Election assistance and observation - Hoofdinhoud

COUNCIL OF Brussels, 26 June 2001

THE EUROPEAN UNION

9990/01

PESC 236 DEVGEN 103 COHOM 17

NOTE

from : General Secretariat of the Council on 26 June 2001

No. prev. doc. : 8945/2/01 REV 2

Subject : Election assistance and observation

Delegations will find attached the text of the conclusions on the above subject adopted by the

Development Council on 31 May 2001.

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EN

ANNEX

Election assistance and observation

Council Conclusions

INTRODUCTION

• 1. 

  Genuine elections are an essential step in the democratisation process. They pre-suppose the full enjoyment of a wide range of human rights and fundamental freedoms. The free expression of the political will of the people by a secret and equal vote, through a universal, fair, transparent and participatory election process represents a cornerstone of an inclusive and sustainable democracy.

• 2. 

  Hence, the Council recalls the objectives of the European Union to support the development and consolidation of democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights, as stated in Article 11 of the Treaty on European Union, and Article 177(2) of the Treaty establishing the European Community. The Council emphasises its commitment as outlined in, inter alia, Article 1 of the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement, to contributing to peace and security and to promoting a stable, and democratic political environment.

• 3. 

  Following the 1998 "Guidelines for EU Policy on Election Observation", the 1999 EU "Guidelines on Common Criteria for the Selection of Election Observers" as well as the EC Regulations No 975/1999 i and 976/1999 and the joint Council and Commission Declaration on EC development policy of 10 November 2000, the Council welcomes the Commission Communication on EU Election Assistance and Observation (COM(2000) 191 final i), with the objective of contributing to a coherent framework for EU policy in this field.

PRINCIPLES FOR ELECTION SUPPORT

• 4. 

  The Community and Member States share with third countries a common goal of sustainable democracy. Achieving this demands political commitment from all parties concerned. Therefore, the Council underlines the importance of an early dialogue with the national authorities, and that consistency must be ensured between election support, the Country Strategy for each partner country, and the objectives of the Common Foreign and Security Policy.

• 5. 

  The EU is itself a project for democracy, development and peace. The Council stresses that the EU's presence at elections in third countries is a political statement and represents a commitment to these values. Its support, whether in terms of election assistance or election observation, may contribute to increasing the confidence of the electorate in the election process, reduce the possibility of fraud, and present the opportunity to make recommendations for improving election systems in a spirit of partnership. With due regard being paid to the underlying long-term political processes that manifest themselves in the election, such support might also contribute to conflict prevention.

EN

• 6. 

  Effective European Union support for elections requires a coherent approach through the mutually reinforcing use of both EC and CFSP instruments. This is in line with the requirement set out in Article 3 TEU, which requires consistency of the EU´s foreign policy as a whole. Election support is an important element of the EU´s overall contribution to democratisation and sustainable development in third countries, as pursued both through longterm development assistance, and the EU´s political dialogue. The effectiveness of electoral assistance programmes and observation missions will be considerably increased if they are backed up by clear messages expressed through the European Union´s political dialogue with the government. This is true both before, during and after the election process.

• 7. 

  Decisions to send EU electoral observation missions, and exploratory assessment missions, should be preceded by a thorough assessment by the Council of the political situation in the country, the potential effect of EU electoral observation on both the future democratic situation in the country and the EU´s relationship with it, and the availability of resources and relative priority of each mission to be undertaken. The Council should follow the progress of the observation mission closely and draw on the findings of the report of the EU observation mission and the EU Heads of Mission to reach conclusions on the election process and the implications for the EU´s future relations with the country. It should ensure that, wherever appropriate, the findings and recommendations of the mission are followed up in the political dialogue and subsequent assistance programmes.

• 8. 

  The Community competence with regard to election support is not exclusive. Therefore, Member States can continue to provide election support bilaterally or through contributions to the activities of international organisations, notwithstanding any actions by the EU. They shall nevertheless ensure that such national action is coherent with the political positions taken by the Council with regard to a specific electoral process. In addition, the Council may take other action with respect to elections under Title V of the Treaty on European Union, in so far as such action pursues the objectives of the Common Foreign and Security Policy and is in conformity with art 47 TEU.

• 9. 

  The Council finds it constructive to differentiate election support between election assistance and election observation. The underlying analysis with respect to size, scope and source of funding is similar for both activities. However, the need for co-ordination and the time limits vary considerably. Therefore, the EU needs to develop different, but complementary, approaches.

COOPERATION AND COORDINATION

• 10. 

  The Council recalls the importance it attaches to the close coordination between the Commission, the Council, the European Parliament and Member States in the pre-election assessment and analysis of the political context.

EN

• 11. 

  The Council calls on the Commission to work together with Member States and other donors and international partners, such as the United Nations, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, who lead on election monitoring in the OSCE region, the Council of Europe and the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) to develop policy, to mobilise the necessary expertise and to co-ordinate election support, where possible within the framework of national strategies. The EU should, wherever possible, observe elections jointly with other international actors in order to contribute to a coherent international approach and to facilitate the organisational efforts by the third country, in respect of observers’ independence. The Council undertakes to enhance such co-ordination and notes that the Commission intends to do the same.

FRAMEWORK FOR FUTURE ACTIONS

• 12. 

  The Council welcomes the Commission's intention to enhance the co-ordination and effectiveness of the actions carried out in the framework of election support. To this end, it welcomes the Commission's efforts to streamline and render more efficient the organisation of election support as well as the proposal for an election focal point.

• 13. 

  The Council believes that a thorough analysis of each election and every observation mission, as well as assistance specially adapted to the situation, will increase the effectiveness and sustainability of activities in this area.

• 14. 

  The Council particularly welcomes the introduction of comprehensive technical exploratory assessment missions to be undertaken by the Commission. The Council also welcomes the practice to invite Member States to second election experts to participate in such missions. The exploratory missions should carry out an assessment of the pre-election situation in the light of international standards and provide information to assist with the decision on whether and how to support an election process. The competent Council bodies and the Heads of Mission in the country concerned must be involved in the assessment by the exploratory missions.

• 15. 

  The Council and the Commission should therefore coordinate closely at all stages of planning and execution of an individual election observation mission, so as to ensure the full consistency of the Union´s external actions. In addition, the Council agrees with the Commission on the importance of coordinating planning and prioritisation. This is necessary to ensure that the programming of election observation and assistance is in line with the EU´s foreign policy priorities, and reflects the need to focus on a limited number of operations. The Council welcomes the Commission´s intention to consult the competent Council bodies at the beginning of each year on the basis of a calendar of forthcoming elections. The Council will seek to establish jointly with the Commission a list of elections in which EU intervention is considered a priority. The list will also be discussed with the European Parliament. These priorities should be kept under regular review throughout the year to ensure that political developments, as evaluated by the competent Council bodies on a case by case basis, are taken into account.

EN

EU ELECTION ASSISTANCE

• 16. 

  Elections are events in long-term processes. EU support should be integrated into Country Strategies and begin well in advance of an election so as to contribute to the creation of the conditions necessary for the election to meet international standards. These efforts should continue after the election, in order to assist the authorities of the country concerned to identify any possible shortcomings and address them. The EU should take full account of experience gained from past election support in designing its programmes. It should apply a systematic lessons-learnt approach.

• 17. 

  Specific actions should include, inter alia:

  • - 

    Institutional capacity-building with regard to organising future elections including assistance in support of regulatory framework agreements for political parties and election finance;

  • - 

    Training and education of local staff; - Awareness campaigns for the rights of the individual to vote (especially targeted towards women, minorities and vulnerable groups); - Setting up of election sites; - Support to domestic civil society organisations active in the election field; - Support for the media.

EU ELECTION OBSERVATION

• 18. 

  Decisions on deployment of EU election observation missions should follow a thorough discussion in the appropriate geographical working groups of the Council, and, whenever possible, should take into account the views of the European parliament. The decision to send an EU election observation mission should be based on the EU´s main concerns and the findings of an exploratory assessment mission. An early dialogue with the national authorities must accompany the exploratory mission and standard terms of reference for the observation mission, containing essential and non-negotiable requirements for a sound and professional observation, will be presented to the country concerned.

• 19. 

  The decisions to observe an election process must, furthermore, be consistent with EU priorities. They should take into account international standards and the findings of the exploratory assessment mission. The Council stresses that it is not necessary or desirable for the EU to observe systematically all elections in third countries.

• 20. 

  The Council encourages the Commission to provide appropriate training for observers and follow-up on creating adequate instruments, including framework agreements, in support of the implementation of EU election observation missions in order to allow a timely response, particularly in urgent situations, to provide accelerated and simplified decision-making and recruitment procedures and to ensure effective feedback for analysis.

• 21. 

  The practice of appointing an experienced member of the European Parliament as the Chief Observer of an EU election mission should be encouraged.

EN

ASSESSMENT BY OBSERVATION MISSIONS

• 22. 

  EU election observation missions should always reach an independent assessment of the election process and its outcome on the basis of internationally recognised standards and good practices. The assessment of the elections should always, and only, be presented by the EU Chief Observer or by the head of the international lead organisation and transmitted to the Commission, Council and the European Parliament. Under no circumstances may preliminary results be delivered beforehand.

• 23. 

  The Council emphasises that the reports by the Heads of Mission on the election process form an important contribution to the analysis by the Council’s bodies of the political situation resulting from the elections.

FOLLOW UP

• 24. 

  The Council invites the Commission to further develop its policy on long-term and short-term observers and on integrating election observation with election assistance more generally, bearing in mind the overall aim of supporting democratisation as well as respect for and promotion of human rights. In this context the Council urges the Commission to develop impact indicators.

• 25. 

  The Council's preparatory bodies will continue to examine this issue in order to identify further means of increasing the co-ordination, effectiveness, impact and visibility of EU election assistance and observation actions.

• 26. 

  The Council agrees that it is necessary to monitor the implementation, impact and efficiency of Community actions in the election context. The Commission will undertake a thorough overall evaluation of EU election support within three years.

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EN

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