One message from Viviane Reding, EU Justice Commissioner, to the European Council meeting in a week’s time, is to focus on policies for people, particularly the small minority of EU member states (Cyprus, Denmark, Ireland,Malta and the United Kingdom) which limit voting rights after a certain period abroad,
“to enable their nationals who make use of their free movement rights to retain their right to vote in national elections – if they demonstrate a continuing interest in the political life of their country.”
Demonstrate your continuing interest in the political life of the United Kingdom by adding your vote here in support of removing the 15-year-limit on our national voting rights.
Justice past, justice present and justice future – three messages to the European Council
(Scroll down to part 1, example 3 in the above link ):
“My third example of a remarkable campaigner for rights is Harry Shindler. A British veteran of World War Two, Mr Shindler fought for his country during the liberation of Rome. He returned to Italy, and this caused him big trouble:
Because he has now been living in Italy for more than 15 years, he has lost his right to vote in national elections in the United Kingdom. He has lost his ‘voice’ in the nation for which he fought. And he is not alone: there are many EU citizens who are disenfranchised simply because they used their right to move to another EU Member State. And they turned to the European Commission asking for help.”
“We listened – and acted. We asked the five countries that take away voting rights after a certain period of time spent abroad (Cyprus, Denmark, Ireland, Malta and the United Kingdom) to show greater flexibility.”
“We invited them to enable their nationals who make use of their free movement rights to retain their right to vote in national elections – if they demonstrate a continuing interest in the political life of their country. These citizens should have the option of applying to remain on the electoral roll and should be informed about the conditions for retaining their right to vote in national elections.”
Votes for Expat Brits blog 
just received a reply from The Cabinet Office Westminster today re expat voting . QUOTE ” The Westminster Government IS NOT MINDED TO CHANGE THE 15 YEAR RULE” ( letter can be produced ) Why then is UK Gov . spending £,s on commissions, enquiries, campaigns ??????
Peter C-G ; HOW DOES ONE MOVE / SHIFT/ CHANGE A POINT OF VIEW OF AN UNDEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT LEGALLY ?? History has shown in a UK / Commonwealth context that public unrest , results from Westminster Gov / Establishment’s head in the sand / zero dialogue . Cyprus and Ireland by example
Nice try, Mrs Reding, but in typical EU mode you have obfuscated a simple concept by adding the impossible to define rider “if they demonstrate a continuing interest in the political life of their country”. How do we do that in any legally valid way? According to our Deputy Prime Minister we have already demonstrated our lack of commitment to our country by moving abroad. I pay UK taxes and this must surely demonstrate a continuing interest etc., but does that mean expat non-taxpayers should be excluded? The right to vote as a British citizen is a simple principal and needs no complicating “ifs”.
Sorry, I meant principle…
I do not understand where this political discussion Right to Representation comes from specifically at UK EU level . Is there a democracy or no ? Simple DOES A CITIZEN OF A COUNTRY (ie Westminster MP’s ) have the right to control the RIGHT TO REPRESENTATION of another ( UK ) citizen . put it bluntly its British Bullshit . The EU Commissioners have identified this problem with the above quoted EU states HOWEVER in UK case IT IS THE WESTMINSTER PARLIAMENT THAT REDUCED ( 20 to 15 years) THE RIGHT TO REPRESENTATION for overseas UK citizens .by a specific UNDEMOCRATIC ACT . ( Political Parties , Elections Referendum Act 2000 ) . The inclusion of overseas citizens to the right to representation FOR THE FIRST TIME is simply EU States comming up to speed with modern world wide communication systems . To discuss and focus a point of view that a citizen should DEMONSTRATE a degree of interest in the ” political” debate of a democracy in UK context is British Bullshit . It beggers belief what its all about – power ? Enquiries, commissions, campaigns, £€’s spent on what ??????????