Europeans: In Belgium, young people must vote from the age of 16

This is a great first in Flat Country. This Sunday, all Belgian citizens aged 16 and over must go to the polls for the European elections. According to the December 2023 law, young people aged 16 and 17 are eligible to vote in these elections. In its decision in March, the Constitutional Court even considered that this is a duty for adults.

For its part, the government wants to be flexible. Unlike older people who could face fines if they fail to make it to the polling booth on Sunday, as in all elections, those under 18 will not be penalized if they abstain, according to a circular from the justice minister. .

Seduce young people

As in many other countries, political parties are very courting of first-time voters. But 16-22 year olds often admit that they are “deprived” and “under-informed”. “In Belgium, young people don’t wonder if they will vote because it’s compulsory. Their question is rather to know for whom,” a member of the Belgian delegation to the EU explained to Le Parisien on the occasion of Europe Day on May 9.

Polls showed that some continued to vote for the far right. In Flanders (northern Belgium), the far-right party Vlaams Belang led the vote among young men, while young women largely turned away. In Wallonia, it is ecologists and the radical left that are winning the favor of young people.

On the other hand, citizens aged 16 and 17 years old cannot participate in other votes that will take place on June 9 in Belgium: to update the composition of deputies, senators, and representatives of the Brussels Regional Parliament.

Belgians are not the only ones who have been voting European since they were 16 years old. The same applies to Germany, Malta and Austria, where the voting age for all elections was lowered in 2007.