About the Mission

Structure of the mission

The mission is headed by the Chief Observer Thijs Berman , who is a Dutch member of the European Parliament. A core team of ten election analysts, from seven different EU member states, arrived in Addis Ababa on 14 April to set up and coordinate the mission.

A group of 90 long term observers from 22 EU member states, Canada, Norway and Switzerland have been deployed to all regions of Ethiopia on 27 April. They will be reinforced by more than 60 short term observers who will arrive approximately one week before election day.

Role of the European Union Election Observation Mission

The purpose of EU EOMs around the world is to provide support for the development of the country's democratic institutions and procedures, and to assist partner countries in their objective to hold elections of a high standard. In this context the EU EOM conducts a comprehensive analysis of the electoral process and provides an impartial and informed assessment of the elections to strengthen the confidence of voters to participate freely.

An observation mission assesses all aspects of the electoral process, including the delimitation of constituencies; the registration of voters and candidates; the training of election staff; voter education; media coverage, the campaign and the preparations for election day, as well as the appeals process. It also makes an assessment of the constitutional and electoral framework. On election day observers visit polling stations in order to observe the opening, voting, the counting and the aggregation of results.

Its fundamental principles are set out in a Communication from the European Commission on EU election assistance and observation:

"International election observation is based on the principles of full coverage, impartiality, transparency and professionalism. Its ultimate objective is to become superfluous by entrenching democracy deep within each nation through development of national capacities. Its main goals are the legitimisation of an electoral process, where appropriate, and the enhancement of public confidence in the electoral process, to deter fraud, to strengthen respect for human rights, and to contribute to the resolution of conflict."

Excerpt from: Communication from the European Commission on EU election assistance and observation. Brussels, 11.April.2000, COM(2000), 191 final.

EU EOM observation methodology

The EU EOM is led by a Chief Observer supported by a core team that is normally deployed in country about eight weeks prior to election day, with long term observers arriving to observe the preparations for the election at the regional level about five to six weeks before polling. The short term observers then arrive shortly before election day in order to increase the observation capacities of the mission during polling, counting and the aggregation of results.

An observation mission does not interfere in the electoral process and has no authority to change, improve or correct any shortcomings or to request changes during the election process. The observation mission has only the mandate to collect verify, and analyse information concerning the election process, to publish its findings. As a rule, an EU EOM is only established following an invitation from the government and the national electoral body of the host country.

Regular meetings are held with election officials at national, regional and local levels, political parties, candidates, civil society and media throughout the country. Observers clearly distinguish between complaints, rumors, accusations and verified facts. Only facts that are witnessed or verified by the observers will be used as the basis of the mission's report. Furthermore, although the mission co-operates with other organisations, only information collected by its own international observers will be used for the mission's statement and final report.

A few days following the election, the Chief Observer of the EU EOM issues a public preliminary statement based on long-term and short-term observations of the entire process. Approximately one month after the final results, a comprehensive report is issued, which will include a series of recommendations for improvements to the overall electoral process and democratic environment.

The EU has organised EOMs across the world, including: Sri Lanka, Togo, Tanzania, Guyana, Zimbabwe, Peru, Nicaragua, Ivory Coast, the Palestinian Territories, Indonesia, Bangladesh, East Timor, Suriname, Cambodia, South Africa, Pakistan, Madagascar, Ecuador, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Cambodia, Guatemala, Mozambique, West Bank and Gaza, Ethiopia, Guinea Bissau, Uganda, Afghanistan, Bolivia and Yemen.

The assessment of the elections is based on seven key criteria that have been adopted by the European Union in assessing the quality of elections. These include:

• The degree of impartiality shown by the election administration;
• The degree of freedom of political parties and candidates to assemble and express their views;
• The fairness of access to state resources made available for the election;
• The degree of access for political parties and candidates to the media, in particular the state media;
• The universal franchise afforded to voters;
• Any other issue which concerns the democratic nature of the election e.g. campaign violence, rule of law, legislative framework;
• The conduct of polling and counting of votes.

Each of these areas is assessed by the EU EOM experts who monitor all components of the election process with the support of both long and short term observers. This enables them to conduct a thorough and comprehensive assessment of the overall administration of the elections as well as the degree of freedom and access granted to candidates, voters and the media.

For more detailed information please download the EU EOM Ethiopia fact sheet:
English, Afar, Amharic, Oromifa, Somali and Tigrinya PDF versions