Celebrating 15 Years of European Centre for Electoral Support: Europe’s Strategic Future with José Manuel Barroso

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On 20th of October 2025, the European Centre for Electoral Support (ECES, a TED WG2 thematic lead) marked its 15th anniversary with a high-level conversation at The Mérode in Brussels featuring José Manuel Durão Barroso, former President of the European Commission, now Chair of the Board at Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. 

Moderated by Fabio Bargiacchi, ECES Founder and Executive Director, the dialogue explored Europe’s strategic future amid shifting global power dynamics, democratic challenges and technological disruption, reflecting on how the European Union can renew its role through principled and cooperative leadership. 

Opening the event, Mr. Bargiacchi recalled ECES’s establishment in 2010 by a group of democracy and election practitioners in Brussels. Conceived as a European, independent, and non-profit foundation, ECES was designed to promote electoral cooperation, dialogue, mediation and conflict prevention. “We believed that democracy support could serve as a bridge between peace, reconciliation and inclusive governance, just as it had within Europe,” he said. 

Mr. Barroso reflected on one of the defining moments of his presidency: receiving the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the European Union in 2012, together with Herman Van Rompuy.  “At that time, I highlighted that peace goes together with democracy. Peace is not just the absence of war; peace is a state of mind, a state of benevolence,” he said. He went on to emphasise the intrinsic link between democracy and lasting peace. “The cause of peace to be strengthened needs also to be linked to the issue of democracy and the promotion of democratic values, elections and everything we as the European Union can do now to support that goal.” 

The conversation also addressed the impact of artificial intelligence on democracy. “It’s true that it presents some challenges and dangers,” Mr. Barroso said. “AI can bring very good things for mankind, but it can also be a weapon for misinformation, for manipulation, including manipulation of elections, through fake news and others.” He warned that the advance of technology was “irresistible” but called for vigilance: “It is important that we are not naive when dealing with these new technologies. The idea is not to suppress them. It will not be possible. But to be smart in the way you use” 

Asked about the European Union’s role in supporting democracy, Mr. Barroso responded with characteristic clarity: “There is a space for us Europeans to do more. It’s more controversial now because we are competing with powers that do not share our values but have more economic and financial means.” He stressed that Europe’s approach must combine ambition with humility. “The best way to do it is, of course, not just through the member states. We need the scale of the European Union to do it, with the support of all member states. It’s time for the European Union to support in a clearer way, not in a paternalistic or arrogant way.” 

Concluding the event, Mr. Bargiacchi thanked Mr. Barroso for his insights and reaffirmed ECES’s enduring mission: “Europe’s values: democracy, dialogue and respect must be lived, not lectured.”