The European Parliamentary Elections (Northern Ireland) (Amendment) Regulations 2013

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations make miscellaneous changes to the European Parliamentary Elections (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2004 (the “2004 Regulations”). In part these changes are made to transpose Council Directive 2013/1/EU of 20th December 2012, which makes amendments to Council Directive 93/109/EC of 6th December 1993 (laying down detailed arrangements for the exercise of the right to vote and stand as a candidate in elections to the European Parliament for citizens of the Union residing in a Member State of which they are not nationals).

Regulations 2, 5 to 10 and 12 to 19 amend the 2004 Regulations to transpose the changes made by Council Directive 2013/1/EU. The content of the declaration that EU candidates are required to make is amended, the deadline for submission of that declaration is changed, and the requirement to provide a certificate from the member State of nationality is removed (regulation 8). The Secretary of State is required to notify another member State that one of its nationals has made a declaration and to ask if that person has been deprived of the right to stand as a candidate in that member State (regulation 9). If information is received before the deadline for nominations that shows that the EU candidate has been so deprived, the EU candidate’s nomination will be declared invalid (regulation 10). Alternatively, if such information is received after the publication of the statement of candidates nominated, the EU candidate will be excluded from the election at the beginning of the count and the EU candidate’s transferrable votes will be re-distributed on the basis of the next available preference. Any candidates who have submitted a notice of withdrawal after the publication of the statement of candidates nominated will also be excluded in this way (regulations 12 to 19).

If an EU candidate is put forward to fill a vacancy in the European Parliament as a nominee or a substitute under regulation 76C, 76D or 76G, the EU candidate must make a similar declaration and the Secretary of State is obliged to notify the member State of which the EU candidate is a national about that declaration. In order to allow time for a response from that member State, the Chief Electoral Officer must wait for an additional period of six working days before declaring the nominee or substitute to be elected. If the Chief Electoral Officer receives information during that period that the EU candidate has been deprived of the right to stand, the EU candidate will not be declared elected and a by-election will take place (regulations 5 to 6).

The Secretary of State is required to respond to a request from another member State for information about a UK national standing as a candidate at a European Parliamentary election in that member State (regulation 7). As with all of the Secretary of State’s functions under the 2004 Regulations, this function may be exercised by the Lord President of the Council (see S.I. 2010/1837).

Regulation 3 changes the polling districts and places designated for European Parliamentary elections so that they are now the same as those used for local, rather than parliamentary, elections, unless the Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland is satisfied that special circumstances make it desirable for some other polling district or place to be designated.

Regulation 4 makes it an offence in Northern Ireland for a person to stand as a candidate in a European Parliamentary election in more than one electoral region in the United Kingdom. This is already an offence in Great Britain.

Regulation 11 includes European Community licences within the definition of a “driving licence” under the rule which prescribes the documents that can be produced when a voter applies for a ballot paper. It also allows persons who are in the polling station or in a queue outside the polling station at the close of the poll to apply for a ballot paper.

Regulations 20 to 22 make amendments to the absent voting procedure at European Parliamentary elections in Schedule 2 to the 2004 Regulations to mirror changes made in relation to parliamentary and local elections by S.I. 2010/278 and S.I. 2010/2977. Applicants for a postal vote are required to give an explanation when applying for a ballot paper to be sent to a different address to that in the register or the registration officer’s record (regulation 20). The provisions relating to applications for an absent vote on the grounds of blindness or other disability and applications for an absent vote at a particular election are amended (regulations 21 and 22).

An impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no impact on the private or voluntary sectors is foreseen. A copy of the transposition note in relation to the implementation of Council Directive 2013/1/EU can be obtained from the Northern Ireland Office, Constitutional Policy Team, 1 Horse Guards Road, London, SW1A 2HQ.