Toothless European Citizenship / Šimon Uradnik

a general view would not be sufficient, the author sticks to the former presented approach through political rights. 4.2.1 Right to Vote and to Stand as Candidate The matter at issue exists in two dimensions. The first is the voting rights of Union citizens participating in municipal elections of a Member State different from the Member State of their nationality, for which legal provisions are enshrined in the secondary law, by the Council Directive. 266 Nonetheless, at a glance, it is more than inconceivable that this right could be considered nonvicarious. Since the main objective of it is to provide Union citizens with access to participation in the political decision-making process in municipalities, the exercise of which, although guaranteed by the acquis communautaire, could be barely regulated directly by the European Union. Also, given that the posts elected are of Member States’ structures, 267 and elections are organised internally by the Member States. As a result of that, if it were not for Member States, the exercise of this right would be unrealisable. Whence it follows that the voting rights of Union citizens participating in municipal elections cannot be considered nonvicarious. The second dimension subsequently concerns the voting rights of Union citizens at elections to the European Parliament. The guarantee of this right differs whether a citizen of the Union votes or stands as a candidate in a Member State of his or her nationality, or in a Member State in which he or she only resides; 268 the latter is more 266 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 [1994] OJ L 368/38. 267 In addition, D. Kochenov mentions evident inequality that ‘it is up to the Member States to decide which elections to classify as municipal [, which results] in notable discrepancies’; for instance, Union citizens residing in Vienna cannot participate in the city-level elections since the city of Vienna is classified as Land , the legislative body of which can be elected only by Austrian nationals. In contrast, Union citizens who reside in Prague possess such a right to vote. To that effect, see Dimitry Kochenov, ‘Ius Tractum of Many Faces: European Citizenship and the Difficult Relationship between Status and Rights’ (2009) 15/2 Columbia Journal of European Law 202. 268 In Case C-650/13 Delvigne [2015] ECLI:EU:C:2015:648, the Court of Justice stated that the right to vote and to stand as a candidate for citizens in the former situation is not guaranteed by Article 22(2) TFEU and Article 39(1) CFR, as these secure the right only to Union citizens residing in a Member State different from their nationality, but by Article 39(2) CFR in accordance with Article 14(3) TEU and Article 1(3) of the 1976 Act.

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