EU nationals can vote in the European elections, but must register by 31 March

If you wish to cast your vote for the Belgian seats in the European parliament you need to register in your municipality before the deadline so that your name appears on the Belgian electoral roll.  If you register here, you will not be able to vote in your own country.

Are you eligible to vote?

To take part in this election as a European citizen, you must fulfil five conditions:

You must be a national of a member state of the European Union;

You must have your main residence or domicile in a Belgian municipality;

You must at least be 16 years of age and be entitled to vote;

You must also be registered on the electoral roll. The minimum age for registration : 14 years of age.

Nationality

To be eligible to vote, on the date of the European parliament elections you must be a national of one of the 26 Member States that, together with Belgium, form the European Union: Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.

Residence or domicile

You must also be entered on the population register, or the register of foreign nationals in your municipality of residence in Belgium. This condition must be fulfilled by 1 April 2024 at the latest.

Age

To be able to vote, you must be at least 16 years of age on the date of the election.

Being entitled to vote

To be able to vote, you must still possess your electoral rights under Belgian law. In addition, your right to vote may not have been revoked in your home country following an individual or administrative decision.

Electoral roll

You must be registered on the electoral roll of the municipality where you have your main residence. In order to do so, you must complete the C/1 form online via www.inschrijving.verkiezingen.fgov.be , or you can obtain the form from the municipal authorities where you have your main residence.

By 31 March 2024 at the latest, you must :

·  file this form online via www.inschrijving.verkiezingen.fgov.be ;

·  or file the completed form at the municipal offices.

The municipal authorities will examine your application on the basis of the information you provide in this form.

If your application is approved by the municipal cabinet (the burgomaster and other members of the city cabinet), you will receive an official notification from the municipality.

Voting is compulsory in Belgium. As soon as your registration on the electoral roll has been approved, you will therefore be legally required to vote on 9 June 2024.  That obligation does not apply to under 18s. You will no longer be able to take part in European Parliament elections in your home country.

If, at a later date, you wish again to take part in European parliament elections in your home country, or for any other reason, you may request the withdrawal of your Belgian registration at the municipal offices in the municipality where you have your main residence. It’s a request that may not be submitted between 1 April 2024 and the date of the election.

If you have already applied for registration on the electoral roll for European elections in the past – e.g. for the European elections in 2014 or 2019 - and your application was approved at that time, you do not need to submit a new application. Your registration on the electoral roll remains valid for all future European elections.

You can check this registration with your municipal authority, or on the 'Mijn  DOSSIER' (tab Mijn gegevens) application at https://www.ibz.rrn.fgov.be/nl/rijksregister/mijn-dossier/ ('Mijn gegevens' tab ► 'Verkiezingen') using your electronic residency permit, your pin code and an electronic card reader.

The municipal executive i.e. the mayor and other members of the city cabinet, may decide not to approve your request for registration as a voter, and therefore not to add you to the electoral roll.

You will be officially notified of this decision in writing. This decision can be appealed. You can obtain information about the appeal proceedings from your municipal authorities or on the website https://verkiezingen.fgov.be/ ('Kiezers' tab).

The information in this article is available in all EU languages on the website of the Belgian interior ministry.  Just click here .

A summary of this information is available in a YouTube video produced by the Belgian interior ministry.