Activities of Konstantinos ARVANITIS related to 2021/0373(CNS)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the proposal for a Council directive laying down detailed arrangements for the exercise of the right to vote and stand as a candidate in municipal elections by Union citizens residing in a Member State of which they are not nationals (recast)
Amendments (44)
Amendment 8 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 5
Recital 5
(5) The electoral procedure related to municipal elections falls within the competences of the Member States that organise them reflecting their specific traditions and in accordance with international and European standards. In line with International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights as well as the law of the European Convention on Human Rights, Member States should not only recognise and respect the right of Union citizens to vote and to stand as a candidate but also ensure easy access to their electoral rights by removing as many obstacles to their participation in elections as possible.
Amendment 10 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 6
Recital 6
(6) In order to ensure that Union citizens who reside in a Member State of which they are not nationals (“non-national Union citizens”) are able to exercise their right to vote and to stand as candidates in municipal elections under the same conditions as nationals of their host Member State, the conditions governing registration and participation in such elections should be clarified in order to ensure equal treatment between national and non-national Union citizens. In particular, Union citizens seeking to vote and to stand as candidates in municipal elections in their Member State of residence should be treated equally as regards any periods of residence that are to be fulfilled in a uniform manner throughout all Member States as a condition for the exercise of the right, as well as the uniform proofs for demonstrating compliance with such a condition.
Amendment 14 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 8
Recital 8
(8) In order to facilitate the exercise by non-national Union citizens of their right to vote and to stand as a candidate in their country of residence, Member States should endeavour to introduce automatic registration of Union citizens under their consent and with a possibility to opt-out, such citizens should be entered on the electoral roll in sufficient time in advance of polling day. The formalities applicable to their registration should be as simple as possiblend as uniform as possible across Member States and information about vote registration should be provided in all official EU languages. It should be sufficient for the Union citizens concerned to produce a valid identity card and a formal declaration that include elements evidencing their entitlement to participate in the elections. Once registered, non- national Union citizens should remain on the electoral roll under the same conditions as Union citizens who are nationals of the Member State concerned, for as long as they satisfy the conditions for exercising the right to vote. Additionally, Union citizens should provide the competent authorities with contact information, enabling those authorities to keep them informed on a regular basis.
Amendment 25 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 11
Recital 11
Amendment 29 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 12
Recital 12
Amendment 35 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 16
Recital 16
(16) 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(1) TFEU and the national rules and procedures regarding participation in and the organization of municipal elections, including, where relevant, on the availability of specific means of voting, such as advance voting, postal voting, and electronic and internet voting. The provision of information should be done at local and national level in a coordinated way and in cooperation with civil society organisations. In order to ensure the effectiveness of communications, information should be provided in clear and comprehensible terms.
Amendment 40 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 17
Recital 17
(17) In order to improve the accessibility of electoral information, such information should be made available in at least one other official language of the Union than that or those of the host Member State, broadly understood by the largest possible number of Union citizens residing on its territory. 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.ll official EU languages
Amendment 45 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 18
Recital 18
Amendment 48 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 19
Recital 19
Amendment 52 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 20
Recital 20
Amendment 56 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 23
Recital 23
(23) Data regarding the exercise of rights and the application of this Directive can be useful in the identification of measures necessary to ensure the effective exercise of Union citizens’ electoral rights. In order to improve and harmonise the collection of data for municipal elections, it is necessary to introduce regular monitoring and reporting of implementation by Member States, which should include, besides statistical data, information on the measures taken to support participation in elections of non- national Union citizens Such data should be collected in a transparent, secure, and coordinated way across all Member States and on the basis of the same indicators. To that effect, the Commission should set up common indicators for the provision by the Member States of the statistical data concerned. . The Commission should assess the application of the Directive , including any changes in the electorate that have taken place since its entry into force and submit a report in this connection to the European Parliament and to the Council.
Amendment 63 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 26
Recital 26
(26) The Member States, by ratifying, and the Union, by concluding25 , have committed themselves to ensure compliance with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities including on Article 29 on Participation in political and public life. In order to support inclusive and equal electoral participation for persons with disabilities, arrangements for Union citizens residing in a Member State of which they are not nationals to exercise the right to vote and to stand as a candidate there in municipal elections should have due regard to the needs of citizens with a disability and older citizens. Member States should ensure that persons with disabilities receive, at their request, assistance in voting by a person of their choice or by a person designated by the Member State authorities. _________________ 25 Council Decision 2010/48/EC of 26 November 2009 concerning the conclusion, by the European Community, of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (OJ L 23, 27.1.2010, p. 35).
Amendment 67 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point d a (new)
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point d a (new)
(da) 'Union voter’ means any Union citizen of the Union who is entitled to vote in the municipal elections in his or her Member State of residence in accordance with this Directive;
Amendment 68 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point d b (new)
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point d b (new)
(db) 'Union citizen entitled to stand as a candidate’ means any Union citizen of the Union who has the right to stand as a candidate in elections to the European Parliament in his or her Member State of residence in accordance with this Directive;
Amendment 70 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 (new)
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1 (new)
All Member States shall consider introducing automatic voter registration of non-national Union voters upon receiving the consent of the Union citizens concerned at the time of registering as a resident in the Member State of residence. Non-national Union voters who have opted out of automatic registration shall be invited to register as a voter well in advance of the election period.
Amendment 73 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 4 – paragraph 1
Article 4 – paragraph 1
1. If, in order to vote or to stand as candidates, nationals of the Member State of residence must have spent a certain minimum and uniform period as a resident in the territory of that State, voters and persons entitled to stand as candidates pursuant to Article 3 shall be deemed to have fulfilled that condition where they have resided for an equivalent period in other Member States.
Amendment 74 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 5 – paragraph 1
Article 5 – paragraph 1
1. Member States of residence may provide that Union citizens who, through an individual decision under civil law or a criminal lawjudicial decision, have been deprived of their right to stand as a candidate under the law of their home Member State shall be precluded from exercising that right in municipal elections. However, decisions on deprivation of legal capacity due to disability taken by the Member State of origin shall not make Union citizens ineligible from voting in municipal elections in their Member State of residence if the law of that Member State upholds that right to all persons with disabilities without restrictions.
Amendment 80 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 5 – paragraph 3
Article 5 – paragraph 3
Amendment 82 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 5 – paragraph 3 – subparagraph 1
Article 5 – paragraph 3 – subparagraph 1
Amendment 83 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 5 – paragraph 3 – subparagraph 2
Article 5 – paragraph 3 – subparagraph 2
Amendment 89 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 5 – paragraph 4
Article 5 – paragraph 4
Amendment 90 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 6 – paragraph 1
Article 6 – paragraph 1
1. Persons entitled to stand as candidates pursuant to Article 3 shall be subject to the same conditions concerning incompatibility as they apply, under the laws of the Member State of residence, to nationals of that State.
Amendment 91 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 7 – paragraph 1
Article 7 – paragraph 1
1. Voters fulfilling the conditions of Article 3 shall exercise their right to vote in municipal elections in the Member State of residence if they have expressed the wishintent to do so.
Amendment 92 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 7 – paragraph 2
Article 7 – paragraph 2
2. If voting is compulsory in the Member State of residence, voters pursuant to Article 3 who have been entered on the local electoral roll there shall also be obliged to vote.
Amendment 95 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 7 – paragraph 3
Article 7 – paragraph 3
3. Member States where voting is not compulsory mayshall consider provideing for the automatic registration of voters pursuant to Article 3 on the electoral roll.
Amendment 97 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 8 – paragraph 1
Article 8 – paragraph 1
1. Member States shall take the necessary measures to enable a voter pursuant to Article 3 to be entered on the electoral roll sufficiently in advance ofno later than 14 weeks before polling day.
Amendment 98 #
2. In order to have their name entered on the electoral roll, voters pursuant to Article 3 shall produce the same or equivalent documents as voters who are nationals .
Amendment 101 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 8 – paragraph 3 – introductory part
Article 8 – paragraph 3 – introductory part
3. Voters pursuant to Article 3 who have been entered on an electoral roll in the Member State of residence shall remain thereon, under the same conditions as voters who are nationals, until such a time as they are removed because they no longer satisfy the requirements for exercising the right to vote. Where Member States provide for the notification of nationals of their removal from the electoral roll, those provisions shall apply equally to voters pursuant to Article 3. This notification shall be available in all official EU languages.
Amendment 102 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 8 – paragraph 3 – subparagraph 1
Article 8 – paragraph 3 – subparagraph 1
Amendment 104 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 8 – paragraph 5
Article 8 – paragraph 5
5. Without prejudice to the rules of any Member State concerning the right to vote or to stand as a candidate of nationals who reside outside its territory, the fact that voters pursuant to Article 3 have been entered on the electoral roll of their Member State of residence shall not automatically result in their removal from the electoral roll of the home Member State.
Amendment 106 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 9 – paragraph 1
Article 9 – paragraph 1
1. When submitting an application to stand as candidates , persons entitled to stand as candidates pursuant to Article 3 shall produce the same or equivalent supporting documents as a candidate who is a national. The Member State of residence may require the persons concerned to produce a formal declaration drawn up in accordance with the template set out in Annex III .
Amendment 112 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 10 – paragraph 1
Article 10 – paragraph 1
Member States tshatll provide for the possibility for nationals to vote by means of advance voting, postalof, postal voting in municipal elections. In the case of postal voting, and where possibilities of advance voting, and electronic and internet voting are available in municipal elections shall ensure that such means of voting are also available under the same conditions to voters pursuant to Article 3to their nationals, Member States shall ensure the availability of those voting methods to Union voters under the same conditions as the ones applicable to their own nationals. Member States shall adopt all necessary measures to ensure the reliability and secrecy of the vote, and the protection of personal data in accordance with applicable Union law.
Amendment 118 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 11 – paragraph 1
Article 11 – paragraph 1
1. The Member State of residence shall inform the concerned persons in good time and in clear and plain language of the decision taken on their application for entry on the electoral roll or of the decision concerning the admissibility of their application to stand as a candidate.
Amendment 121 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 11 – paragraph 2
Article 11 – paragraph 2
2. Should Union citizens not be entered on the electoral roll or have their automatic registration or application form entry refused or have their application to stand as a candidate rejected, the person concerned shall be entitled to legal remedies on similar terms as the laws of the Member State of residence prescribe for voters and persons entitled to stand as candidates who are its nationals.
Amendment 127 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 12 – paragraph 1
Article 12 – paragraph 1
1. Member States shall designate a national public authority with responsibility for taking the necessary measures 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 municipal elections immediately upon registration of individuals. The provision of information shall be done at local and national level in a coordinated way and in cooperation with civil society organisations, upon automatic registration or after the submission of an application to enter the electoral roll.
Amendment 134 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 12 – paragraph 2 – point c
Article 12 – paragraph 2 – point c
(c) means of obtaining further information relating to the organisation of the election, including the list of candidates and the specific measures to facilitate the exercise of the right to vote to particular groups of voters, such as persons with disabilities or voters who cannot participate on election day, upon automatic registration or after the submission of an application to enter the electoral roll.
Amendment 141 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 12 – paragraph 3 – introductory part
Article 12 – paragraph 3 – introductory part
3. The information on conditions and detailed rules for registration as a voter or candidate in municipal elections and the information referred to in paragraph 2 shall be provided in clear and plain language, in all official Union languages, without exceeding a level of complexity superior to level B1(intermediate) of the Council of Europe’s Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.
Amendment 146 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 12 – paragraph 3 – subparagraph 1
Article 12 – paragraph 3 – subparagraph 1
Amendment 151 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 12 – paragraph 4
Article 12 – paragraph 4
4. Member States shall ensure that information on conditions and detailed rules for registration as a voter or candidate in municipal elections and information referred to in paragraph 2 is made accessible to persons with disabilities and older persons , people in remote areas, mobile Union citizens, minority groups and those who face difficulties in voting generally by applying accessibility requirements laid down in Annex I of Directive (EU) 2019/882 and by using appropriate means, modes and formats of communication such as sign language, Braille or easy-to-read format.
Amendment 155 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 13
Article 13
Amendment 158 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 14 – paragraph 1
Article 14 – paragraph 1
1. Within three years of the entry into force of this Directive and every four years thereafter, the Member States shall report to the Commission on the application of this Directive in their territory, including on the application of Article 5(3) and (4). TIn addition to general observation, the report shall contain statistical data on the participation in municipal elections of voters and candidates pursuant to Article 3 and a summary of measures taken in that regard. to support their participation, based on common indicators. This data shall be collected in a transparent, secure, and coordinated way across all Member States
Amendment 164 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 14 – paragraph 1 a (new)
Article 14 – paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. The Commission may adopt implementing acts for the purpose of defining the common indicators for the provision by the Member States of the statistical data referred to in paragraph 1. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 15a.
Amendment 168 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 15 – paragraph 1
Article 15 – paragraph 1
Within two years after the 2029 elections to the European Parliament, the Commission shall assess the application of this Directive and produce an evaluation report on the progress towards achievement of the objectives contained herein. The evaluation shall be accompanied, if appropriate, by a legislative proposal to amend this Directive.
Amendment 174 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 16 – paragraph 5
Article 16 – paragraph 5
5. As soon as it adopts a delegated act, the Commission shall immediately notify it simultaneously to the European Parliament and to the Council.