 At first they only had the right to be elected as municipal councillors, not as members of the executive (schepen/alderman or burgomaster/mayor); from the 2006 municipal elections they could access the function of alderman; they still cannot access the function of mayor, because it includes responsibility for the local police force.In accordance with EU regulations, EU residents are subject to the same residence conditions as Belgian nationals, i.e.residence in the commune at the closure date of the electoral roll (July 31 for the municipal elections).