Action brought on 21 December 2021 – European Commission v Czech Republic

(Case C-808/21)

Language of the case: Czech

Parties

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

Defendant: Czech Republic

Form of order sought

The applicant claims that the Court should:

Declare that, by denying citizens of the Union who are not nationals of the Czech Republic but who are resident in the Czech Republic the right to become members of a political party or political movement, the Czech Republic has failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 22 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union;

Order the Czech Republic 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 at 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.

In the Commission’s opinion, having regard to the fact that citizens of the Union who are not nationals of the Czech Republic but who are resident in the Czech Republic do not have the right to become members of political parties or political movements, those citizens of the Union cannot exercise the political rights conferred on them under Article 22 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union under the same conditions as nationals of the Czech Republic.

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