After elections

What happens after Election Day?

After Election Day, the EP delegation take part in a debriefing with the Chief Observer or ODIHR Head of Mission. Afterwards, the Head of the Delegation partakes in a press conference alongside the Chief Observer or the ODIHR Head of Mission, where a general overview of the Election Day and initial findings are reported to the press, followed by a question-and-answer session.

When the delegation arrives back in Brussels, the findings of the mission are reported to a number of bodies, such as the Foreign Affairs (AFET) or Development (DEVE) committee, depending on the country; the Democracy Support and Election Coordination Group (DEG) if appropriate; parliamentary standing committees; or an EP plenary session if the country's situation is politically very sensitive.

Keeping the momentum

In recent years, the European Parliament, like the EU in general, has recognised the importance of better following up on the recommendations of election observation missions.

A number of positive developments have occurred in this regard. The European External Action Service (EEAS) has deployed follow-up missions, led by the Chief Observer of the original election observation mission, and the European Commission has funded projects to follow up on elections.

Parliament's post-election efforts

In-line with the EU efforts, the European Parliament has strengthened the parliamentary aspects of its own follow-up.

Parliament's "post-election" activities are led by the MEP who acted as Chief Observer in the partner country.

When elections were observed by the European Parliament, post-election cooperation is foreseen for some recommendations from the election observation mission through "parliamentary electoral dialogues". You can read more about them here.

As many recommendations require legislative changes, local parliaments play an important role in the post-election period.

In other countries, the European Parliament focuses on specific areas that the newly elected parliaments will need to address.

Parliamentary Electoral Dialogues

The Democracy Support and Election Coordination Group (DEG) decided to develop specific pre-election and post-election/follow-up activities, in order to complement the Parliament's longstanding election observation work.

The main instrument for such activities are the Parliamentary Electoral Dialogues (PEDs), during which a limited number of MEPs discuss in depth election-related issues with relevant parliamentarians, political leaders and other actors from the partner country. These issues include the implementation of the European Parliament recommendations following past elections in the country, which the MEPs observed.

During the pandemic, in order to compensate for Parliament's absence on the ground, the DEG decided to hold virtual PEDs on a country-by-country basis. MEPs interested in the country and relevant interlocutors (e.g. the EU Ambassador and election experts based in the country in question) participated in the virtual PEDs.

So far, around 30 virtual PEDs have taken place and proved to be a successful and informative instrument with a very good and active participation. They will continue to be organised in a more targeted manner to complement the in-person election observation delegations and PEDs.