In a context in which access to voting rights across territorial borders in Europe are the subject of extensive theoretical and normative debate, this paper seeks, by contrast, to provide an empirical analysis of the take-up of voting rights in local elections granted by the Treaty of Maastricht to EU citizens resident in a Member-State of which they are not a national (referred to as NNCUs: Non-National Citizens of the Union). Starting from a broad comparison of participation rates by NNCUs across the EU Member-States, based on the rather limited data collected by the EU Commission, the paper will then offer a more detailed comparative analysis of results in France and the UK, obtained through national and sub-national agencies. The analysis will be guided by two main sets of questions: first, how statistically significant has participation by NNCUs in local elections been since first implementation of the relevant Directive (94/80/EC), and to what extent have participation rates been informed by a) cultural practices associated with nationality, and b) modes of access (such as registration procedures) and levels of information in the country of residence? Second, what do these voting rights represent for the individuals concerned, when set in the context of the range of other benefits that constitute the reality of European citizenship for mobile EU citizens more generally? To complement the statistical data obtained from the relevant official sources, qualitative analysis will be based on results of on-line surveys and semi-structured face to face interviews with NNCUs in both France & the UK.
