I would like to pay tribute to Mr van den Berg for all his excellent work as chief observer in Nigeria in very difficult circumstances. I believe that the standing of the EU Election Observation Missions in general was enhanced by the fact that the EOM to Nigeria did not fudge but came out with a clear message that the elections had been irregular.
The great value of EU Election Observation Missions is that they are independent and completely neutral. They are at arm’s length from EU foreign policy. The one point on which I am unhappy with the motion for a resolution is that in recital V and paragraph 15 a confusion has entered the text. There is an association of election observation and foreign policy, whereas they need to be kept quite separate.
I hope that a way can be found around this through a normal amendment to get over the problem, but otherwise I am afraid that the ALDE Group will have to vote against both recital V and paragraph 15.
Fiona Hall MEP
