The strategic vision, implementation philosophy and operational architecture of the European Centre for Electoral Support (ECES).
Born from practical implementation in 2010, formally codified in its first edition in 2016, and comprehensively updated in 2026 following sixteen years of implementation across more than seventy countries, EURECS – A European Response to Electoral Cycle Support represents the institutional framework through which ECES conceives, designs, implements and continuously improves its support to democratic governance, electoral and political processes worldwide.
EURECS is not simply a methodology for electoral assistance. It is simultaneously the strategic vision, the implementation philosophy and the operational architecture of ECES—the product of sixteen years of continuous implementation, institutional learning and methodological innovation, distilled into a single framework for supporting democratic governance and electoral and political processes across diverse political, institutional and regional contexts.
Today, EURECS guides every ECES programme, partnership and institutional initiative. It provides a coherent European approach that combines European values and policies with national ownership, regional leadership, operational flexibility and evidence-based innovation.
Two Editions. One Vision.
The EURECS Strategy has been published in two editions. The 2016 edition introduced and formally codified the European Response to Electoral Cycle Support after the first years of ECES implementation. It articulated the principles that had already been guiding the organisation’s work since its establishment and translated years of practical experience into a coherent implementation framework.
The 2026 edition, published ten years later, is considerably broader in ambition and scope. Built upon sixteen years of implementation across more than 150 programmes in over seventy countries, it reflects the evolution of both the international democratic environment and ECES itself.
Rather than replacing the first publication, the second edition expands it. It transforms EURECS from a strategic framework for electoral assistance into the comprehensive institutional doctrine of ECES, encompassing electoral and political processes, democratic governance, democratic resilience, conflict prevention, mediation, leadership development, information integrity, artificial intelligence governance, cybersecurity and digital sovereignty.
Across both editions, however, one central vision remains unchanged: democracy support must be nationally owned, politically neutral, operationally flexible, technically rigorous and firmly anchored in long-term partnerships.
Official Institutional Launch
While EURECS 2026 is already available for download through this website, its official institutional launch will take place during two landmark continental events: the 10th Annual Continental Forum of Election Management Bodies (EMBs), held on 6–7 July 2026, and the General Assembly of the Association of African Election Authorities (AAEA) on 8 July 2026, hosted by the National Elections Authority of Egypt (NEA) in Sharm El Sheikh.
The Forum and General Assembly are jointly organised by the African Union Commission (AUC), the National Elections Authority of Egypt (NEA) and ECES. The organisation of this edition of the Forum is fully financed by ECES through its own institutional resources as part of its long-standing commitment to strengthening electoral integrity, democratic governance, peer learning and regional cooperation across the African continent.
This initiative is implemented within the framework of the Pro-Electoral Integrity project and reflects the strategic partnership that ECES has helped establish and continuously strengthen between the Government of Italy, through the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and the African Union Commission. Since 2020, this partnership has enabled the implementation of a comprehensive continental programme supporting the African Union Commission, the Association of African Election Authorities and Electoral Management Bodies across Africa through executive peer-learning missions, continental forums, specialised training programmes, institutional capacity development, policy dialogue and technical assistance.
The 10th Annual Continental EMB Forum has become one of the flagship policy platforms of the African Union for promoting democratic governance, electoral integrity, institutional resilience and regional cooperation through peer learning and the exchange of comparative experiences among Electoral Management Bodies.
The 2026 edition is dedicated to the theme:
“African Citizens Abroad (Diaspora) Voting: Progress, Gaps and Prospects.”
The discussions will examine how African democracies can progressively extend meaningful, inclusive and secure political participation to millions of African citizens living outside their countries of origin, in accordance with the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance (ACDEG), the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and other continental and international democratic standards.
The official presentation of EURECS 2026 to the African electoral community during this landmark continental gathering—whose annual editions ECES has been supporting in partnership with the African Union Commission and the AAEA since 2020—reflects ECES’ long-standing conviction that sustainable democratic progress must be nationally and regionally owned. It also embodies the philosophy underpinning EURECS itself: that a specialised European implementation platform creates its greatest added value not by acting as an external actor, but by accompanying national and regional institutions as a trusted long-term partner, fostering peer learning, institutional strengthening, leadership development and locally owned democratic solutions.
