CYIL vol. 11 (2020)

CYIL 11 (2020) HAVE EU CITIZENS A RIGHT TO BECOME MEMBERS OF NATIONAL POLITICAL PARTIES? elections to the European Parliament (formerly “Assembly”). One can see that the European Communities were established from the very beginning as supranational organisations and that supranationality is encrypted in “genetic” foundation of the European integration. The Treaty establishing European Coal and Steel Community 8 stipulated in Article 21 that the Assembly should be composed either of delegates from national parliaments of the Member States or the members of the Assembly “shall be elected by direct universal suffrage, according to the procedure determined by each respective High Contracting Party.” Article 138(3) of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community 9 went even further and provided that the Assembly “shall draw up proposals for elections by direct universal suffrage in accordance with a uniform procedure in all Member States. The Council shall, acting unanimously, lay down the appropriate provisions, which it shall recommend to Member States for adoption in accordance with their respective constitutional requirements.” 10 The first elections to the European Parliament were held only in 1979 due to the long ratification process of the Electoral Act in the United Kingdom 11 and, afterwards, every five years. However, nationals of the Member States had the right to vote and to stand as candidates in their home Member State, not in the State of residence. This idea emerged later when the so-called Adonnino reports were issued in 1985. 12 The European Council held in Fountainebleau on 25 and 26 June 1984 decided to establish the ad hoc Committee on a People’s Europe chaired by P. Adonnino who presented two reports on the occasion of the European Council meetings in Brussels (29 and 30 March 1985) and Milan (28 and 29 June 1985). The second report underlined “special rights of citizens” and suggested that all Community citizens (i. e. nationals of the Member States) should be put in the same position as regards the European Parliament elections by way of the introduction of a uniform electoral procedure. Failing that, Member States should ensure either that a citizen should be entitled to vote for candidates from their own country regardless of whether on election day they are staying in another Member State, or that a citizen residing in another Member State should be allowed to vote for candidates from that Member State. It is worth noting that a uniform electoral procedure to the European Parliament has not been adopted for the time being, only certain principles were laid down in 2002. Thus, when the Maastricht Treaty was negotiated, the Union citizenship and the right of Union citizens to vote and stand as candidates in elections to the European Parliament in the Member State of residence were introduced (Article 8b(2) TEC 13 ). 14 The origins of the right of Union citizens to vote and to stand as candidates in municipal elections in the Member State of residence can be traced in 1970’s in political documents although legally binding provisions were negotiated only in 1992. On 3 July 1975, 8 Signed in 1951, entered into force in 1952. 9 Signed in 1957, entered into force in 1958. 10 See similarly Article 108(3) of the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community. 11 See HARST, J., HOOGERS, G. VOERMAN, G. (eds.) European Citizenship in Perspective: History, Politics and Law. Cheltenham, Northampton: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2018, p. 26. 12 Bulletin of the European Communities Supplement 7/85. 13 Treaty establishing the European Community. 14 See for details COSTA, O. The history of European electoral reform and the Electoral Act 1976. Issues of democratisation and political legitimacy. 2016, p. 18, available at https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/ etudes/STUD/2016/563516/EPRS_STU(2016)563516_EN.pdf [Accessed: 23. 4. 2020].

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