The European Parliament has been active in election observation in third countries since 1994. Through supporting the development of EU election observation and by the participation of its members in delegations to observe elections in third countries, the EP has demonstrated a strong and ongoing commitment to strengthening the legitimacy of national electoral processes, increasing public confidence in elections, combating electoral fraud, protecting human rights and contributing to conflict resolution.
By participating in election observation missions, Members of the European Parliament bring their political expertise, experience and professional perspective to the task, thereby enhancing the technical assessment of elections.
When invited to observe elections by a host country, the European Parliament cooperates closely with the European Council and European Commission and other relevant international institutions. Where an EU Election Observation Mission is taking place, the European Parliament delegation forms part of it: where there is no EU EOM, as for example in the OSCE area, the EP delegation forms part of the International Election Observation Mission and closely cooperates with ODIHR.
The European Parliament has endorsed the Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation and the Code of Conduct for International Election Observers.
The European Parliament has produced several key resolutions and reports which inform the work carried out by EU Election Observation Missions:
You can find out more about the work of the European Parliament on election observation on its website.
