Election experts from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) presented their final report on Germany's 2025 early parliamentary elections in Berlin and discussed its key findings and recommendations.
The discussions with government officials, the election administration, relevant Committees of the Bundestag, the Federal Constitutional Court, the campaign finance oversight body and representatives of civil society organizations focused on plans to undertake a comprehensive legal reform, effective measures to increase women's active participation in political life, efforts to address disinformation and manipulative content, establishing an effective oversight body for campaign finance and ensuring the right to a timely legal remedy.
"We appreciate the ongoing dialogue with the German authorities on ODIHR's electoral recommendations, and value their openness to making use of our assessments as a means of strengthening the democratic process," said Tana de Zulueta, Head of the ODIHR Election Assessment Mission for the February 2025 early parliamentary elections. "We were informed of planned amendments to the electoral legislation and the establishment of a working group in Parliament by the ruling coalition to that end. As recommended, we encourage an open and consultative discussion of the reforms well in advance of the next elections."
ODIHR experts also outlined potential areas for ODIHR's engagement with national institutions and offered assistance to bring the electoral process closer in line with OSCE commitments and international standards, including legal reviews and sharing of best practices.
ODIHR's election observation also assesses the country's efforts to implement previous recommendations through changes in legislation, procedures and practices. For Germany, the ODIHR mission evaluated the follow-up to recommendations on the 2021 and 2017 parliamentary elections and concluded that one recommendation was fully implemented and four were partially addressed, while the others remain to be carried out.
