An innovation that looks like a civic test. Belgium will extend the right to vote to young people aged 16 to 18 during the European elections in 2024, one of the demands of the “Conference for the future of Europe”, announced the Minister of the Interior Annelies Verlinden in a statement. The Belgian Parliament approved this measure presented by the government on Thursday evening. Belgium becomes the fourth EU country to lower the voting age specifically for European women after Austria, Greece and Malta.
The contours of the population concerned should also be noted: these are the 270,000 young people aged 16 and 17 living in Belgium, including those who are nationals of another Member State, as well as the 13,000 Belgians of this age living in foreign. Young voters must first register on the electoral register and will then be “required to vote”, underlines the ministry, since voting is compulsory in Belgium.
“By giving young people the opportunity to actively participate in our democracy, we enable them to make their voices heard and we further stimulate their interest in politics”, underlined Annelies Verlinden. “Voting in the European elections from the age of 16” is one of the 325 proposals adopted at the end of April by the “Conference on the future of Europe” wanted by French President Emmanuel Macron. Their implementation now depends on the Member States.
The participation rate in the European elections was 50.95% in the last election of 2019. It was less than 50% in the four previous elections of 1999, 2004, 2009 and 2014.