Of extension of UK membership and basic democratic principles: why the UK will need to hold EP elections if its membership of the EU is prolonged beyond the 22nd of May

Professor Eleanor Spaventa, Bocconi University

To say that the political situation is the UK regarding Brexit negotiations is volatile is an underestimation of reality; Mrs May’s tactic of running down the clock might or might not be successful, but it also appears to have backfired, since now there is an unavoidable need to seek an extension to Article 50 TEU. Should the Withdrawal Agreement finally be accepted by the British Parliament this week, the UK will need an extension to the exit day in order to pass all the legislative instruments needed before withdrawal from the EU.

Should the Withdrawal Agreement be rejected, then the UK will need an extension to either prepare for a non-agreed exit, or to decide where its future lies. But once again the political turmoil, and the options available, are constrained by the constitutional framework of the EU. In particular, the issue is whether the UK would have to hold European Parliament elections if its membership of the EU is to continue beyond the 23rd of May. The problem of course is that holding EP elections is symbolically and politically problematic for the Government, and yet, even opting for a shorter extension, the UK might need more time to pass all the required legislation.

The European Commission’s view seems to be that the UK will not be able to seek an extension beyond 23rd May unless it holds EP elections. The Commission’s position is based on a very simple and yet, in the writer’s opinion unchallengeable premise: EU citizens have a Treaty right to vote for the European Parliament and, as long as the UK is a member of the EU, that right is bestowed on its citizens and on EU citizens living in the UK.

Yet, illustrious EU lawyers have argued in this blog and elsewhere that an extension could stretch to the end of June, without compromising the legitimacy of the newly elected European Parliament. The same point was made in a legal opinion to the European Parliament. Yet, to focus simply on the legitimacy of the European Parliament misses the point: democracy is not a mere exercise in institutional balance – if it were so there would be nothing preventing any Member State or the EU to prolong the term of their Parliaments beyond the fixed mandatory term. After all, if one Member State were to be allowed not to hold European Parliament elections because of its own political problems, why not another Member State for its own political problems. So at first sight, the idea that the UK could be a member of the EU and withhold the right of its citizens, and of EU citizens resident in its territory, to vote for the European Parliament elections seems to be an anathema for a polity which is based on the rule of law. And the legal impossibility of such a scenario is backed not only by the Treaties, and the Charter, but also by the obligations bestowed on the UK and all of the other Member States by the European Convention on Human Rights.

The law on EP elections as it stands

Article 14(3) of the TEU provides that members of the European Parliament shall be elected for a term of five years by direct universal suffrage, whereas Article 20 (2)(b) TFEU provides that every citizen of the EU shall have a right to vote and stand for elections in the State where they reside under the same conditions as nationals. The Court of Justice, in its ruling in Delvigne (discussed here), clarified that the franchise for European Parliament elections is a matter falling within the scope of EU law, even in relation to own citizens. For this reason, the Charter of Fundamental Rights applies; the Court found that the deprivation of the right to vote of a own citizen is a limitation of the right conferred in Article 39(2) Charter; as such it must be justified under the conditions provided for in Article 52 Charter. The limitation to the right to vote must therefore be provided by law (which in the case of the UK would require a new Act since at present the UK simply has not made any provision for the EP elections), must be justified in relation to a public interest recognized by the Union, be necessary for the attainment of that interest and be proportionate. The disenfranchisement of an entire nation would fail to meet these requirements: it would be difficult to identify a public interest pursued by such disenfranchisement (unless one believes that protecting the Conservative Party from self-implosion can be qualified as a public interest), nor would disenfranchisement be proportionate or necessary to ensure withdrawal.

Furthermore, rights conferred by the Charter cannot fall below those provided for in the ECHR: the European Court of Human Rights has clarified in Matthews that Article 3 of Protocol 1 of the ECHR, the right to free elections, applies in relation to the European Parliament. Member States are then obliged, under the Convention, to guarantee the franchise for it, as well as respect basic democratic principles. For this reason, the UK was in violation of its ECHR obligations for disenfranchising citizens in Gibraltar who did not (at the time) have a right to vote for the European Parliament.

If the UK seeks an extension it will remain a Member State of the EU, and as such bound by the Treaties and the Charter. The UK is also bound by the ECHR in this matter, both as a Member of the EU and as a Member of the Council of Europe. It therefore seems that it would not be able, under both EU and ECHR law, to disenfranchise its own citizens.

Barnard and Weatherill, as well as AG Sharpston, suggest that the democratic issue could be overcome by prolonging the mandate of the current British MEPs – yet, such a suggestion is not only contrary to the Treaty but also inimical to the very basics of democratic principles (it is dictators that usually resort to these systems). Their suggestion that, since those MEPs have been democratically elected in 2014, they can continue to represent British citizens past the life of this European Parliament, without seeking a new mandate is far from being persuasive, not only because there is no such possibility in the Treaties, but also given that the passive electorate has changed in the past five years and that prolonging MEPs would entail the disefranchisement of those who have come to voting age in the past 5 years. And even if it were legally possible under EU law to provide such a transitory arrangement, through a derogation from the Treaty provisions as suggested by AG Sharpston, such a transitional arrangement would still breach Article 3 of Protocol 1 of the ECHR.

In as much as we might want to avoid Brexit chaos, the end cannot justify the means in this case; disenfranchisement is illegal and infringes the founding principles upon which the EU is founded (democracy, rule of law and protection of fundamental rights). Furthermore, following the ruling in Wightman (discussed here), the UK can at any point withdraw its notice under Article 50. As clearly stated by the Court, up until that point in which the Withdrawal agreement enters into force or the UK has exited by virtue of the passing of time, the UK is and remains a full member of the EU (also during the extension) – and its citizens therefore are subject to all its rules and derive all the rights stemming from the Treaties.

To allow the UK to remain a member of the EU without participating to the European Parliament elections would not only be illegal, it would be very dangerous (not least in these political times): Brexit is bad enough as it is – it cannot be allowed to destroy the very values upon which the EU is founded and which it already struggles to protect.

Barnard & Peers: chapter 3, chapter 27

Photo credit: Evening Standard