Few Non-national EU Citizens Register for European ElectionsOnly nine out of a hundred non-national EU citizens, who usually live in another EU member state instead of their own, have registered for the European elections, according to Tuesday's issue of European Report journal.The European Commission, the executive body of the 15-nation bloc, claimed that most citizens are aware of their voting rights but are insufficiently informed on how to exercise them. The EU citizens, under article 19 of the European Union treaty, are entitled to vote and stand as candidates in local or European elections in whatever EU member states they happen to reside at the time of elections. National elections are excluded from this procedure. The procedure was defined in such a way as to better incorporate and integrate EU citizens into greater citizen participation in the European political life in the member states of their residence. Nevertheless, in the 1999 European elections, 1.8 percent of eligible non-national EU citizens cast their ballots in Greece. Denmark came second lowest with 2.1 percent voting rate. Although the highest voting rate was found in Ireland, where 43. 9 percent of the eligible took part in the European elections, the voting rate dropped from 44.1 percent in 1994. The journal, specializing in European Union affairs, said that the European Commission, alarmed by the findings, had to call on EU member states to better inform all EU citizens of their voting rights. |
| People's Daily Online --- http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/ |