CHAPTER IIIDerogations and transitional provisions
Article 12
1
Where, on 1 January 1996, in a given Member State, the proportion of citizens of the Union of voting age who reside in it but are not nationals of it exceeds 20% of the total number of citizens of the Union residing there who are of voting age, that Member State may, by way of derogation from this Directive:
a
restrict the right to vote to voters within the scope of Article 3 who have resided in that Member State for a minimum period, which may not be longer than the term for which the representative council of the municipality is elected;
b
restrict the right to stand as a candidate to persons entitled to stand as candidates within the scope of Article 3 who have resided in that Member State for a minimum period, which may not be longer than twice the term for which the representative council of the municipality is elected; and
c
take appropriate measures with regard to the composition of lists of candidates to encourage in particular the integration of citizens of the Union, who are nationals of another Member State.
2
The Kingdom of Belgium may, by way of derogation from the provisions of this Directive, apply the provisions of paragraph 1 (a) to a limited number of local government units, the list of which it shall communicate at least one year before the local government unit elections for which it intends to invoke the derogation.
3
Where, on 1 January 1996, the laws of a Member State prescribe that the nationals of another Member State who reside there have the right to vote for the national parliament of that State and, for that purpose, may be entered on the electoral roll of that State under exactly the same conditions as national voters, the first Member State may, by way of derogation from this Directive, refrain from applying Articles 6 to 11 in respect of such persons.
4
By 31 December 1998 and every six years thereafter, the Commission shall submit to the European Parliament and to the Council a report in which it shall check whether the grant to the Member States concerned of a derogation pursuant to Article 8b (1) of the Treaty is still warranted and shall propose that any necessary adjustments be made. Member States which invoke derogations under paragraphs 1 and 2 shall furnish the Commission with all the necessary background information.