New Europeans is a civil society project, which is currently working to promote voter registration among over 2.4 m non-British European Union citizens in the UK and over 1.6m British citizens who live in other member states of the EU.
In 2011, voter registration for the population as a whole in Britain stood at 84 per cent. For the non- British EU citizens who live in the UK, the participation rate was 56 per cent.
So there is a very large pool of untapped votes among EU citizens from other member states. We call them and their British counterparts in other EU member states non-national EU voters.
EU citizenship (we are all EU citizens in addition to our national citizenship if we are from the EU) entitles us to vote in local and European elections outside our home member state.
This year the European election is particularly significant for non-national EU voters. If the UK leaves the EU in 2017, this will be the last time they will be able to participate in European elections in Britain.
Couple this thought with a reflection on how non-national EU voters feel in the wake of a systematic media and political assault in the UK on their right of freedom of movement and it is easy to see why there are considerable grounds for them to feel anxious and concerned.
New Europeans is working to translate those undercurrents of fear and irritation into positive action by urging the non-national EU voters to Vote! Vote! Vote! By this we mean: 1) Register to Vote! 2) Confirm where you want to Vote! (EU citizens have the right to chose between the UK and their home state) and 3) Go and Vote on the day!
Our campaign is not limited to the UK. There are 1.6m British citizens who live and work in other EU member states who would be similarly affected if Britain were to leave the EU. They value their right to freedom of movement and their EU citizenship rights just as much as the non-British EU citizens living here in the UK.
Here in Britain New Europeans is building alliances with community leaders from Poland, Italy, France, Romania, Bulgaria and reaching out to voters from all EU member states and their community organisations in Britain.
In Europe, we are working with the representatives of all the main UK political parties, including David Mathieson and Lorraine Hardy of Labour International to reach out to British voters overseas.
Traditionally, British political parties have not had too much focus on targeting EU citizens at election times. I remember when campaigning to win Wimbledon for Labour in 1996 and 1997 I would often meet Italians and speak to them in Italian on the doorstep, only for my campaign manager to ask ‘Can they actually vote?’!
Well for European, local, and regional (including London) elections, the answer is – ‘Yes they can!’ EU citizens will even have a vote in the Scottish referendum if they live in Scotland (as very many do).
The 2010 census tells us that the number of EU citizens living in Britain has risen nearly three times since 1997. New Europeans is working to make sure these EU citizens not only have a vote, but also a voice in the future construction of Europe.
We also want to continue to engage non-national EU voters in Britain and British voters elsewhere in Europe in the debate about Britain’s relationship with the EU.
The outcome of that debate is something on which their continued rights to free movement and EU citizenship depend.
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Roger Casale is chair of New Europeans, and the former Labour member of parliament for Wimbledon. To join New Europeans and to help with our campaigns please contact us at: [email protected] / www.neweuropeans.net / @neweuropeans