1 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:33,980 certain elections are considered to be high risk and the European Union is 2 00:00:33,980 --> 00:00:37,740 present at the behest of the national authorities to help guarantee the 3 00:00:37,740 --> 00:00:41,500 election process is democratic and also to defend the values that it shares with 4 00:00:41,500 --> 00:00:45,860 its partners. Its support for human rights, democracy and the rule of law has 5 00:00:45,860 --> 00:00:50,540 been established under various treaties. Article 6 of the Treaty on the European 6 00:00:50,540 --> 00:00:54,620 Union clearly states that freedom, democracy, respect for human rights and 7 00:00:54,620 --> 00:00:59,980 the rule of law are fundamental European values. Over the past decade a number of 8 00:00:59,980 --> 00:01:03,420 countries have made themselves more open, organizing for the first time 9 00:01:03,420 --> 00:01:08,460 multi-party elections while others have scoffed at these principles. It's because 10 00:01:08,460 --> 00:01:13,020 of this that the European election observation missions were created. 11 00:01:13,020 --> 00:01:17,500 The first election observed by the European Union was in 1993 in Russia and since then 12 00:01:17,500 --> 00:01:21,100 has been a growing demand for intervention by the EU in this specific 13 00:01:21,100 --> 00:01:26,900 field related to democratization. However each intervention has been very ad hoc so 14 00:01:26,940 --> 00:01:31,900 there was no clear and systematic methodology applied. Therefore there has been a 15 00:01:31,900 --> 00:01:36,260 request coming from within the institutions of the EU to establish a 16 00:01:36,260 --> 00:01:39,940 more coherent and consistent approach which resulted in 2000 in a 17 00:01:39,940 --> 00:01:45,140 communication by the Commission which is a policy document which defined the 18 00:01:45,140 --> 00:01:49,220 foundations of this methodology to observe the elections. Following this 19 00:01:49,220 --> 00:01:54,020 communication the Council and European Parliament endorsed this method 20 00:01:54,020 --> 00:02:00,740 which has now been systematically adopted in all our operations. In fact 21 00:02:00,740 --> 00:02:04,900 observers are more likely to be called upon in crisis situations or during a 22 00:02:04,900 --> 00:02:08,300 return to democracy. This is why these observer missions are based on 23 00:02:08,300 --> 00:02:14,580 fundamental principles. An electoral mission is a team of observers starting 24 00:02:14,580 --> 00:02:18,900 from six persons and ending up with about 100 observers on election day 25 00:02:18,900 --> 00:02:24,460 following the electoral process of a country basically to see whether the 26 00:02:24,460 --> 00:02:28,260 behavior of electoral authorities and political parties and all the actors 27 00:02:28,260 --> 00:02:34,980 comply to the law and also whether the atmosphere of the election is transparent 28 00:02:34,980 --> 00:02:39,660 and there is political confidence in the system. So the presence of the mission of 29 00:02:39,660 --> 00:02:45,860 these observers is to enhance those aims transparency and efficiency of the 30 00:02:45,860 --> 00:02:51,260 process. So from the European Union perspective electoral missions are part 31 00:02:51,260 --> 00:02:56,820 of the policy of human rights so this is the warranty of political rights at the 32 00:02:56,820 --> 00:03:04,260 occasion of elections. With this what is finally aimed for is enhancing also the 33 00:03:04,260 --> 00:03:07,740 democratization process or the consolidation of a new democracy in a 34 00:03:07,740 --> 00:03:12,660 given country with the idea that if you have a democracy and you have the rule 35 00:03:12,660 --> 00:03:18,900 of law economic development and social justice will be more easily achieved. So 36 00:03:18,900 --> 00:03:26,700 these are the two pillars where these missions are set. Human rights and the 37 00:03:26,700 --> 00:03:30,940 consolidation of democracy and the rule of law. 38 00:03:32,820 --> 00:03:36,860 To avoid the European Union getting involved in a situation where its 39 00:03:36,860 --> 00:03:40,740 presence gave credibility to an electoral process marred by irregularities 40 00:03:40,740 --> 00:03:45,220 there are minimum standards that must be respected. These include universal 41 00:03:45,220 --> 00:03:49,060 suffrage, freedom for individuals and political parties to take part in the 42 00:03:49,060 --> 00:03:52,740 elections, freedom of expression and freedom to criticize the government, 43 00:03:52,740 --> 00:03:57,020 freedom of movement, the right to hold meetings and a reasonable access to the 44 00:03:57,020 --> 00:04:02,020 media for all parties and candidates who are standing. The mission is officially 45 00:04:02,020 --> 00:04:05,620 launched when the chief observer arrives normally about two months before 46 00:04:05,620 --> 00:04:09,460 election day. He immediately makes contact with the national authorities 47 00:04:09,460 --> 00:04:15,060 and then makes a declaration to the media. The observation work can then 48 00:04:15,060 --> 00:04:18,140 begin with a thorough look at all the elements that arise during the mission 49 00:04:18,140 --> 00:04:22,500 including observance of electoral laws, the workings of the media and a setting 50 00:04:22,500 --> 00:04:28,460 up of voting stations. The observers are deployed throughout the country and in 51 00:04:28,460 --> 00:04:32,580 each province meet all the main players in the electoral process. The electoral 52 00:04:32,580 --> 00:04:37,740 authorities, the candidates, the political parties and civil society. On the day of 53 00:04:37,740 --> 00:04:41,260 the election itself they observe procedures in various polling stations. 54 00:04:41,260 --> 00:04:45,060 They also look at the way votes are counted and the compilation of results 55 00:04:45,060 --> 00:04:49,540 right up until they're officially announced. But what is the role of the 56 00:04:49,540 --> 00:04:55,140 European Commission in the observation of elections? Every year it's about 15,000 57 00:04:55,140 --> 00:05:02,180 million euro of which a small part 15 million euro is allocated for election 58 00:05:02,180 --> 00:05:06,940 observation and Europe's job in that is to make sure that when a political 59 00:05:06,940 --> 00:05:13,020 decision is taken to launch a mission to observe an election the necessary 60 00:05:13,020 --> 00:05:17,820 people are mobilized to make sure the observation takes place in the best 61 00:05:17,820 --> 00:05:25,060 conditions. We try to put together a team of mixed gender, age, nationality to make 62 00:05:25,060 --> 00:05:29,780 sure it's a coherent group of people who can then make a judgment about the 63 00:05:29,780 --> 00:05:36,660 process. Each time the team is selected according to the needs of the country 64 00:05:36,900 --> 00:05:43,540 and an estimate really of how you can get a the best form of observation with 65 00:05:43,540 --> 00:05:49,140 a minimum number of people. Europe's job, my unit's job, my staff's job is to make 66 00:05:49,140 --> 00:05:55,980 sure the people are selected with and given the right tools for the job. We 67 00:05:55,980 --> 00:06:02,900 have communication equipment, satellite communications. We have often to use 68 00:06:02,900 --> 00:06:12,140 extra contracts with companies to provide housing, escape mechanisms if you 69 00:06:12,140 --> 00:06:18,220 like when things go bad and insurance cover and so on. But our job is to make 70 00:06:18,220 --> 00:06:24,220 sure that when the people are in the field they are well catered for, that the 71 00:06:24,220 --> 00:06:28,460 terms of reference of the mission can be properly carried out and everyone can 72 00:06:28,460 --> 00:06:32,980 get home safely. We're doing it with a definite amount of enthusiasm in 73 00:06:32,980 --> 00:06:37,900 difficult conditions with a quite significant work rate. Coming to the help 74 00:06:37,900 --> 00:06:41,420 of nations fighting for their freedom is never free of risk and there's also a 75 00:06:41,420 --> 00:06:45,580 price for the investment in personnel and technical and logistical support. In 76 00:06:45,580 --> 00:06:51,140 2002 Europe spent 15 million euros on democracy and human rights. This year 77 00:06:51,140 --> 00:06:54,580 numerous countries requested the presence of European election observer 78 00:06:54,580 --> 00:07:10,940 missions. Cambodia, Congo Brazzaville, Zimbabwe, East Timor, Sierra Leone, 79 00:07:10,940 --> 00:07:25,980 Pakistan, Ecuador, Madagascar, Kenya. There are no formal criteria for deciding 80 00:07:25,980 --> 00:07:29,660 whether to commit to an election observation mission. There are only two 81 00:07:29,660 --> 00:07:33,700 preconditions for the intervention of the EU. There must be a request from the 82 00:07:33,700 --> 00:07:36,940 authorities where the elections are being held and there must be a general 83 00:07:36,940 --> 00:07:40,220 acceptance of the mission by the main political parties and their other 84 00:07:40,340 --> 00:07:44,300 potential partners. The country must also guarantee freedom of movement and 85 00:07:44,300 --> 00:07:48,580 contact with government ministries and other non-governmental partners. In fact 86 00:07:48,580 --> 00:07:52,180 there has to be an assurance that the observers will be able to have access to 87 00:07:52,180 --> 00:07:56,420 all important information. Finally wherever possible the safety of the 88 00:07:56,420 --> 00:08:03,820 observers must be guaranteed. But is being an observer really a career? 89 00:08:03,820 --> 00:08:10,860 In fact we have three types of observers. Long term, short term and 90 00:08:10,860 --> 00:08:15,700 those who are part of the management team. The observers who are part of 91 00:08:15,700 --> 00:08:20,020 management are professionals. Inside this team we have different experts. A media 92 00:08:20,020 --> 00:08:27,940 expert, a security expert, an election expert and a legal expert. We have many 93 00:08:27,940 --> 00:08:32,980 different categories. These are the ones making a career out of it. The people who 94 00:08:33,020 --> 00:08:38,580 go on many missions who only do this for a job. We take professionals, experts. 95 00:08:38,580 --> 00:08:45,140 Short term observers have another role. Often they work in their own countries 96 00:08:45,140 --> 00:08:49,060 and decide that for ten days every year they will do some work to support 97 00:08:49,060 --> 00:08:54,380 democracy and human rights. These are people who have a certain political 98 00:08:54,380 --> 00:08:59,740 awareness and are interested in this type of work. The long term observers 99 00:08:59,740 --> 00:09:04,180 have already had one or two experiences as a short term observer. They like doing 100 00:09:04,180 --> 00:09:10,100 it and they have decided to continue and gain long term experience. Doing 10 to 101 00:09:10,100 --> 00:09:14,380 15 missions, maybe specializing in something within a management team and 102 00:09:14,380 --> 00:09:18,860 then becoming a permanent member of that team. 103 00:09:19,420 --> 00:09:24,780 So observers are out in the field during and after the elections. They must become 104 00:09:24,780 --> 00:09:27,940 familiar with the electoral problems linked to the campaign that's underway. 105 00:09:27,940 --> 00:09:32,900 When it comes to monitoring, training or elaborating on reports, their performance 106 00:09:32,900 --> 00:09:38,460 can influence the final result given by the entire mission. They must also ensure 107 00:09:38,460 --> 00:09:42,860 that contact with the media and the use of public resources is accessible to all 108 00:09:42,860 --> 00:09:46,460 candidates and their presence must back up the effectiveness of national 109 00:09:46,460 --> 00:09:54,820 observers. Everyone must respect a code of conduct written up in June 1998. But 110 00:09:54,860 --> 00:09:58,580 what checks are there regarding the quality of an observer's work and what 111 00:09:58,580 --> 00:10:05,260 training are they given? An observer's quality of work is ensured in two ways. 112 00:10:05,260 --> 00:10:11,220 Firstly, the selection criteria that must be met is increasingly demanding. 113 00:10:11,220 --> 00:10:15,820 When we look for observers, we go to the states of the European Union who 114 00:10:15,820 --> 00:10:20,540 propose candidates. We put forward conditions covering professional 115 00:10:20,540 --> 00:10:25,900 experience, languages, and knowledges of the country concerned. We think this is 116 00:10:25,900 --> 00:10:30,220 necessary to make sure that a mission goes well. Then we make selections from 117 00:10:30,220 --> 00:10:36,460 those recommended to us. Secondly, the European Union organizes training for 118 00:10:36,460 --> 00:10:41,660 observers. We have more than 1,000 observers who are sent every year on 119 00:10:41,660 --> 00:10:45,060 different missions around the world, who come from different countries, from 120 00:10:45,060 --> 00:10:50,180 different backgrounds. It's important that we are able to guarantee a 121 00:10:50,180 --> 00:10:54,820 common approach when carrying out observation work. This is why the 122 00:10:54,820 --> 00:10:58,140 European Commission has decided to support different training projects 123 00:10:58,140 --> 00:11:04,180 which have been running for two years. This training is aimed at different 124 00:11:04,180 --> 00:11:08,580 observers, short-term and long-term, but also the experts in the management team. 125 00:11:08,580 --> 00:11:15,420 This year, the training has also incorporated local observers, 126 00:11:15,900 --> 00:11:21,740 the people who observe elections in their own countries, in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. 127 00:11:21,740 --> 00:11:28,940 With the aim of guaranteeing democracy, thousands of people are 128 00:11:28,940 --> 00:11:33,140 dedicated to their difficult job of watching over and validating the voting. 129 00:11:33,140 --> 00:11:39,460 So, how do they become observers? We have a lot of people who are interested in 130 00:11:39,460 --> 00:11:44,020 participating in these missions. We're going to change that system in the next 131 00:11:44,140 --> 00:11:48,300 few months. What we plan to do is, through the Internet, establish what we 132 00:11:48,300 --> 00:11:54,580 call a roster of election observers, and then any individual who wants to 133 00:11:54,580 --> 00:11:58,980 do it will be able to register across the Internet. They will still have to be 134 00:11:58,980 --> 00:12:03,780 selected by the member states, but this will be done electronically, 135 00:12:03,780 --> 00:12:07,460 and so we hope there'll be a great opportunity for a large number of people 136 00:12:07,460 --> 00:12:11,820 to participate in these exercises. The evaluation of an electoral campaign and 137 00:12:11,820 --> 00:12:15,140 the decision on whether or not to send an observer mission are delicate issues 138 00:12:15,140 --> 00:12:19,220 on a political level. They bring into play political interests, but also the 139 00:12:19,220 --> 00:12:23,140 credibility of the European Union. Criteria must always be applied with 140 00:12:23,140 --> 00:12:27,220 flexibility, according to the different types of elections. The most flexible 141 00:12:27,220 --> 00:12:29,940 approach should be used for elections that come after the resolution of a 142 00:12:29,940 --> 00:12:34,180 conflict, as well as first elections. But in concrete terms, how are countries 143 00:12:34,180 --> 00:12:38,180 selected as destinations for election observation missions? The decision to 144 00:12:38,180 --> 00:12:43,620 send an election observation mission is prepared by a long debate within 145 00:12:43,620 --> 00:12:48,940 institutions. First of all, we need to establish a list of what we call priority 146 00:12:48,940 --> 00:12:53,700 countries, which are countries where we think that the EU could contribute to 147 00:12:53,700 --> 00:12:58,700 the election process. This list is established through a dialogue within 148 00:12:58,700 --> 00:13:02,580 the Commission, with the Geographical Services, as well as with the other 149 00:13:02,580 --> 00:13:06,460 institutions of the EU, the European Council, and, of course, the European 150 00:13:06,460 --> 00:13:10,100 Parliament. An election exploratory mission visits the country a few months 151 00:13:10,100 --> 00:13:14,940 before election day, and the main task of this mission is to collect 152 00:13:14,940 --> 00:13:20,020 factual elements to establish whether an observation mission is advisable in the 153 00:13:20,020 --> 00:13:24,140 sense that the condition exists for competitive election, whether an 154 00:13:24,140 --> 00:13:28,180 observation mission is feasible from a security and logistic point of view, and 155 00:13:28,180 --> 00:13:33,180 whether an observation mission is useful in the sense that the observers from the 156 00:13:33,180 --> 00:13:38,620 European Union could have an added value in increasing the transparency and the 157 00:13:38,620 --> 00:13:43,820 trust in the process. At the end of this process, the exploratory mission 158 00:13:43,820 --> 00:13:48,380 returned to Brussels, producing a report, and on the basis of its findings, a 159 00:13:48,380 --> 00:13:54,260 decision is made whether to observe or not a country. And following this decision, 160 00:13:54,260 --> 00:13:59,620 the country is notified if there's been an invitation, and procedures are started 161 00:13:59,620 --> 00:14:03,500 to deploy the election observation mission. The decision also to send an 162 00:14:03,500 --> 00:14:07,940 observation mission is an independent decision made by the EU, but there are 163 00:14:07,940 --> 00:14:11,940 usually discussions with other regional organizations or international 164 00:14:11,940 --> 00:14:16,700 organizations on the opportunity and cooperation on the ground. It's important 165 00:14:16,700 --> 00:14:21,860 in fact that when an election is observed by several groups, there's an 166 00:14:21,860 --> 00:14:26,340 attempt for the international community to speak with one voice, and therefore on 167 00:14:26,340 --> 00:14:33,620 the ground, our observers will try to seek a common position on elections with 168 00:14:33,620 --> 00:14:38,780 other groups. Of course, as I said, the observation mission remains an 169 00:14:38,780 --> 00:14:44,460 independent entity, and therefore the findings of our mission shouldn't be 170 00:14:44,460 --> 00:14:48,420 diluted in order to reach a consensus where there's a fundamental disagreement. 171 00:14:48,420 --> 00:14:52,940 They also work, of course, with the domestic observers, that is, the observers 172 00:14:53,060 --> 00:14:56,980 national from the country where they observe. And I think it's important to 173 00:14:56,980 --> 00:15:00,100 draw a very important distinction between the two activities, while 174 00:15:00,100 --> 00:15:04,660 international observers are completely external to the process, domestic are 175 00:15:04,660 --> 00:15:08,660 part of the process because they're citizens of the country where we 176 00:15:08,660 --> 00:15:12,780 observe. The EU supports domestic observation as an important tool to 177 00:15:12,780 --> 00:15:18,220 increase transparency of the election process. I'm a fanatic when it comes to 178 00:15:18,220 --> 00:15:23,900 democracy and the rule of law. I'm an extreme centrist, therefore I'm very 179 00:15:23,900 --> 00:15:30,460 attentive to all procedures concerning rules and responsibilities. I believe 180 00:15:30,460 --> 00:15:37,300 that democracy is above all the respect for the rule of law. We have been 181 00:15:37,300 --> 00:15:41,220 saying that anyone who has proof of fraud must come and tell us, otherwise 182 00:15:41,220 --> 00:15:47,500 they are not responsible. I believe that has helped a lot in terms of 183 00:15:47,500 --> 00:15:49,500 bringing calm to many places. 184 00:15:49,500 --> 00:15:56,020 If there is fraud in a given election, the electoral mission should, and actually 185 00:15:56,020 --> 00:16:01,180 does, issue a public statement saying these elections were not properly 186 00:16:01,180 --> 00:16:07,740 conducted because there was this and this and that element, which we consider 187 00:16:07,740 --> 00:16:11,740 fraudulent. And therefore the consequences of this negative statement 188 00:16:11,740 --> 00:16:18,060 are the consequences that in a given country a foreign actor, who has been 189 00:16:18,060 --> 00:16:22,900 invited to observe and speak out what has been observed, may have. I mean that 190 00:16:22,900 --> 00:16:28,820 obviously is something which is not likeable for anybody, so there are 191 00:16:28,820 --> 00:16:30,820 political consequences. 192 00:16:30,820 --> 00:16:37,820 Patriotic society, patriotic society, democratic left. 193 00:16:37,820 --> 00:16:39,820 But what's the upshot of electoral fraud? 194 00:16:39,900 --> 00:16:48,700 Normally the political consequences are that somehow the relationship between the 195 00:16:48,700 --> 00:16:54,460 European Union and that country become a bit more tense, and this might have 196 00:16:54,460 --> 00:17:02,100 consequences on other aspects of the international cooperation. Usually we 197 00:17:02,100 --> 00:17:06,820 don't go to a country where you expect fraud. We go to help that fraud doesn't 198 00:17:06,820 --> 00:17:11,900 exist. But there have been cases where the negative statement has been made 199 00:17:11,900 --> 00:17:15,900 because the electoral process was not properly conducted. 200 00:17:15,900 --> 00:17:19,900 The mission felt that the vote and the counting in the second round went 201 00:17:19,900 --> 00:17:24,300 according to plan, and that the electoral process should be considered as 202 00:17:24,300 --> 00:17:27,900 acceptable according to international standards. 203 00:17:27,900 --> 00:17:35,900 What we're expecting, and what's equally necessary for the country, is that as soon 204 00:17:35,980 --> 00:17:40,980 as the new government comes to power, the country develops in a constitutional 205 00:17:40,980 --> 00:17:46,980 context with all the economic and political reforms that the people and 206 00:17:46,980 --> 00:17:53,980 the Ecuadorian parliament deem necessary. In any case, we have the 207 00:17:53,980 --> 00:17:58,980 compromise in the general report that we're going to make public in a few weeks. 208 00:17:58,980 --> 00:18:02,980 The European election observation mission ends with the final report. 209 00:18:03,060 --> 00:18:07,060 The final report is basically the historical memory of the mission, and 210 00:18:07,060 --> 00:18:12,060 it's a public document. It's first sent to the authority of the country and the 211 00:18:12,060 --> 00:18:16,060 political parties, the civil society, and then published on the website of the 212 00:18:16,060 --> 00:18:20,060 European Commission. It's important to stress this is a document which belongs 213 00:18:20,060 --> 00:18:25,060 to the election observation. It's not a new document as such. It reflects the 214 00:18:25,060 --> 00:18:30,060 view of the observation mission. But of course there's a commitment by the EU 215 00:18:30,140 --> 00:18:35,140 institutions to follow up on the report. If there are groups of the civil society 216 00:18:35,140 --> 00:18:39,140 that have played a role and could play a stronger role in the election process, 217 00:18:39,140 --> 00:18:44,140 the Commission usually try to follow on this up as well through projects 218 00:18:44,140 --> 00:18:47,140 addressing this specific question. 219 00:18:47,140 --> 00:18:52,140 The European Union is also attempting to safeguard the choice of the people, so 220 00:18:52,140 --> 00:18:55,140 their freedom doesn't depend on where they were born. 221 00:19:00,060 --> 00:19:03,140 Thank you.