contact point for that information exchange. A secure tool was developed in the past by the Commission to be used only by the Member States under their responsibility to exchange the necessary data. That secure tool should be incorporated in this Directive, to further support exchanges between Member States’ competent authorities. Member States will act as separate controllers for their processing of personal data in this regard. This tool should give access to Member States only to the data of the Union citizens residing in their electoral territory who explicitly expressed their wish to be entered on their electoral rolls or stand as candidates and their own nationals who expressed explicitly the wish to vote or stand as candidates in the Member States of residence. | (17) It should be possible to organise the information exchange between Member States to prevent multiple voting or candidacies in accordance with the existing mechanisms in each Member State. With a view to conformity with national administrative characteristics, no obligation to centralise by means of one single contact point should be imposed on Member States |
Or. fr
Amendment 7
Jean-Paul Garraud, Alexandre Varaut
Draft Council directive
Recital 18
| Text proposed by Council | Amendment |
| (18) For defining responsibilities, obligations and technical standards for the operation of the secure tool, in accordance with Chapter IV of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council, implementing powers should be conferred on the Commission3. Those powers should be exercised in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council4. | deleted |
| _________________ | |
| Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation), OJ L 119, 4.5.2016, p. 1–88. | |
| Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 2011 laying down the rules and general principles concerning mechanisms for control by the Member States of the Commission's exercise of implementing powers (OJ L 55, 28.2.2011, p. 13, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2011/182/oj). |
Or. fr
Amendment 8
Jean-Paul Garraud, Alexandre Varaut
Draft Council directive
Recital 20
| Text proposed by Council | Amendment |
| (20) The lack of adequate information, in the context of electoral procedures, affects citizens in the exercise of their electoral rights as part of their rights as Union citizens. It also affects the capacity of competent authorities to exercise their rights and to deliver on their obligations. Member States should be required to designate authorities with special responsibilities for providing appropriate information to Union citizens on their rights under Article 20(2), point (b), and Article 22(2) TFEU and the national rules and procedures regarding participation in and the organization of elections to the European Parliament. In order to ensure the effectiveness of communications, information should be provided in clear and plain language. This means that information should be provided in a manner that the person concerned understands or can be reasonably expected to understand. | (20) The lack of adequate information, in the context of electoral procedures, may affect the effective exercise of the right to vote and to stand as a candidate for nationals of another Member State in their State of residence. It also affects the capacity of competent authorities to perform their duties. |
Or. fr
Amendment 9
Jean-Paul Garraud, Alexandre Varaut
Draft Council directive
Recital 21
| Text proposed by Council | Amendment |
| (21) In order to improve the accessibility of electoral information, such information should be made available, for example on a generally accessible website, in at least one official language of the Union, other than that or those of the host Member State, that is broadly understood by the largest possible number of Union citizens residing on its territory. Translations in such other languages should be purely informative and should not have any legal effect. If any questions arise in relation to the accuracy of the information contained in those translations, only the versions in the official language or languages of that Member State should be considered legally binding. Member States may use different official languages of the Union in specific parts of their territory or their regions depending on the language understood by the largest group of Union citizens residing therein. | (21) In order to improve the accessibility of electoral information, such information should be made available in one or more official languages of the Union. Only those versions should be considered legally binding. Member States may use different official languages of the Union in specific parts of their territory or their regions depending on the language understood by the largest group of Union citizens residing therein. |
Or. fr
Amendment 10
Jean-Paul Garraud, Alexandre Varaut
Draft Council directive
Article 1 – paragraph 1
| Text proposed by Council | Amendment |
| 1. This Directive lays down the detailed arrangements whereby Union citizens residing in a Member State of which they are not nationals (‘non-national Union citizens’) may exercise the right to vote and to stand as a candidate there in elections to the European Parliament. | 1. This Directive lays down the detailed arrangements whereby citizens of a Member State residing in a Member State of which they are not nationals (‘non-national Union citizens’) may exercise the right to vote and to stand as a candidate there in elections to the European Parliament. |
| (This amendment should apply throughout the text.) |
Or. fr
Amendment 11
Jean-Paul Garraud, Alexandre Varaut
Draft Council directive
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 5
| Text proposed by Council | Amendment |
| (5) ‘ Union voter’ means any Union citizen who is entitled to vote in elections to the European Parliament in the Member State of residence in accordance with this Directive; | (5) ‘ Member State voter’ means any Member State citizen who is entitled to vote in elections to the European Parliament in the Member State of residence in accordance with this Directive; |
| (This amendment should apply throughout the text.) |
Or. fr
Amendment 12
Jean-Paul Garraud, Alexandre Varaut
Draft Council directive
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 6
| Text proposed by Council | Amendment |
| (6) ‘ Union citizen entitled to stand as a candidate’ means any Union citizen who has the right to stand as a candidate in elections to the European Parliament in the Member State of residence in accordance with this Directive; | (6) ‘ Member State citizen entitled to stand as a candidate’ means any Member State citizen who has the right to stand as a candidate in elections to the European Parliament in the Member State of residence in accordance with this Directive; |
| (This amendment should apply throughout the text.) |
Or. fr
Amendment 13
Jean-Paul Garraud, Alexandre Varaut
Draft Council directive
Article 12 – paragraph 1
| Text proposed by Council | Amendment |
| 1. Member States shall designate one or more authorities with responsibility for taking the measures necessary to ensure that non-national Union citizens are informed in a timely manner of the conditions and detailed rules for registration as a voter or candidate in elections to the European Parliament. | 1. Member States shall ensure, within the framework of their existing administrative structures, that non-national Member State citizens may access, in a timely manner, information on the conditions and detailed rules for registration as a voter or candidate in elections to the European Parliament. |
Or. fr
Amendment 14
Jean-Paul Garraud, Alexandre Varaut
Draft Council directive
Article 12 – paragraph 3 – subparagraph 2
| Text proposed by Council | Amendment |
| General information on the national framework for the organisation of elections to the European Parliament, including the conditions for registration as a voter or candidate, the date of the election and how and where to vote shall also be available in at least one other official language of the Union that is broadly understood by Union citizens residing on its territory. Member States may request the Commission to provide assistance for such translations in accordance with Article 12 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1724. Such translations shall be purely informative and shall have no legal effect. | Member States may, if they consider it useful, make general information available in another official language of the Union for information purposes only. |
Or. fr
Amendment 15
Jean-Paul Garraud, Alexandre Varaut
Draft Council directive
Article 17 – paragraph 1
| Text proposed by Council | Amendment |
| 1. Within 6 months after each election to the European Parliament, each Member State shall send to the Commission information on the application of this Directive in its territory. The report shall contain statistical data on participation in elections to the European Parliament, in particular, where available, the participation of Union voters and Union citizens entitled to stand as candidates and a summary of the measures taken to support it. | deleted |
Or. fr