Notice for the OJ

 

Action brought on 18 March 2004 by the Kingdom of Spain against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

(Case C-145/04)

An action against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland was brought before the Court of Justice of the European Communities on 18 March 2004 by the Kingdom of Spain, represented by N. Díaz Abad, acting as agent, with an address for service in Luxembourg.

The Applicant claims that the Court should:

declare that, by enacting the "European Parliament (Representation) Act 2003", the United Kingdom has failed to fulfil its obligations under articles 189, 190, 17 and 19 of the EC Treaty, as well as the 1976 Act concerning the Election of the Representatives of the European Parliament by Direct Universal Suffrage, annexed to the Council Decision of 20 September 1976 - 76/787/ECSC, EEE, EURATOM - on direct elections to the European Parliament¹ and

order the United Kingdom to pay the costs of these proceedings.

Pleas in law and main arguments:

The legal grounds on which this application relies are the following:

Violation of articles 189, 190¸ 17 and 19 of the EC Treaty, since

The European Parliament (Representation) Act 2003 (hereinafter EPRA 2003) recognizes the right to vote in the elections to the European Parliament to persons who are not nationals of a Member State (i.e. the qualifying Commonwealth citizens residing in Gibraltar) and, therefore, do not have the status of citizens of the Union. In the Kingdom of Spain's view there is a clear link between the citizenship of the Union and the right to vote and stand in European parliamentary elections.

The right to vote in European parliamentary elections is regulated in article 190 EC. Therefore, the basis regulation of this right is a Community competence. The only persons who may exercise this right are the citizens of the Union, because article 190 EC should be interpreted systematically with articles 17 and 19 EC.

The term "peoples of the States" used in articles 189 and 190 EC has to be interpreted as meaning only nationals of the Member States, and does not include non-EU nationals, even if they reside in a territory to which Community law applies.

Granting the right to vote and stand in the elections to the European Parliament to persons who are not Union citizens implies a breach of the Union citizenship, as certain persons would enjoy the right to vote and stand for the European Parliament, but would not possess the other rights of Union citizenship.

Accepting Member States' unilateral competence in conferring the right to vote and stand in European parliamentary elections would open the door to similar claims in other Member States.

Violation of the 1976 Act, since

the 1976 Act excludes Gibraltar from its objective sphere of application when regulating European parliamentary elections. This exclusion is consistent with the status of Gibraltar, according to International and Community law.

The United Kingdom accepted in its Statement of 18 February 2004 to enable the Gibraltar electorate to vote in elections to the European Parliament as part of and on the same terms as the electorate of an existing United Kingdom constituency.

Nevertheless the EPRA 2003 includes the territory of Gibraltar (not its electorate) in an existing electoral region in the United Kingdom. This combined electoral region violates the 1976 Act and the above mentioned Statement.

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¹ - OJ L 278, 08.10.1976, p. 1.