At a press conference in Baghdad, Chief Observer Viola von Cramon, a Member of the European Parliament from Germany, explained that the mission had returned to Iraq to present the final report to the country's authorities, and to discuss with stakeholders the proposed recommendations contained in the report. The EU EOM's final report is a comprehensive assessment of the entire electoral process that builds on the initial findings of the preliminary statement, which was issued shortly after the elections last October.

"The conclusion in the mission's final report is that elections were technically well-managed, competitive, and the largely calm electoral campaigns enabled voters to make informed choices. Voting was largely peaceful and orderly, and voters were generally able to freely express their will,” Mrs von Cramon said right after the election. "However, the legislation imposed some undue restrictions on electoral rights, unregulated campaign spending negatively affected the level playing field, freedom of the media and expression was not properly safeguarded during the campaign and the tabulation and announcement of results lacked transparency," added the Chief Observer.

Mrs von Cramon said the final report contains 23 recommendations for future elections, seven of which are considered to be priorities. Over the coming days the EU EOM will meet stakeholders from all areas of society to initiate a debate on these suggested reforms.

The Chief Observer said: "The priority recommendations ask to remove the requirement for voters to have full legal capacity and to remove unreasonable restrictions on the right to stand for election. They suggest the publication of progressive results during the tabulation process, publication of both preliminary and final results broken down by polling station and establishment of clear deadlines and competencies about each distinct stage of electoral dispute resolution. They also propose to introduce limits on donations and on campaign spending, to accurately define and decriminalise defamation, libel and legitimate information actions, and to adopt a comprehensive data protection law."

Mrs von Cramon stressed: "These recommendations are proposals for consideration by the Iraqi people. They are suggestions, aimed at improving future electoral processes and strengthening Iraq's democracy, but it is up to the authorities and wider civil society to decide on their implementation."

The return visit is the EU EOM's final activity, Mrs von Cramon explained. "From here, the EU Delegation and the EU Member States will support the Iraqi authorities and civil society in efforts to implement the recommendations."

Following an invitation by the Iraqi authorities, the European Union deployed an EU EOM to Iraq between 28 August and 31 October 2021. In total the mission comprised some 100 observers from 22 EU member states as well as Norway and Canada. The mission’s mandate was to assess the electoral process against international obligations and commitments for democratic elections as well as the laws of Iraq.