Call for EU officials to pay for right to vote

Date: 17/09/1998

By Chris Johnstone

SENIOR Belgian politicians have called for EU civil servants to be made to pay municipal taxes in return for winning the right to vote in local elections.

Union officials and those working for the Brussels-based North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) currently escape local taxes under a long-standing agreement between their institutions and the Belgian government.

But senators in the Belgian parliament's upper house argue that there should be no representation without taxation, insisting that equal rights should mean equal obligations.

The threat to international privileges is the latest instalment in Belgium's painful moves towards living up to its commitment to give all EU citizens living in the country the right to vote in local and European Parliament elections.

That pledge is enshrined in the 1992 Maastricht Treaty. Belgium is the only member state in the Union which has yet to pass legislation covering local elections, although it has already done so for European ballots.

The European Commission has threatened to fine the country if the delays continue.

The Belgian government is playing down the threat of new taxes ahead of a parliamentary debate on the issue, which is due to be held within the next few weeks, fearing fresh damage to Belgium's proud European credentials.

“This should not be exaggerated,” said the spokeswoman for Prime Minister Jean-Luc Dehaene, who leads a Flemish-dominated coalition of Christian Democrats and Socialists. “The government does not support these tax proposals.”

The issue has become enmeshed in the linguistic battle between the French and Flemish sections of the country.

Flemish politicians fear that giving votes to other EU citizens will threaten the status quo - and some of their political fiefdoms - especially in Brussels.

They argue that as most non-Belgians living in the country speak French rather than Flemish, they will be inclined to vote for French-speaking candidates.

There are some 134,000 Union citizens and 149,000 naturalised immigrants living in Brussels, while only around 110,000 Flemish speakers live in what has become one of the country's linguistic flashpoints.

Belgium has promised the Commission that all EU citizens will be able to vote in local elections due to be held in the year 2000.