"Mr President, election observation missions are a central and vital element of EU support for human rights, democratisation and good governance. I would like to speak with particular reference to observation missions in Africa because of the special partnership between the EU and African, Caribbean and Pacific countries.
"Often the observation mission takes place within a framework of development support under the Cotonou Agreement. For the elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2006, for instance, there was substantial technical support for the election registration process, and also for election observation missions which should come within a framework of support after the election, as Mrs De Keyser’s report emphasises. There is a huge need for practical and technical help after elections – for example, for the training of civil servants and for peer-to-peer exchanges with other parliamentarians. Newly elected parliaments need support so that they can strengthen their own capacity to hold their executives to account. There also needs to be a political follow-up to the elections, most obviously on the recommendations of the observation mission, which should be completed before the next round of elections.
"I have a few other points. Yes, the election observation mission has a very special place in that it is independent and ring-fenced from the rest of the process. It is not the Commission; it is different from external relations; and, while it is true that the observation mission should talk to the local Commission delegation, to the ambassadors of the Member States and also to other observation missions, it is not answerable to any of them and its independence is its strength. While I agree with liaison and coordination, I do not think we should have joint missions with other bodies because that is liable to compromise the very important independence of the EU observation mission.
"I notice the wish to expand observation missions and make them more active in the southern Mediterranean. I can understand that, but it should not be at the expense of missions in emerging democracies in Asia, Latin America and especially Africa. As various people have said, missions do not come cheap, so, if we are going to have extra missions, we are going to need extra budget."
Fiona Hall MEP
