Explanatory Memorandum to COM(2003)77 - Statute and financing of European political parties - Main contents
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This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2003)77 - Statute and financing of European political parties. |
|---|---|
| source | COM(2003)77  |
| date | 19-02-2003 |
Political parties at European level are important as a factor for integration within the Union. They contribute to forming a European awareness and to expressing the political will of the citizens of the Union.
The Council, acting in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 251, shall lay down the regulations governing political parties at European level and in particular the rules regarding their funding.
Article 191 recognises the important role that European political parties can play in developing political debate at the European level, thereby enhancing the quality of democracy and improving the functioning of the institutions of the Union.
It also recognises that in order to perform the role that the Treaty wishes to assign to them, it will be necessary that they should be at least partially financed from the Community budget.
Article 191, as amended, now provides for the adoption of the appropriate legislative framework by the codecision procedure. This new proposal builds on the constructive work already carried out in the three institutions on the interim proposal based on Article 308 and integrates the areas of consensus achieved in the course of that process.
The purpose of the proposal is to give concrete effect to the intent expressed in the first paragraph of Article 191 by establishing a solid, clear and transparent long-term framework for the European parties and their financing from the Community budget.
The Commission considers that it would be inappropriate to establish intrusive or over prescriptive political requirements for the registration of European political parties, but considers it essential to lay down minimum standards of democratic conduct for such parties.
Accordingly, Article 2 (dealing with the definition of a party) and Article 3 (dealing with registration) lay down that to be registered by the European Parliament a party must:
- have participated or declared their intention to participate in elections to the European Parliament;
- have clearly defined bodies responsible for financial management;
- ensure that the statute and activities of the European political party respect the basic purposes of the Union with regard to freedom, democracy, human rights, fundamental freedoms and the rule of law.
Article 4 establishes a procedure for verification of respect for these obligations contained in the third indent above and would enable the European Parliament to deregister a party which no longer satisfies the conditions for registration.
To ensure transparency, Article 3 requires the publication of the Statutes.
Thus, the registration procedure laid down in Article 3 represents a first, necessary but not sufficient step to obtain financing. A party must first register its statute and then meet the specific additional conditions set out in Article 5 before it can obtain financing. Registered parties would make application for funding to Parliament which would decide within two months.
The award of Community financing must be reserved for parties that are reasonably representative, either in the European Parliament or in a number of Member States. In this context, the reference in Article 5 of the Regulation to regional parliaments should be interpreted in each Member State in the light of its internal constitutional principles. The following criteria are proposed: elected members in the European Parliament or national or regional Parliaments in at least of third of the Member States, or to have obtained at least five percent of the votes at the most recent European elections in at least one third of the Member States of the Community. The parties must also commit themselves not to accept certain kinds of donations defined in Article 5(d).
Parties would then be eligible for financing from the Union budget in compliance with Article 191 and at the same time with the subsidiary principle. This financing is not intended to replace the autonomous financing of the European parties which must represent at least 25% of the budget of each party.
The distribution between parties eligible for financing is based on objective factors. Each party would receive a flat-rate basic grant plus a second component based on the number of elected representatives in the European Parliament. The two components would account for 15% and 85% of the appropriations respectively.
The proposed budgetary allocation has been revised to take into account the forthcoming increase in the population of the Union resulting from enlargement.
Obviously, the finances of a political party which obtains financing from the Community budget must be transparent. European political parties would be required to publish their accounts and declare their sources of finance (excluding donations not exceeding EUR 100) from whatever source. Standard reporting, accounting and audit procedures are laid down in accordance with the Financial Regulation.
In order to avoid an inappropriate confusion of functions, it is necessary to provide for an external and independent auditing of the accounts of the parties.
Finally, it has been proposed to finance the action as specific administrative expenditure of the Parliament (section I of the budget), in accordance with the provision for an article entitled 'Contribution to European Political Parties' made by the Budgetary Authority in the Parliament's budget for 2002 and 2003.
The provisions of Articles 66, 76 and 116 of the Financial Regulation i concerning the responsibility of the authorising officer require that the same authorising officer decides on the subsidies allocated and makes the corresponding budgetary and legal commitments.