Source: European Parliament
The Commission does not have a general competence to intervene in elections of the Member States. Subject to the respect of certain basic principles, such as those laid down in Articles 2 and 10 of the Treaty on European Union, and their international commitments, it is the competence and the responsibility of the Member States to lay down the specific conditions for the conduct of elections, including on electronic voting, and of the competent national administrative and judicial authorities to ensure compliance with applicable law and relevant international standards. Such standards may include transparency, fairness and reliability.
As regards the elections to the European Parliament, national electoral procedures must also comply with the principles set out in the Act concerning the election of the Members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage, which do not specify who may vote[1].
The Court explained in Delvigne[2] that the definition of the persons entitled to exercise that right therefore falls within the competence of each Member State in compliance with EU law.
In December 2023, the Commission issued a Compendium of electronic voting practices[3] which includes specific information on ensuring integrity of electronic voting systems, including through effective testing and auditing of systems.
In 2023, the Commission presented a recommendation on inclusive and resilient elections[4] which highlighted, among others, the importance of ensuring necessary safeguards and appropriate training for election officials when introducing e-voting.
The Commission intends to review the follow-up being given to the recommendation by Member States in the context of the Commission’s Report on the 2024 European elections.
- [1] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/en/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A01976X1008%2801%29-20020923
- [2] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/en/TXT/?uri=CELEX:62013CJ0650
- [3] https://commission.europa.eu/system/files/2023-12/compendium.pdf
- [4] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32023H2829