British woman in France regains right to vote in European elections
A British woman who has lived in France since 1984 has won back the right to vote in the European Parliament election, a right associated to EU citizenship that she had lost after Brexit.
Under EU rules, citizens of a member state who live in another EU country can vote and stand as candidates in local elections and in the European Parliament election.
As the UK left the EU on 31 January 2020, Britons resident in France without dual nationality were struck out of electoral rolls because they were no longer EU citizens.
Loss of voting rights
As a result, Alice Bouilliez, a former civil servant who has never applied for French citizenship partly because of her oath of allegiance to the British crown, could not take part in the 2020 municipal elections in her town, Thoux.
Mrs Bouilliez asked the mayor to restore her registration and, as the request was refused, she took legal action.
She argued that the loss of EU citizenship and associated electoral rights was “disproportionate” and contrary to the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, especially as she had also lost the possibility to vote in Britain (the rule that barred British nationals who had lived abroad for more than 15 years from voting has since been abolished).
The regional court of Auch, where the case was filed, requested an interpretation of the rules to the European Court of Justice.
EU top court ruling
In 2022, and again in 2024, the EU’s top court clarified that British nationals cannot retain the rights associated to EU citizenship because the UK is no longer an EU member.
The Court said that the EU Treaty established an “inseparable and exclusive link” between the nationality of a member state and EU citizenship and that its loss was the “automatic consequence of the sole sovereign decision taken by the United Kingdom to withdraw from the European Union”.
In 2024, the Court judgment made a reference to previous cases stating that EU law does not preclude member states from granting the right to vote and stand as candidates in the European elections “to certain persons who have close links to them, other than their own nationals or citizens of the Union resident in their territory”.
New decision
As past rulings failed to restore the right to vote in municipal elections, Mrs Bouilliez brought back the case focusing on the right to vote in the European elections.
On 14 May 2025, the court of Auch took an unprecedented stance annulling the mayor’s decisions and ordering that Mrs Bouilliez be reintegrated into the electoral roll of the municipality of Thoux for the European elections.
The judgement says her exclusion would be an “excessive infringement of voting rights”.
It is still unclear whether based on this ruling all UK citizens living in France under the withdrawal agreement could regain the right to participate in the European elections, and whether the same right could extend to other non-EU nationalities.
“The national court’s judgment seems closely linked to the facts relating to this particular British citizen, and does not suggest a broader impact for other British citizens or other non-EU citizens, although they might try to invoke the judgment by analogy,” said Steve Peers, Professor of EU and human rights law at Royal Holloway, University of London.
“We put forward our point of view, which was that an individual person should never be forgotten in a case of international importance and the court agreed… I really was not expecting to win this case because we have lost so many before. It was a surprise and I am glad that this will help many other people,” Mrs Bouilliez told Europe Street.
Mrs Bouilliez was assisted by Julien Fouchet, a barrister who has supported several cases seeking to retain EU citizenship for British nationals.
“It’s a good precedent for the defence of fundamental rights, the acquired rights of European citizenship, and democracy,” Mr Fouchet said about the court’s decision. “I hope that it will help bilateral agreements or for a UK-EU agreement [on voting rights] after the [recent EU-UK] summit.”
EU citizenship
EU citizenship grants the right of free movement and residence across the European Union, as well as political rights in local and European elections, consular protection in third countries and the possibility to participate in European Citizens’ Initiatives (petitions calling on the EU to start legislation in certain areas).
The agreement on the UK withdrawal from the European Union protected the residence rights of EU citizens in the UK and British citizens in the UK, but not the rights associated to EU citizenship.
Since Brexit, the UK has negotiated bilateral voting rights agreement with Spain, Portugal, Denmark, Poland and Luxembourg. In England and Northern Ireland, only EU citizens who were resident before Brexit can continue to vote in municipal elections, while Scotland and Wales grant such rights to all EU residents. Citizens from Cyprus and Malta can vote in all UK elections because they are part of the Commonwealth.
Claudia Delpero © all rights reserved
Photo by Alice Triquet on Unsplash
Europe Street News is a news service on the European Union and citizens’ rights. We are fully independent and we are committed to providing factual, accurate and reliable information. As citizens’ rights are at the core of democracy, our website and newsletter are free to read. Please consider making a contribution of your choice using this link or the menu below to support our coverage. We are always happy to hear your suggestions and ideas for improvement. Thank you!
