(2004/C 70 E/181)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3004/03

by Philip Claeys (NI) to the Commission

(14 October 2003)

Subject:   Commission communication on immigration, integration and employment — franchise for immigrants

Communication COM(2003) 336 repeatedly calls for immigrants in Europe to be granted ‘political rights’. ‘From the point of view of integration, it is obvious that local franchise should derive from permanent residence, rather than from nationality. The Commission believes that granting long-term resident immigrants political rights is important for the integration process and that the Treaty should provide the basis for so doing’ (p. 24).

The issue of whether or not to grant immigrants the right to vote is a very controversial one for which there is virtually no democratic support in most Member States: public opinion is set against such a move.

Does the Commission take the view that the democratic legitimacy of the European Union would be strengthened by using the Treaty to impose the right to vote for immigrants in countries where there is strong public opposition to such a move?

In practical terms, what does the Commission understand by ‘political rights’: only local franchise, or franchise at other levels (district, provincial, national, European) as well?

As things stand, how does the Commission assess the likelihood that the Treaty will provide a legal basis for granting immigrants the right to vote?

What is the basis for the suggestion that granting immigrants the right to vote will foster integration? In fact, the reverse is likely to be true if certain rights (right to vote, nationality) are granted automatically, or quasi-automatically, to the individuals concerned with no reciprocal concessions required. A practical incentive to integrate will disappear if the willingness to integrate no longer has any bearing on the award of such rights.