Information for European election candidates

Nominations may be provided by

• parties and
• other political associations.

In contrast to Bundestag elections, independent candidates may not run in European elections.

The Political Parties Act defines parties as associations of citizens which, on a continuing basis or for a longer period of time, wish to influence the development of informed political opinion at the federal level or in any of the Länder and to participate in representing the people in the German Bundestag or a Land parliament (Landtag), provided that they offer a sufficient guarantee of their sincerity in pursuing that aim, as evidenced by their actual overall situation and standing, especially as regards the size and strength of their organization, their membership numbers, and their visibility in public.

As defined in the European Elections Act, other political associations are associations with organized memberships whose aim is to participate in the forming of the political will and in the representation of the people and whose seat, management, activity and members are in the territories of the member states of the European Union.

Parties and other political associations have to meet the same conditions in order to participate in elections.

It is possible to submit lists of candidates for individual Länder, which means only one list per Land, or one list for all Länder. The decision to submit one list for all Länder or separate lists for individual Länder is taken by the executive committee of the national party organization or, where such an organization does not exist, jointly by the executive committees of the next lowest regional organizations in the electoral area or by another body provided for this purpose under the statutes of the party or association entitled to nominate candidates.

Persons nominated as candidates and substitute candidates must not be members of a party or political association other than the nominating party or political association, and they must have been selected for the purpose by a special or general assembly of party delegates or an assembly of party members convened for the selection of candidates.

It should also be noted that while the age at which people are entitled to vote in European elections has been lowered to sixteen in the Federal Republic of Germany, it is still a prerequisite that anyone wishing to stand for election must have reached the age of eighteen in order to be eligible. This also applies to Union citizens who wish to stand as candidates in the European election in the Federal Republic of Germany.

Both the candidates and the delegates of the delegates’ assemblies must be selected by secret ballot. Every participant of the meeting who is entitled to vote may submit proposals. The candidates must be given the opportunity and sufficient time to present themselves and their programmes to the assembly.

Minutes must be taken of the meeting convened for nominating candidates, giving the place and time of the meeting, the type of invitation issued, the number of members or delegates present and the result of the ballot. The minutes have to be signed by the chairperson of the meeting and two participants selected by the assembly.

The special assembly of delegates is a meeting of party or association delegates who have been elected to nominate the candidates.

The general assembly of delegates is a meeting of party or association delegates who have generally been elected for the forthcoming elections in accordance with the statutes of the party or association concerned.

The delegates at both the special and the general delegates’ assemblies must be elected directly from amongst one or several party members’ assemblies or from amongst delegates’ assemblies which in turn have evolved either from amongst one or several party members’ assemblies or from amongst one or several intermediary delegates’ assemblies.

A party members’ assembly convened to elect the candidates for one list to be used in all Länder and the delegates for a delegates’ assembly is an assembly of party members who at the time of the meeting are entitled to vote in European Parliament elections. A party members’ assembly convened for the purpose of electing candidates for a list to be used in one Land and the delegates for a delegates’ assembly is an assembly of party members who at the time of their meeting are entitled to vote in European Parliament elections in the Land concerned.

Elections of delegates for the delegates’ assemblies may be held  

from 1 January 2023,

and elections of candidates

from 1 April 2023.

Nominations (lists for one Land and lists for all Länder) have to be submitted to the Federal Returning Officer.

The deadline for submitting the nominations is the

83^rd day before the election (= 18 March 2024), 6.00 p.m.

The forms provided for by the European Electoral Regulations have to be used to submit the nominations. The forms to be used for lists intended for one single Land (Annex 12 to Section 32 (1) of the European Electoral Regulations) are available from the respective Land returning officer and die forms to be used for lists for all Länder (Annex 13 to Section 32 (1) of the European Electoral Regulations) from the Federal Returning Officer. The forms may be provided also in electronic form.

Lists for individual Länder have to be signed personally and by hand by at least three members of the executive committee of a party’s Land organisation, including the chairperson or deputy chairperson. Where Land organisations do not exist, the nomination has to be signed by the executive committees of the party’s next lower regional organisations existing within the territory of the Land.

A list for all Länder must bear the personal handwritten signature of at least three members of the national party organisation, including the chairperson or deputy chairperson, or, where such an organisation does not exist, of least three members of the executive committees of the next lower regional organisations existing within the electoral area. If a political association does not have a national or regional organisation within the electoral area, the nomination has to be signed by at least three members of its highest executive committee in one of the other member states of the European Union.

The following documents have to be submitted together with the nomination:

1. declarations of consent and affirmations in lieu of an oath of the candidates or substitute candidates of a nomination

- Annex 15 to Section 32 (4) no. 1 of the European Electoral Regulations -

2. for German candidates and substitute candidates, certificates of eligibility for political office issued by the competent municipal authorities

- Annex 16 to Section 32 (4) no. 2 of the European Electoral Regulations -

3. for Union citizens, certificates issued by the competent German municipal authorities confirming that they have an abode or are otherwise permanently resident in the Federal Republic of Germany and are not ineligible for political office

- Annex 16 A to Section 32 (4) no. 2 of the European Electoral Regulations -

4. for Union citizens, their affirmations in lieu of an oath concerning their citizenship, date and place of birth, last address in the home member state, address in the Federal Republic of Germany, the territorial authority or the constituency of the home member state where they were last registered, affirmations in lieu of an oath that they are not also running for election in another member state and are not ineligible for political office (original and duplicate copy)

- Annex 16 B to Section 32 (4) no. 2 b of the European Electoral Regulations -

5. record of the meeting convened to nominate the candidates and substitute candidates

- Annex 17 for lists for one Land / Annex 18 for lists for all Länder, to Section 32 (4) no. 3 of the European Electoral Regulations -

the annex design makes it possible to include all candidates and substitute candidates in one form by using insert pages

6. affirmation in lieu of an oath concerning the nominating assembly, by the chairperson of the assembly and two participants selected by the assembly

- Annex 19 to Section 32 (4) no. 3 of the European Electoral Regulations -

If the party or other political association submitting the nomination has not been continuously represented in the electoral area by at least five deputies in the European Parliament, the German Bundestag or a Land parliament since the last election to the relevant assembly on the basis of nominations made by the party or association itself, the following documents must also be provided:

1. Supporting signatures

• In the case of lists for individual Länder, supporting signatures have to be submitted of one per thousand persons entitled to vote in the last election to the European Parliament in the Land concerned, but of no more than 2,000 persons entitled to vote. In the case of one list for all Länder, supporting signatures have to be presented of 4,000 persons entitled to vote.
• The supporting signatures have to be submitted on official forms as per Annex 14 to Section 32 (3) of the European Electoral Regulations bearing personal handwritten signatures. Before an official form is provided, the name of the party and its shortened form or the name of the political association and its identifying name as well as the date of provision are entered into the form by the Land returning officer in charge (if the list is to be used for one Land) or the Federal Returning Officer (if the list is intended for all Länder).
• For each signatory, certification by the municipal authority in whose voters' register he or she is registered has to be provided on the form (see lower part of Annex 14) or drawn up separately (see form of Annex 14) to the effect that the signatory was entitled to vote at the time he or she signed the nomination. Evidence of the eligibility to vote has to be provided by an affirmation in lieu of an oath as per Annex 14 A to Section 32 (3) of the European Electoral Regulations for Union citizens supporting a nomination.
• Please note that persons entitled to vote may support only one nomination with their signature and that supporting signatures may be given only after the nomination has been made, which means after the candidates and substitute candidates have been selected by the members’ or delegates’ assembly.

2. Written statutes
    
3. Programme
    
4. Record of the election, which was carried out in accordance with democratic principles, of the executive committee members, who have to sign the nomination, including names and addresses of the executive committee members. The nomination has to be signed by the executive committee of the Land organisation if the list is intended for one Land and by the executive committee of the national organisation if the list is to be used for all Länder. In both instances the nominations have to be signed by the respective chairpersons or their deputies.

All individuals who are entitled to vote may support a nomination with their signature.

Please note that the age at which a person is entitled to vote in elections to the European Parliament in the Federal Republic of Germany has been lowered to sixteen, effective for the first time for the election to be held in 2024.

A certification of the right to vote in the tenth European Parliament election must be submitted with the signature on the official form for supporting signatures (Annex 14 to Section 32 (3) of the European Electoral Regulations (EuWO)). This confirms that the signatory is entitled to vote. The signatory must be eligible to vote at the time they sign the nomination. Appropriate proof must be furnished when the candidate nomination is submitted.

The Federal Electoral Committee decides on the admission of nominations.

The Federal Electoral Committee decides on the admission on the 72^nd day before the election (= 29 March 2024).