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- Point in Time (01/01/2007)
- Original (As adopted by EU)
Council Directive 94/80/EC of 19 December 1994 laying down detailed arrangements for the exercise of the right to vote and to stand as a candidate in municipal elections by citizens of the Union residing in a Member State of which they are not nationals
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Version Superseded: 21/07/2012
EU Directives are published on this site to aid cross referencing from UK legislation. Since IP completion day (31 December 2020 11.00 p.m.) no amendments have been applied to this version.
Textual Amendments
F1 Substituted by Act concerning the conditions of accession of the Czech Republic, the Republic of Estonia, the Republic of Cyprus, the Republic of Latvia, the Republic of Lithuania, the Republic of Hungary, the Republic of Malta, the Republic of Poland, the Republic of Slovenia and the Slovak Republic and the adjustments to the Treaties on which the European Union is founded.
‘ Basic local government unit ’ within the meaning of Article 2(1)(a) of this Directive means any of the following:
in Belgium:
commune / gemeente / Gemeinde ,
[F2in Bulgaria:
община/кметство/Общината е основната административно-териториална единица, в която се осъществява местното самоуправление,]
in the Czech Republic:
obec, městský obvod nebo městská část územně členěného statutárního města, městská část hlavního města Prahy ,
in Denmark:
amtskommune, Koøbenhavns kommune, Frederiksberg kommune, primærkommune ,
in Germany:
kreisfreie Stadt bzw. Stadtkreis; Kreis; Gemeinde, Bezirk in der Freien und Hansestadt Hamburg und im Land Berlin; Stadtgemeinde Bremen in der Freien Hansestadt Bremen, Stadt-, Gemeinde-, oder Ortsbezirke bzw. Ortschaften,
in Estonia:
vald, linn ,
in Greece:
κοινότης, δήμος ,
in Spain:
municipio, entidad de ámbito territorial inferior al municipal ,
in France:
commune, arrondissement dans les villes déterminées par la législation interne, section de commune ,
in Ireland:
country, county borough, borough, urban district, town,
in Italy:
comune, circoscrizione ,
in Cyprus:
δήμος, κοινότητα ,
in Latvia:
pagasts, novads, pilsēta ,
in Lithuania:
Savivaldybės taryba ,
in Luxembourg:
commune ,
in Hungary:
települési önkormányzat; község, nagyközség, város, megyei jogú város, főváros, főváros kerületei; területi önkormányzat; megye ,
in Malta:
Kunsill Lokali ,
in the Netherlands:
gemeente, deelgemeente ,
in Austria:
Gemeinden, Bezirke in der Stadt Wien ,
in Poland:
gmina ,
in Portugal:
município, freguesia ,
[F2in Romania:
comuna, orașul, municipiul, sectorul (numai în municipiul București) și județul,]
in Slovenia:
občina ,
in Slovakia:
samospráva obce: obec, mesto, hlavné mesto Slovenskej republiky Bratislava, mesto Košice, mestská časť hlavného mesta Slovenskej republiky Bratislavy, mestská časť mesta Košice; samospráva vyššieho územného celku: samosprávny kraj ,
in Finland:
kunta, kommun, kommun på Åland ,
in Sweden:
kommuner, landsting ,
in the United Kingdom:
counties in England; counties, county boroughs and communities in Wales: regions and Islands in Scotland; districts in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland; London boroughs; parishes in England; the City of London in relation to ward elections for common councilmen]
Textual Amendments
F2 Inserted by Council Directive 2006/106/EC of 20 November 2006 adapting Directive 94/80/EC laying down detailed arrangements for the exercise of the right to vote and to stand as a candidate in municipal elections by citizens of the Union residing in a Member State of which they are not nationals, by reason of the accession of Bulgaria and Romania.
The Federal Republic of Germany assumes that the definition in Article 2 (1) (b) regarding the election of the head and members of the executive of a basic local government unit may also be extended to include removal from office by electoral process ‘Abwahl’.
The Federal Republic of Germany would point out that under German constitutional law the rules governing municipal elections apply mutatis mutandis to local assemblies where these take the place of an elected representative council.
Article 3 does not rule out the possibility for a Member State of ensuring in a non-discriminatory manner that a voter within the scope of Article 3 is not deprived of the right to vote in a Member State other than the Member State of residence if that same condition applies to its own nationals.
The Luxembourg authorities interpret the word ‘ensuring’ as tantamount to a statement on his honour made by a voter within the scope of Article 3 when he is entered on the electoral roll.
The measures referred to in the third subparagraph of Article 5 (3) may not restrict more than is necessary for the achievement of the objectives set out in the first and second subparagraphs of Article 5 (3) the possibility for other Member States' nationals to be elected.
The possibility of excluding citizens of the Union who are nationals of other Member States from the election of or election to the college which elects the French Senate, pursuant to Article 5 (4), in no way jeopardizes the right to vote or stand in municipal elections arising out of Article 8b (1) of the Treaty establishing the European Community.
The Council takes note of the following statement by the Belgian delegation:
Belgium states that if it were to make use of the derogation provided for in Article 12 (2) that derogation would be applied to only some of the local government units in which the number of voters within the scope of Article 3 exceeded 20% of all voters where the Belgian Federal Government regarded the specific situation as justifying an exceptional derogation of that kind.
The Council notes the following statement by the Commission:
The Commission states that it will pay particular attention to the changes in the electorate following the entry into force of Directive which could create specific problems for certain Member States.
In view of its geographical position, Greece attaches particular importance to the report that the Commission will be drawing up pursuant to Article 13.
It expects that the Commission, bearing in mind changes in the electorate in the Member States, will assess the specific problems they may well face following the entry into force of the Directive.
The Kingdom of Spain states that if, under the terms of Council Directive 94/80/EC of 19 December 1994 laying down detailed arrangements for the exercise of the right to vote and to stand as a candidate in municipal elections by citizens of the Union residing in a Member State of which they are not nationals, the United Kingdom decides to extend its application to Gibraltar, such application will be deemed to be without prejudice to Spain's position with respect to Gibraltar.
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