WRITTEN QUESTION E-0758/03 by Nelly Maes (Verts/ALE) to the Council. Observation of elections.
Date: 2003-03-12
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: ACP countries, election, election monitoring, fact-finding mission

26.2.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 51 E/49

Rights on 7 April 2003, underlining the importance of full respect for human rights and condemning the
reported ongoing violations of international human rights law in the Chechen Republic, namely the forced
disappearances and arbitrary detentions and executions. The Council would point out that this resolution
was not however adopted by the UN Commission on Human Rights.

(2004/C 51 E/048)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0758/03

by Nelly Maes (Verts/ALE) to the Council

(12 March 2003)

Subject: Observation of elections

The last election observation mission in which I took part,
advantages of a joint delegation with representatives from the ACP and the EU.

in Kenya in late 2002, demonstrated the

Does the Council intend to send joint delegations systematically for the observation of elections?

One problem with joint delegations is that representatives from the EU have much greater resources at
their disposal than their colleagues from the ACP.

How does the Council intend to remedy this problem?

A recurring question during election observation missions is whether ACP countries could also come to
observe elections in EU countries. In the Netherlands, it has been demonstrated that observation missions
of this kind can be highly useful.

Which Member States, apart from the Netherlands, have already invited delegations of this kind, and which
are prepared to do so?

Is the Council prepared to recommend this suggestion to Member States?

Reply

(29 September 2003)

The Council conclusions on election assistance and observation of 26 June 2001 (9990/01) emphasised its
commitment to contributing to peace and security and to promoting a stable and democratic political
environment as outlined in Article 1 of the ACP-EC Partnership Agreement. These conclusions are
consistent with the political dialogue provided for by the Cotonou Agreement, in particular in Article 8(3)
thereof.

Decisions to send EU electoral observation missions are based on an assessment of the political situation of
the country and the potential effect of EU electoral observation and the availability of resources as well as
the relative priority of each mission to be undertaken. At the moment, Council bodies are examining the
priorities for election observation in the second half of 2003 and 2004.

The Commission is in charge of the organisation and implementation, including financial resources, of
electoral observation missions. In this context, the Commission submits its priorities to the Council and
Parliament for political approval.

With a view to nominating joint delegations for election observation missions,
the ACP-EU Joint
Parliamentary Assembly may refer to appropriate bodies though itself remaining the competent body to
decide on the sending of such joint delegations.

The Council was not aware of any Member States having invited ACP delegations to observe elections in
the EU.