Can 10 Million EU Citizens Be Denied the Right to Vote?

📅 Friday 26 June 2026
🕐 13:00–15:00 CEST
📍 Press Club Brussels Europe, Brussels
💻 Online participation available

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On 26 June, New Europeans and the ECIT Foundation will launch a formal complaint to the European Commission challenging the disenfranchisement of millions of EU citizens in European Parliament elections.

The complaint focuses on eight EU Member States — Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Malta and Slovakia — where citizens who move abroad can lose the right to vote in European elections.

Recent judgments of the European Court of Justice have strengthened the legal arguments against these practices. Yet millions of Europeans remain at risk of losing their democratic voice simply because they exercise their right to live in another Member State.

Why This Matters

10 million mobile EU citizens affected

8 Member States still restrict voting rights for citizens living abroad

1 European Union founded on freedom of movement

0 citizens should lose their democratic voice because they move to another Member State

"No citizen should be forced to choose between exercising their right to free movement and retaining their democratic voice. European citizenship must guarantee both."

Dr Ruvi Ziegler, Chair, New Europeans UK

The number of citizens affected is large enough to raise questions about the fairness and representativeness of European Parliament elections. Yet those affected remain a dispersed and often invisible minority.

Our aim is not only to secure legal change before the next European elections in 2029, but also to ensure that the voices of affected citizens are heard.

Speakers

• Dr Ruvi Ziegler, Chair, New Europeans UK

• Emma DeSouza, Vice Chair, Voting Rights Ireland

• Tony Venables, Co-founder, ECIT Foundation

Moderator: Suzana Carp, Co-founder, ECIT Foundation

The event will bring together citizens, campaigners, legal experts, policymakers and Members of the European Parliament to discuss how voter disenfranchisement can be ended before the next European elections.

Join our Friends Network

"Democracy works best when every citizen has a voice. No one should become invisible to the democratic process simply because they have crossed a border."

Roger Casale, Founder, New Europeans UK

New Europeans UK campaigns for the rights of citizens who live, work and build their lives across borders.

As we enter a new phase of our work, the support of our Friends network is more important than ever.

By becoming a Friend of New Europeans UK, you help us continue our advocacy, strengthen citizens' rights and build a more inclusive and democratic Europe.