France must pay €5,000 to Briton who wins back right to vote post-Brexit

The French state must pay a Briton who won back her EU election vote €5,000 to help cover her expenses in bringing the case, a court in south-west France has ruled.

The court of Auch ruled that the losing parties – the mairie of Thoux, the prefecture of Gers and state statistics agency Insee – should bear the brunt of all the general court costs, and must also pay former UK civil servant Alice Bouilliez €5,000 to cover her own expenses (travel, related to preparing the case, etc).

It made the ruling on top of ordering that she be placed back on the EU election lists for the commune of Thoux, Gers.

The court had decided, as we broke news of on Wednesday, that her having lost both municipal and EU votes amounted to a "disproportionate attack" on her rights.  

In doing so, it cancelled the previous decision by the mairie and prefecture, post-Brexit, to strike Mrs Bouillez off the lists.

It did so in spite of contrary advice from the European Court of Justice (ECJ) last year, after the Auch court had asked for its view on this point. 

“It’s absolutely fantastic and is incredibly brave of the Auch court,” Mrs Bouilliez said.

In taking its decision the court laid down its final decision with regard to questions first posed by Mrs Bouilliez and her lawyers in 2020 – as to whether her being struck off the municipal and EU election lists of Thoux after Brexit was justified.

“Right from the start, the first time, the judge at Auch at the time felt strongly for our case and sent it up for clarifications to the EU court,” she said.

In 2022, the ECJ gave Auch an unfavourable ruling with regard to France’s obligation to reinstate her for the municipal election list, saying that post-Brexit there would be a lack of reciprocity (ie. the UK would not be obliged to let French people vote). The question of local voting (and EU right) was left out of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement.

Auch then asked it specifically about the EU election list, and in 2024 the ECJ again ruled negatively, taking the view that Brexit meant Britons had also lost EU voting in their countries of residence.

Mrs Bouilliez returned to a hearing at Auch in April this year, asking in particular that her striking off the EU lists be annulled.

Auch, which is not legally obliged to follow the ECJ, noted in its judgement that she was in this instance not pressing her claim with regard to the municipal elections in view of the ECJ’s first ruling. 

However, it was unfair for her to lose her EU vote as well, the court judged. 

In its ruling, Auch noted the “impossibility” of Mrs Bouilliez taking French citizenship due to the oath she had made to the British Crown in her former job as a civil servant. It also said that, living in France since 1984, married to a Frenchman, with several children, and doing farm work, she “fully participates” in the life of the European Union state in which she lives as a permanent resident.

Mrs Bouilliez nonetheless told The Connexion she hopes her case will raise wider questions about Britons’ rights and that she will not remain the only one to benefit. 

She added:“I take my hat off to my lawyers Julien [Fouchet] and Jean-Noël [Caubet-Hilloutou], who have been on board with me since the start of this journey. It’s been quite a journey, an adventure, but a lovely one as I’ve met so many nice people along the way.”

Julien Fouchet, who has worked pro bono, said: “The court said that she must be put back on the electoral lists of the commune and on top it has condemned the state to pay €5,000 – it’s incredible, it’s the first time that a Briton, who doesn't have the nationality of a member state, has been put back.”

He added: “This is historic. She will become again – at least in part – an EU citizen.

“Thanks also to The Connexion, for your support – this victory is partly yours as well.”

We first covered his efforts to help Britons after Brexit with several articles in 2017. His other related cases have included legal bids on behalf of Harry Shindler, a British Second World War veteran who lived in Italy and who died aged 101, in 2023.

Click here for a crowdfunder page towards expenses of his work on Britons' post-Brexit rights.