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.
