Last checked: 24/08/2020

European elections

Affected by Brexit?

As an EU national, you have the right to vote and stand as a candidate in European elections.

Your right to vote

If you live in your home country, you can only vote for the EU candidates standing for election in your own country.

If you are registered and live in another EU country, you can:

vote for candidates standing in your home country or

participate in the election of your host country and vote for candidates standing in that country.

You can only vote once at the European elections.

You may need to register to vote with the national authorities in your host country before the election takes place. In some EU countries, you are registered automatically once you register your residence there.

If you need to register, check the registration deadlines in your host country well in advance as they vary from country to country.

Choose a situation and a voting preference, and check if you need to put your name on the electoral roll:

If you live outside the EU, you can usually vote in the EU elections in your home country's embassy or consulate.

If you are a national of Bulgaria, Cyprus, Denmark, Greece or Italy, you won't be able to vote from outside your home country.

Choose country:

Austria at en

Belgium be en

Bulgaria bg en

Croatia cr en

Cyprus cy en

Czech Republic cz en

Denmark dk en

Estonia ee en

Finland fi en

France fr en



In most EU countries, you are automatically registered to vote in your home country.

Nationals of Cyprus (by 1 April 2019) and Ireland (by 9 May 2019) need to register before they can vote.

Find out more about European elections in your home country:

Choose country



* Information not yet provided by national authorities

If you live in your home country but want to vote in another EU country, you need to check with your national electoral committee what rules apply.

Find out more about national rules:

Choose country



* Information not yet provided by national authorities

If you live in another EU country and want to vote for the EU candidates standing for election in your home country, you should check if you are still registered to vote or if you need to re-register.

Different EU countries provide different options for voters living abroad. Depending on your home country, you are either:

still registered to vote in your home country

registered on a special roll for residents abroad or

removed from the electoral roll after living abroad for a certain time

If you are a national of the Czech Republic, Ireland, Malta or Slovakia and you no longer live in your home country, you may not be able to vote in the EU elections of your home country.

You may need to register with the authorities of your home country before you can vote. You may either travel to your home country to vote or vote in an embassy or a consulate in your host country.

Choose country:

Austria at en

Belgium be en

Bulgaria bg en

Croatia cr en

Cyprus cy en

Czech Republic cz en

Denmark dk en

Estonia ee en

Finland fi en

France fr en



If you want to vote in European elections in the EU country where you live, you need to request to be put on the electoral roll in that country.

In Ireland or Cyprus, you need to submit such a request every time you want to vote, while in the other EU countries, it is enough to do it once.

In some EU countries, you may need to have lived there for a certain time before you have the right to vote.

Find out which rules and registration deadlines apply in your host country:

Choose country



* Information not yet provided by national authorities

The options listed above are not exhaustive. Some EU countries may offer additional voting means that are not mentioned here.

For more information on the European elections 2019, check the European elections portal.

Voting conditions in another EU country

As an EU national, you can vote under the same conditions as nationals of the country where you live. If nationals are required to have lived in the country for a certain period to be allowed to vote, the same conditions will apply to you. You may need to provide a document proving the absence of a criminal record.

However, the periods that you have spent in other EU countries - other than your home country - should be taken into account in order to meet this requirement.

Special rules apply in Luxembourg because non-nationals make up more than 20% of the total electorate there. Luxembourg is therefore allowed to require a longer residence period before you can vote there, which currently is 5 years.

Compulsory voting

If voting in European elections is compulsory in your host country and, following your registration, you were put on the electoral roll of that country, you are obliged to vote - just as the nationals of that country are.

Voting is compulsory in Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, and Luxembourg.

Your right to stand as a candidate

When standing as a candidate in European elections, you will be required to make a declaration that you are not disqualified from standing as a candidate and that you are not standing in any other EU country. You may need to provide a document proving the absence of a criminal record.

In a European election, you can only stand as a candidate in one country.

If you opt to vote or to stand as a candidate in the country where you live, you cannot do so in your home country.

Conditions to stand as a candidate

As an EU national, you can stand as a candidate under the same conditions that apply to nationals of the country where you live. If nationals are required to have lived in the country for a certain period to be allowed to stand for election in EU elections, the same conditions will apply to you.

However, the periods that you have spent in other EU countries - other than your home country - should be taken into account to fulfil this requirement.

Special rules apply in Luxembourg because non-nationals make up more than 20% of the total electorate there. Luxembourg is therefore allowed to require a longer residence period before you can stand as a candidate there, which currently is 5 years.

More on standing as a candidate in your host country:

Choose country