British citizens lost the right to vote in local elections in EU member states, even though they had lived there before Brexit. This was confirmed by the European Court of Justice.
The court said in a statement that British citizens “no longer have the status of a federal citizen or, more specifically, the right to vote and stand for election in municipal elections in the member state of residence”.
EU citizens can participate in local elections in the member state in which they reside. The court said the loss of this right was “an automatic consequence of the United Kingdom’s sovereign decision to withdraw from the European Union”.
The court ruled that a British woman who had lived in France since 1984 was refused permission to run for local elections in March 2020. By 1 February of that year, the UK had left the European Union.
British women are in a specific situation because they can no longer vote in the UK either. British citizens lose this right if they have lived abroad for more than 15 years.
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