1/10/2004
Election Support: World key players discuss achievements and challenges

On 28-29 September 2004, the European Commission hosted a conference in Brussels on EU election support with a view to assessing achievements and issuing recommendations for future election assistance and observation. Among others, Commission President, Romano Prodi, the European Parliament President, Josep Borrell, Commissioner for External Relations, Chris Patten, and Vice-President of Guatemala, Eduardo Stein Barrilla, addressed more than 160 participants from key international, governmental and non-governmental organisations involved in election support across the world.

The conference is an opportunity to discuss a number of important issues, including elections in conflict and post-conflict situations, the role of civil society and regional organisations in elections and the impact of election support.

“From Indonesia to Afghanistan, from Georgia to Guatemala, the European Union has played a crucial role in supporting democratic elections across the world” says Romano Prodi. “As a Union of 25 democratic states, some of which recently went through democratic transition processes of their own, the EU has considerable experience and resources it can share with partners abroad.”

Commissioner Patten has said:

“Helping others to improve the quality of democracy in their countries is the best way to ensure stability and indeed prosperity. We help our partners by offering money and expertise to support the elections process and in the past five years the EU has emerged as a visible and credible player in Election Observation. We don’t just talk about democracy, we help to make it happen”.

Genuine elections are an essential basis for sustainable development and a functioning democracy. The EU believes that actions supporting the right to participate in free and fair elections can make a major contribution to peace, security and conflict prevention. Support for election processes has become an important component of the European Union’s external relations policy. This support includes technical assistance to electoral authorities and to domestic non-partisan observers, as well as the deployment of EU Election Observation Missions.

The European Union has been active in election observation since 1993 (although it also provided technical assistance to electoral processes as part of its general aid programmes prior to this date). In 2000 the Commission developed a standard methodology for election observation. Since then and with a total budget of €39 million, the European Union has deployed 28 Election Observation Missions in 19 countries to cover 34 elections. Over 1,100 short term observers as well as more than 550 long term observers supported by over 200 core staff have been deployed during this period.