election-watch.eu

Strasbourg, 18 February 2026: Election-Watch.EU has submitted a policy contribution to the consultation process surrounding the Council of Europe’s New Democratic Pact for Europe, responding to the challenges identified in the 2025 Report of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe on democratic resilience across Europe.

Our submission highlights the central role of electoral integrity as a cornerstone of democratic legitimacy. Free and fair elections are not only a political commitment but a binding legal obligation under Article 3 of Protocol No. 1 to the European Convention on Human Rights, as interpreted through the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights. Strengthening the protection of electoral rights, ensuring effective electoral dispute resolution, and guaranteeing equality in political competition remain essential elements of democratic governance in Europe.

The contribution further emphasises the importance of transparent political finance, effective oversight mechanisms, and the implementation of Council of Europe standards, including the work of the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) and the European Commission for Democracy through Law – Venice Commission’s – Code of Good Practice in Electoral Matters. In the context of rapidly evolving digital threats to democratic processes, the submission also underlines emerging risks linked to Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven disinformation, foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI), and opaque campaign financing, while stressing the need for consistent enforcement of EU instruments such as the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising Regulation (TTPA).

Drawing on findings from the Election Assessment Missions conducted by Election-Watch.EU during the 2019 and 2024 European Parliament elections, the submission also highlights the value of independent, non-partisan citizen election observation within EU Member States. Such initiatives strengthen transparency, support evidence-based electoral reforms, and enhance public confidence in democratic processes. These activities are currently further developed through the NEEDS-EU project (Network for Engagement, Electoral Democracy and Standards in the EU).

Election-Watch.EU welcomes the opportunity to contribute to ongoing discussions within the Council of Europe framework on strengthening democratic resilience, including the responsible use of artificial intelligence in electoral contexts and the development of safeguards addressing evolving risks to electoral integrity.

As part of its ongoing work under the NEEDS-EU project, implemented under the CERV framework, which focuses on strengthening citizen election observation, electoral participation and democratic standards across EU Member States, Election-Watch.EU has also been contributing submissions to policy and legislative processes.  

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.

accountability, citizen led election observation, Council of Europe, election security, European elections, inclusion in elections, transparency, transparency of political campaign