Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he is making to his EU member state counterparts to ensure that people originating from Northern Ireland who identify as Irish and retain Irish Citizenship and therefor EU citizenship are not removed from electoral register on the basis that they are only considered as British citizens under the 1981 Nationality Act.

Under the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement, the People of Northern Ireland have the right to identify as British, Irish or both; and the right to hold both British and Irish citizenship. Thus, and in line with UK and Irish citizenship laws, the People of Northern Ireland may be solely British citizens, solely Irish citizens, or dual British-Irish citizens. Those people of Northern Ireland who are exercising their free movement rights, as Irish (including dual British-Irish) citizens, to reside in a European Union Member State will continue to be subject to the same rules as other EU citizens residing in that Member State, including with regard to voting rights. People of Northern Ireland, regardless of their citizenship, may also be exercising their free movement rights as family members of EU citizens in a European Union Member State and accordingly will continue to be subject to relevant rules with regard to voting rights. Those who are solely British citizens, and who are not exercising free movement rights as family members of EU citizens, will be subject to the rules applicable to other British citizens in that Member State, including with regard to voting rights.

The right of British citizens to vote and stand in local elections depends on the electoral rules of the Member State in which they live. The UK pushed hard in Withdrawal Agreement negotiations to include the right to vote and stand in local elections, but the EU Commission argued that voting rights were a Member State competence. UK Ministers wrote to all EU Member States in December 2018 to propose bilateral agreements on local voting rights, and we have now signed agreements with Spain, Portugal and Luxembourg. Some Member States have constitutional provisions that prevent third-country nationals from voting in local elections.