The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled that British expatriates lost their right to participate in municipal elections in EU countries after the UK left the European Union in 2020.
The EU’s top court said in a statement on Thursday that British nationals no longer enjoyed the status of citizen of the Union, more specifically, the right to vote and to stand as a candidate in municipal elections in their Member State of residence.
EU citizens residing in another country of the bloc could take part in communal elections.
The ECJ said the loss of the right to vote or run is an automatic consequence of the sole sovereign decision taken by the United Kingdom to withdraw from the European Union.
Thursday’s ruling was meant to clarify the complaint of a British woman who had resided in France since 1984.
After Brexit, she was barred from voting in the French municipal elections held in March 2020.
Since the plaintiff lived abroad for more than 15 years, she had also lost the right to take part in British elections under national law, the ECJ wrote in the statement.
