ECI on full political rights for citizens on the move

Author: Inactive user |

Updated on: 04/03/2019 |

Number of views: 894

Our ECI proposal aims at strengthening European citizenship by giving citizens who reside in another Member State, a general right to vote, and not just in local and European elections. In the past few years, electoral campaigns and votes all over Europe have seen a strengthening of the most extremist wings and a rise of demagogic anti-EU political discourse. Furthermore, these forces are using democratic elections not to enhance democracy but to undermine its foundation on the rule of law and to fragment the continent. The counter-offensive must come from assertion of European values which can no longer be taken for granted.
In 1993, with the entry into force of the Maastricht Treaty, EU citizenship was created and included the right for European citizens to vote and stand as candidates in local and European elections in a country other than their own in which they are resident. The addition of European political rights to the economic and social rights associated with freedom of movement was only a partial step forward, since it did not include regional elections or the ones which really count - the national or presidential ones. Furthermore, European citizens do not generally have the right to vote in referenda in their country of residence, even though there have been several on European issues over the last generation.
The effects would be:
• complete the political rights of European Citizenship,
• remove a stain on European democracy, and
• give the EU more prominence in electoral and democratic contests.

This proposed European citizens’ initiative would be based on Article 25 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU (TFEU) which gives a mandate to the European Commission to report every three years on the development of European citizenship and make proposals for its development. The next citizenship report is due in 2019. The Commission already accepted an ECI called ‘Let Me Vote’ based on Article 25, which was limited to the right to vote in national elections - this initiative goes further in demanding full political rights.

FInd attach the full text of the proposal for the ECI.

We are looking for potential partners/organisations that might be interested in the topic in order to launch the ECI. We are open to any kind of suggestions!!
Please, contact us directly to the email address: info@ecit-foundation.eu

ECI on full political rights for EU citizens on the move_final.pdf

Categories: Justice and fundamental rights Regulatory framework

To be able to add comments, you need to authenticate or register.

Comments

Inactive user | 07/10/2020

Yes! Exactly! I had thought on this as well. I have already voted for German politicians for the EU parliament and for regional elections in Germany. I am Spanish living in Germany. I could vote only once, of course, so I had to renounce to the right to vote for Spanish politicians for the EU parliament. I've chosen to do that because I found it makes totally sense.

Now, with your proposal you would create something equivalent to a federation without a federal government which is a step forward. If everybody is allowed to choose a government for the country of residence that means we would have like a floating nationality or rather the nationality called European Union. Therefore the members of the European Council could be fully considered as OUR PRESIDENTS, the presidents of the European Union. While we speak about the president of the United States of America, we could fully speak in terms of the PRESIDENTS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION elected by the people of the European Union. Therefore the European Union would be like that a federation the facto without a federal government but a true federation. Thank you very much for your great proposal!

Inactive user | 07/10/2020

I like this initiative, I see that the need is indicated because the current elections do not express the real mood in society.

Inactive user | 07/10/2020

I wouldn't say that should be a counter offensive against some populist parties.

We should have the right to participate in the political life of the country where we live and we pay taxes. Period.

I would also point out another problem. To be allowed to participate in nationwide elections/referendum, you need to get the country's citizenship.

Getting citizenship usually takes many years.

It is nowadays more and more common to move from country to country (for work/family issues)

Result: many never get to vote in the place where we liave

Inactive user | 07/10/2020

An issue that may arise:

I am an Italian citizen living in Denmark.

If this proposal goes through, I would have the right to vote in Denmark. But, what about my right to vote/stand in a national election in Italy?

What do you think about it?

Forum Team | 25/02/2019

Thank you for raising the issue and sharing this idea on our platform.

Are you aware of the steps to follow to draft and register a European Citizens’ Initiative? Please note that you can find useful information and guidance notes in the LEARN section of the Forum, especially in terms of procedural steps or tips to draft an initiative (https://collab.ec.europa.eu/wiki/eci/display/ECI/Learn). If you are looking for partners to form a citizens’ committee, make sure you check out the CONNECT section of the Forum (https://collab.ec.europa.eu/wiki/eci/display/ECI/Connect). Here, you can search the database, identify users committed to your same cause and contact them to be potential co-organisers for your initiative or even for advice.

If you have already started to draft an initiative and are looking for advice (whether legal advice, or advice on campaigning, fundraising, communicating, or other aspects), check out the SEEK ADVICE section of the Forum in order to receive tailor-made feedback on your proposed initiative (https://collab.ec.europa.eu/wiki/eci/display/ECI/Seek+advice).

If you have reached the stage to be ready to register an initiative, the Official Register of the European Citizens’ Initiative might be more adapted to your request: http://ec.citizens-initiative.europa.eu/public/how-to-register.

The Forum Moderation Team

ECI on full political rights for citizens on the move

Leave a comment

Comments