16- and 17-year-olds to be allowed to vote in the European elections
On Friday, the Federal Cabinet decided that from 2024 young people from the age of 16 will be allowed to vote in the European elections. A first draft of the bill that was agreed on Friday will be sent to the various parties that are represented in the Federal Parliament. MPs will have the final say when the bill is put before parliament.
Austria, Greece and Malta have already lowered the age at which their citizens can vote to 16. Currently, only those aged 18 and over are able to vote in Belgium.
If the bill is passed it will extend the right to vote in the European elections to an additional 270,000 16- and 17-year-olds that either have Belgian nationality or are nationals of another EU country. They will have to have reached the age of 16 on the day of the election and be resident in Belgium.
Almost 13,000 Belgian nationals aged 16 and 17 that are resident abroad will also be able to vote. However, they will have to apply to have their names put on the electoral register in advance to be able to do so. Read More...
