Brussels, 24/05/2005 (Agence Europe) - On Monday, the European Commission announced that in early June, it will deploy an observation mission to Palestinian territory to observe the legislative elections scheduled for 17 July. The EU observation mission, which will be led by MEP Véronique de Keyser (Belgian Socialist), and compromising 260 people in all (175 of whom have been made available by the Commission, plus MEPs and observers from the Member States), will follow and assess the whole of the electoral process, including the election campaign, the legal framework, the ballot itself and the post-electoral period. Since 2003, the EU has contributed 17 million EUR to the preparation of Palestinian elections, including 3 million EUR to fund the European observation mission. “Following credible Presidential elections in January, the elections to the Palestinian Legislative Council offer the opportunity to complete the democratic transition at national level”, said the Commissioner for External Relations, Benita Ferrero-Waldner.