Former Member of the European Parliament (2004-2014), Thijs Berman has a proven professional experience in electoral processes developed while he headed a number of European Union Election Observation Missions. In this role, Thijs gained a solid inside knowledge in all stages of the electoral cycle and in all aspects related to the interaction between electoral stakeholders.
As Head of Election Observation Missions, Thijs has been in charge of the negotiations with national authorities and international actors in regards to communication, reporting and recommendations follow-up. In this context, he gained experience in legal framework, electoral system and electoral administration analysis as well as in civic and voter education, voter registration and voter list development, political parties and candidates registration, boundary delimitation, ballot paper development and securisation, judicial remedies to electoral related complains, results transmission, electoral disputes resolutions.
His professional experience as a member of the Development Committee, as member of the Sub-Committee for Human Rights and as Rapporteur of the legal framework for the Instrument for Cooperation and Development and of the multiannual budget for the Cooperation and Development Policy at the European Parliament, enforced his expertise in terms of EU financial instruments and in particular EDF procedures.
His professional career as a journalist provided him with an excellent capacity in analyzing complex situations and mastering communication techniques.
