The PIREDEU Collaborative Project on "Providing an Infrastructure for Research on Electoral Democracy in the European Union", was co-ordinated by the European University Institute and its Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies. PIREDEU had its origins in the European Election Studies (EES) conducted under various auspices since 1979.

The pan-European project was funded by the European Union under the Seventh Framework Programme from 2008 up to 2011. This three-year design study assessed the feasibility of an upgrade to the European Election Studies providing an infrastructure for research into citizenship, political participation, and electoral democracy in the European Union (EU). The scientific and technical feasibility of this infrastructure was investigated by means of a pilot study conducted in the context of the 2009 elections to the European parliament. At the same time as providing evidence for a feasibility assessment, the pilot study provided the basis for a fully-fledged study of the European Parliament elections of 2009, comprising a voters study, a candidate study, a media study, a manifestos study, and a contextual data study. 

PIREDEU involved more than 20 participating researchers from some 14 institutions in western and eastern Europe and a large community of affiliated experts from all EU member states.

Key results:

PIREDEU Results Brochure (short)

PIREDEU Results Brochure (long)

eBook An Audit of Democracy in the European Union

The final release of the data is available at GESIS, see their website on the European Election Studies (EES).