CNE and the EU sign an agreement to supervise the mega-elections

The National Electoral Council and the European Union today signed the Administrative Agreement on the Electoral Observation Mission for the Regional and Municipal Elections of November 21, 2021, with the aim of regulating relations and responsibilities between both parties, in view of the aforementioned electoral event.

The document highlights that the Electoral Observation Mission of the European Union (EU-EOM) and its members will maintain strict conduct of impartiality, objectivity, independence and non-interference in the process electoral process and respect for national sovereignty and self-determination during the performance of its mandate, which includes, among others, not interfering in the conduct of the electoral process,

It is also established that the EU-EOM is will comply with the Code of Conduct for Election Observers of the European Union, the Declaration of Principles of the United Nations for International Election Observation, the Code of Conduct for International Election Observers adopted by the United Nations on October 27, 2005 and the provisions of the Venezuelan legal system, especially in relation to accompaniment, oversight and international observation.

In accordance with these precepts, the CNE will provide the necessary cooperation to the Mission for the development of its activities, in the same way The EU-EOM will provide the CNE with the appropriate advance notice, its general plan of activities, as well as the number and names of the international observers that make up the Mission.

Faithful to the principles of transparency that govern the actions of the Venezuelan Electoral Power, the CNE guarantees the EU-EOM the freedom to access spaces, actors and facts related to voting, as has been agreed in the past with other international electoral missions that have been present in the country.

It is also clear in the aforementioned agreement that the EU-EOM At no time will it be involved in the exercise or subtraction of the powers or powers conferred on the Electoral Power, established in the Venezuelan legal system.

It should be noted that this agreement derives from the invitation sent by the Electoral Power to the European Union on May 17, 2021, to deploy a electoral mission for the 2021 Regional and Municipal elections. This in accordance with what was announced by the President of the Electoral Power, Pedro Calzadilla in the extraordinary session of the CNE held on May 11, 2021, to guarantee the greatest possible presence of international missions in this electoral process.