Action brought on 21 December 2021 – European Commission v Republic of Poland

(Case C-814/21)

Language of the case: Polish

Parties

Applicant: European Commission (represented by: J. Tomkin and A. Szmytkowska, acting as Agents)

Defendant: Republic of Poland

Form of order sought

The applicant claims that the Court should:

declare that, by denying citizens of the European Union who do not have Polish nationality but who reside in the Republic of Poland the right to become members of a political party, the Republic of Poland has failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 22 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union;

order the Republic of Poland to pay the costs.

Pleas in law and main arguments

Under Article 22 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, every citizen of the Union residing in a Member State of which he or she is not a national is to have the right to vote and to stand as a candidate in municipal elections and in elections to the European Parliament in the Member State in which he or she resides, under the same conditions as nationals of that State.

The Commission takes the view that denying citizens of the Union who do not have Polish nationality but who reside in the Republic of Poland the right to become members of a political party prevents them from exercising their political rights as conferred on them by Article 22 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union under the same conditions as Polish nationals.

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