Voting Age Across Europe: Who Can Vote at 16

Austria and Malta are the only two EU countries where a 16-year-old can vote in a national parliamentary election. Belgium and Germany also let 16-year-olds vote — but only for the European Parliament, not for their own national legislatures. Those are two different facts, and the distinction gets lost constantly in casual explainers that just say a country “lowered the voting age to 16” without saying for which election.

The two real exceptions: Austria and Malta

Austria was the first EU member state to adopt 16 as its voting age, in 2007, and it applies broadly — national elections, European Parliament elections, and most referendums. Malta followed in 2018, lowering the age to 16 for general elections, European Parliament elections, and referendums alike. In both countries, a 16-year-old’s vote in a national election counts exactly the same as any other citizen’s.

Greece sits just above them at 17, though with a wrinkle: Greek citizens are eligible to vote in the year they turn 18, which in practice can mean casting a ballot at 17 if the election falls before their birthday. It’s a narrower exception than Austria’s or Malta’s, but it is still a national-election exception, not an EU- or local-only one.

The EU-only carve-out: Belgium and Germany

Since the 2024 European Parliament elections, EU member states have had the option to let 16-year-olds vote specifically for the European Parliament, even if their own national voting age stays at 18. Belgium and Germany both took that option. In both countries, a 16-year-old can vote for their country’s MEPs but still has to wait until 18 to vote in a national general election — two different ballots, two different ages, under the same passport.

Not a national vote either: Scotland and Wales

The United Kingdom left the EU and isn’t on this chart, but it’s worth a mention because the same confusion shows up here too. Scotland and Wales both let 16-year-olds vote in their own devolved elections — the Scottish Parliament and the Senedd — and in local council elections. Neither applies to UK general elections, where the voting age is still 18 across the whole country. A 16-year-old in Edinburgh can vote for the Scottish Parliament but not for a Westminster MP.

A trend, not (yet) a wave

The direction of travel is toward 16, not away from it: Austria and Malta made the change permanent years ago, the EU opened the door for EU-only lowering in time for 2024, and Belgium and Germany walked through it. But the movement has been slow and piecemeal — one country, one election type, at a time — rather than a coordinated EU-wide shift. For now, turning 18 is still what actually opens the ballot box in the large majority of European national elections.