The following guidelines will apply to nationals of any country participating in EU observation missions decided by the EU unless specifically agreed otherwise. The guidelines will not apply to EU nationals participating in e.g. OSCE or UN missions, in which case those organisation's own codes will apply.

All official EU observers should adhere to the following guidelines:

- Respect the laws of the land. Observers enjoy no special immunities as an international observer, unless the host country so provides;

- Observers will participate in all pre-election briefings with their supervising officers;

- Observers will be subject to the direction and management of the observer team leadership, carrying out their written terms of reference and covering the geographical schedules specified by team leaders;

- Observers should be aware of the presence of other electoral monitoring teams, and liase with them under the direction of the leader of the EU observer team;

- Observers will carry prescribed identification issued by the host government or election commission, and will identify themselves to any interested authority upon request;

- Observers shall maintain strict impartiality in the conduct of their duties, and shall at no time express any bias or preference in relation to national authorities, parties, candidates, or with reference to any issues in contention in the election process;

- Observers will not display or wear any partisan symbols, colours or banners;

- Observers will undertake their duties in an unobtrusive manner, and will not disrupt or interfere with the election process, polling day procedures, or the vote count;

- Observers may bring irregularities to the attention of the election officials, but will not give instructions or countermand decisions of the election officials;

- Observers will base all conclusions on well documented, factual, and verifiable evidence, and will keep a record of the polling stations and other relevant places that they visit;

- Observers will refrain from making any personal or premature comments about their observations to the media or any other interested persons, but should provide, through a designated liaison officer or spokesperson, general information about the nature of their activities as observers;

- Observers will participate in post election debriefings with their supervising officers and will contribute fully towards appropriate EU reports on the elections monitored;

- Observers must comply with all national laws and regulations. Where these limit freedom of assembly or movement about the country, they must note where such rules prevent them from carrying out their duties;

- At all times during the mission, including during private time away from work, each election observer should behave blamelessly, exercise sound judgment, and observe the highest level of personal discretion.