Expat voting to be made easier in European elections

The European Commission is working to make the 2009 European Parliament elections more “European,” proposing measures to make it easier for citizens to vote and stand as candidates in a member state other than their own.

Europeans living in another member state are gradually showing more interest in electing their MEPs, going up from 5.9 percent in 1994 to 9 percent in 1999 and 11.94 percent in 2004, according to a commission report released last week.

The figures come despite the trend of ever-lower general participation in European elections, which reached a new low of 45.6 percent in 2004.

Read full article: EU Observer, 18 December 2006