Launched by a group of Erasmus students, the European Citizens’ Initiative Voters Without Borders aims to enable citizens living in an EU country other than their country of origin to vote in regional, national elections, and referendums in their country of residence, and to strengthen their existing voting and eligibility rights in European and municipal elections.
The recent political upheavals that have paved the way for all future populist leaders highlight a Europe increasingly exposed to the rise of these trends and authoritarian governments.
While at the start of the pandemic, uncoordinated national measures ended freedom of movement, now facing an uncertain future, the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) which advocates for the voting rights of European Union citizens, underscores the urgency our European democracies face and proposes solutions to strengthen them.
An inclusive and pro-democratic initiative
The principle of freedom of movement, so dear to the European Union and its citizens, unfortunately remains imperfect, especially since today more and more EU citizens wish to move to another EU member state. While many barriers to voting, such as bureaucratic and administrative obstacles, prevent expatriated citizens in another member state from exercising their voting rights in municipal and regional elections, many are ultimately forced to choose between their mobility and their civic rights.
Although mobile European citizens pay their taxes, send their children to the same schools, and use the same services as their national neighbors, they do not remain full and equal members of the society in which they live. Yet, it would seem logical for them to have the right to be represented on the national and regional political scene, following the principle of “no taxation without representation” and “one person, one vote” advocated by the initiative.
Voters Without Borders therefore believes that the current European-scale rights are no longer adequate and should be reformed and expanded. Had this been the case, with the votes of 3.7 million EU nationals residing in the UK and 1.3 million British citizens living in another EU country, Brexit might not have occurred in the 2016 referendum.
Moreover, it does not seem legitimate to exclude the citizens most directly affected by this decision to leave the EU.
Unfortunately, the United Kingdom is not the only state in this situation: five EU countries continue to deprive their citizens of their right to vote after a certain period spent abroad.
