The “hard core” of the European electoral heritage is primarily composed of international standards. At universal level, this refers to Article 21 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and, in particular, Article 25, section b. of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which expressly provides for all of these principles except direct suffrage, which is the implicit outcome. At European level, the common rule is Article 3 of Protocol 1, which expressly sets out the right to regular elections with free and secret suffrage.