Structural Components of a Democratic Society pa rt II Recalling the provisions of the 1990 Document of the Copenhagen Meeting of the Conference on the Human Dimension of the CSCE, Noting that additional commitments…have supplemented those provisions, Reaffirming the determination to implement these commitments, Acknowledging that democratic elections can be conducted under a variety of electoral systems, Recognizing the ODIHR’s expertise in assisting participating States in the implementation of election-related commitments, Taking into account PC Decision No. 509, on international standards and commitments: a practical guide to democratic elections best practice, Calls upon participating States to strengthen their response to the ODIHR’s recommendations following election observations (…) Maastricht 2003 (Decisions: Decision No. 5/03 on Elections) The Ministerial Council, (…) Welcoming the continuing efficient co-operation between the ODIHR and the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in election monitoring, Welcoming the document “Existing Commitments for Democratic Elections in OSCE Participating States: A Progress Report” (ODIHR.GAL/39/03), which was prepared by the ODIHR and submitted to the participating States in June of this year, Recognizing in particular the need for confidence by the electorate in the entire process, for transparency of election procedures, and for accountability on the part of authorities conducting elections, calls upon participating States to further enhance their cooperation with the ODIHR in this field, Tasks the ODIHR to consider ways to improve the effectiveness of its assistance to participating States in following up recommendations made in ODIHR election-observation reports (…) 2.3 Democratic Institutions 2.3.1 General Provisions Copenhagen 1990 (3) [The participating States] reaffirm that democracy is an inherent element of the rule of law. They recognize the importance of pluralism with regard to political organizations. 80 OSCE Human Dimension Commitments