Information on Brexit

This depends on whether and when the withdrawal agreement between the United Kingdom and the European Council will be ratified.

1. If the withdrawal agreement is ratified by 22 May 2019

If the withdrawal agreement is ratified by 22 May 2019, the United Kingdom will be a Member State of the EU on election day (exit on 1 June 2019). Therefore British citizens will still be Union citizens on election day and thus entitled to vote in the European election in Germany. To participate in the European election in Germany, they had to apply for entry in the voters’ register to the municipal authority at their place of residence in Germany. The application had to be received by the municipal authority by 5 May 2019 at the latest. British citizens who were on the voters’ register of the last European election, have permanently lived in Germany since and have not filed an application for deletion from the voters’ register do not need to apply for entry in the voters’ register.

As the United Kingdom will not take part in the European elections (the withdrawal agreement was ratified before the period in which the European elections will be held), it is not possible to elect candidates from the United Kingdom.

2. If the withdrawal agreement is ratified after 22 May 2019

If the withdrawal agreement is ratified after 22 May 2019, the United Kingdom will be a Member State of the EU on election day (exit on the 1st of the month following ratification). Therefore British citizens will still be Union citizens on election day and thus entitled to vote in the European election in Germany. To participate in the European election in Germany, they had to apply for entry in the voters’ register to the municipal authority at their place of residence in Germany. The application had to be received by the municipal authority by 5 May 2019 at the latest. British citizens who were on the voters’ register of the last European election, have permanently lived in Germany since and have not filed an application for deletion from the voters’ register do not need to apply for entry in the voters’ register.

As the United Kingdom will have to take part in the European elections as agreed, British citizens have the option of voting for Parliament members from the United Kingdom.

See also: Information for Union citizens

This depends on whether and when the withdrawal agreement between the United Kingdom and the European Council will be ratified.

1. If the withdrawal agreement is ratified by 22 May 2019

The United Kingdom will not take part in the European elections as the withdrawal agreement was ratified before the period in which the European elections will be held. Germans living in the United Kingdom can therefore elect only Parliament members from the Federal Republic of Germany (by postal vote). To this end they had to apply for entry in the voters’ register to their home municipality in Germany. The application had to be received by the municipal authority by 5 May 2019 at the latest.

2. If the withdrawal agreement is ratified after 22 May 2019

The United Kingdom will have to take part in the European elections as agreed because the withdrawal agreement was not ratified before the period in which the European elections will be held. Germans living in the United Kingdom can therefore elect either candidates from the United Kingdom or candidates from the Federal Republic of Germany (the latter by postal vote). Persons entitled to vote who wish to elect Parliament members from Germany had to apply for entry in the voters’ register to their home municipality in Germany. The application had to be received by the municipal authority by 5 May 2019 at the latest.

See also: Information for Germans abroad

No, in any case the application for entry into the voters’ register for participation in the European election in Germany had to be received by the competent municipality in Germany by 5 May 2019. Applications cannot be filed later.

Those who have not applied by that date and did not have to be entered ex officio in the voters’ register of the competent municipality in Germany will be excluded from the election of Parliament members from the Federal Republic of Germany even if the United Kingdom should declare later that it will not take part in the European elections.

If your application for entry in the voters’ register has been refused, you may lodge a written complaint with the municipal authority.

If you have been wrongfully omitted from the voters’ register and an amendment is not possible as the voters’ register has already been completed, you will receive a polling card if you apply for it.

No, this option is no longer available.

Yes, the number of seats will be reduced. The European Parliament currently has 751 members. After the United Kingdom has withdrawn from the European Union the European Parliament will have only 705 seats. 27 of the United Kingdom’s 73 seats will redistributed among 14 Member States which have been slightly underrepresented. None of the Member States remaining in the EU will lose any seats in the European Parliament. The Federal Republic of Germany will still be entitled to 96 seats.