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Following the re-scheduling of the national and provincial assembly elections by the Election Commission of Pakistan to 18 February 2008, the EUs so-far Limited Election Observation Mission has today become a full Election Observation Mission (EOM).
A Chief Observer, Michael Gahler, who is a Member of the European Parliament, leads the Mission.
The Mission is made up of a Core Team of 11 experts based in Islamabad. Some 50 Long-term Observers (LTOs) are being deployed around the country on Monday 7 January 2008. They will be joined additional observers on a sort-term basis over the election period.
Observers will make a comprehensive assessment of the election campaign, the election administration, and the general environment in which the elections will take place. All EU EOMs assess elections according to international standards.
The mission was previously limited due to the fact that emergency rule was in place until 15 December. This meant that it was not possible to deploy observers neither in the numbers originally planned, nor for the time period originally anticipated. However, with the re-scheduling of the election date to 18 February 2008, the EU can now deploy a full observation mission.
An Election Assessment Team (EAT) arrived in Islamabad on 9 December 2007 and now constitutes the core team for the EOM. The core team will now deploy some 50 long term observers, who will observe key aspects of the run up to election day, election day itself and the post election period. A group of short term observers will complement the core team and long term observers for the election day period to observe voting, counting and the tabulation of results. After election day, the EOM will remain in country to observe the post-election period.
The mission is mandated to assess the elections against international standards for democratic elections. The EU EOM will work independently to fulfill its mandate to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the electoral process and to offer an impartial, balanced and informed analysis of the elections. EU observers will be deployed to various parts of Pakistan. This observation work is an important component of the European Unions policy of promoting human rights and democratization throughout the world. The EU EOM adhere to the Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation, adopted in October 2005 at the United Nations in New York by a number of international bodies involved in election observation.
Election observation is an important component of the European Unions policy of promoting human rights and democratization throughout the world. An EU Election Observation Mission was also deployed for the elections in Pakistan in 2002. | 
