Article 10(4) of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) and Article 12(2) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (the Charter) state that political parties at European level contribute to forming European political awareness and to expressing the political will of citizens of the Union.
(2)
Articles 11 and 12 of the Charter state that the right to freedom of association at all levels, for example in political and civic matters, and the right to freedom of expression, which includes the freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers, are fundamental rights of every citizen of the Union.
(3)
European citizens should be enabled to use those rights in order to participate fully in the democratic life of the Union.
(4)
Truly transnational European political parties and their affiliated European political foundations have a key role to play in articulating the voices of citizens at European level by bridging the gap between politics at national level and at Union level.
(5)
European political parties and their affiliated European political foundations should be encouraged and assisted in their endeavour to provide a strong link between European civil society and the Union institutions, in particular the European Parliament.
(6)
Experience acquired by the European political parties and their affiliated European political foundations in applying Regulation (EC) No 2004/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council (5), together with the European Parliament's resolution of 6 April 2011 on the application of Regulation (EC) No 2004/2003 (6), show the need to improve the legal and financial framework for European political parties and their affiliated European political foundations so as to enable them to become more visible and effective actors in the multi-level political system of the Union.
(7)
As a recognition of the mission attributed to European political parties in the TEU and in order to facilitate their work, a specific European legal status should be established for European political parties and their affiliated European political foundations.
(8)
An Authority for European political parties and foundations ('the Authority') should be established for the purpose of registering, controlling and imposing sanctions on European political parties and European political foundations. Registration should be necessary in order to obtain European legal status, which entails a series of rights and obligations. To avoid any possible conflict of interests, the Authority should be independent.
(9)
The procedures to be followed by European political parties and their affiliated European political foundations in order to obtain European legal status pursuant to this Regulation should be laid down, as should the procedures and criteria to be respected in arriving at a decision on whether to grant such European legal status. It is also necessary to lay down the procedures for cases in which a European political party or a European political foundation forfeits, loses or gives up its European legal status.
(10)
In order to facilitate the oversight of legal entities that will be subject to both Union and national law, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) should be delegated to the Commission in respect of the functioning of a register of European political parties and foundations to be managed by the Authority ('the Register'), in particular as regards the information and supporting documents held in the Register. It is of particular importance that the Commission carry out appropriate consultations during its preparatory work, including at expert level. The Commission, when preparing and drawing up delegated acts, should ensure a simultaneous, timely and appropriate transmission of relevant documents to the European Parliament and to the Council.
(11)
In order to ensure uniform conditions for the implementation of this Regulation, implementing powers should be conferred on the Commission as regards provisions on the registration number system and on standard extracts to be made available from the Register by the Authority to third parties upon request. Those powers should be exercised in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council (7).
(12)
European political parties and their affiliated European political foundations wishing to obtain recognition as such at Union level by virtue of European legal status and to receive public funding from the general budget of the European Union should respect certain principles and fulfil certain conditions. In particular, it is necessary for European political parties and their affiliated European political foundations to respect the values on which the Union is founded, as expressed in Article 2 TEU.
(13)
Decisions to de-register a European political party or a European political foundation on the ground of non-compliance with the values on which the Union is founded, as expressed in Article 2 TEU, should be taken only in the event of a manifest and serious breach of those values. When taking a decision to de-register, the Authority should fully respect the Charter.
(14)
The statutes of a European political party or a European political foundation should contain a series of basic provisions. Member States should be allowed to impose additional requirements for the statutes of European political parties and European political foundations which have established their seat on their respective territories, provided those additional requirements are not inconsistent with this Regulation.
(15)
The Authority should regularly verify that the conditions and requirements relating to the registration of European political parties and European political foundations continue to be met. Decisions relating to the respect for the values on which the Union is founded, as expressed in Article 2 TEU, should only be taken in accordance with a procedure specifically designed to that effect, following consultation of a committee of independent eminent persons.
(16)
The Authority is a body of the Union within the meaning of Article 263 TFEU.
(17)
The independence and transparency of the committee of independent eminent persons should be guaranteed.
(18)
The European legal status granted to European political parties and their affiliated foundations should provide them with legal capacity and recognition in all the Member States. Such legal capacity and recognition do not entitle them to nominate candidates in national elections or elections to the European Parliament or to participate in referendum campaigns. Any such or similar entitlement remains under the competence of Member States.
(19)
The activities of European political parties and European political foundations should be governed by this Regulation, and, for matters not governed by this Regulation, by the relevant provisions of national law in the Member States. The legal status of a European political party or of a European political foundation should be governed by this Regulation and by the applicable provisions of national law in the Member State where it has its seat ('Member State of the seat'). The Member State of the seat should be able to define ex ante the applicable law or to leave optionality for European political parties and European political foundations. The Member State of the seat should also be able to impose requirements other than, or additional to, those laid down in this Regulation, including provisions on the registration and integration of European political parties and foundations as such into national administrative and control systems and on their organisation and statutes, including on liability, provided that such provisions are not inconsistent with this Regulation.
(20)
As a key element of possessing European legal status, European political parties and European political foundations should have European legal personality. The acquisition of European legal personality should be subject to requirements and procedures to protect the interests of the Member State of the seat, of the applicant for European legal status ('the applicant') and of any third parties concerned. In particular, any pre-existing national legal personality should be converted into a European legal personality and any individual rights and obligations that have accrued to the former national legal entity should be transferred to the new European legal entity. Moreover, in order to facilitate continuity of activity, safeguards should be put in place to prevent the Member State concerned from applying prohibitive conditions to such conversion. The Member State of the seat should be able to specify which types of national legal persons may be converted into European legal persons, and to withhold its agreement to the acquisition of European legal personality under this Regulation until adequate guarantees are provided, in particular, for the legality of the applicant's statutes under the laws of that Member State or for the protection of creditors or holders of other rights in respect of any pre-existing national legal personality.
(21)
The termination of European legal personality should be subject to requirements and procedures to protect the interests of the Union, of the Member State of the seat, of the European political party or European political foundation and of any third parties concerned. In particular, if the European political party or European political foundation acquires legal personality under the law of the Member State of its seat, this should be considered as a conversion of the European legal personality and any individual rights and obligations that the former European legal entity has respectively acquired or incurred should be transferred to the national legal entity. Moreover, in order to facilitate continuity of activity, safeguards should be put in place to prevent the Member State concerned from applying prohibitive conditions to such conversion. If the European political party or European political foundation does not acquire legal personality in the Member State of its seat, it should be wound up in accordance with the law of that Member State and in accordance with the condition requiring it not to pursue profit goals. The Authority and the Authorising Officer of the European Parliament should be able to agree modalities with the Member State concerned regarding the termination of the European legal personality, in particular in order to ensure the recovery of funds received from the general budget of the European Union and any financial sanctions.
(22)
If a European political party or a European political foundation seriously fails to comply with relevant national law and if the matter relates to elements affecting respect of the values on which the Union is founded, as expressed in Article 2 TEU, the Authority should decide, upon request by the Member State concerned, to apply the procedures laid down by this Regulation. Moreover, the Authority should decide, upon request from the Member State of the seat, to remove from the Register a European political party or European political foundation which has seriously failed to comply with relevant national law on any other matter.
(23)
Eligibility for funding from the general budget of the European Union should be limited to European political parties and their affiliated European political foundations that have been recognised as such and have obtained European legal status. While it is crucial to ensure that the conditions applicable to becoming a European political party are not excessive but can readily be met by organised and serious transnational alliances of political parties or natural persons or both, it is also necessary to establish proportionate criteria in order to allocate limited resources from the general budget of the European Union which criteria objectively reflect the European ambition and genuine electoral support of a European political party. Such criteria are best based on the outcome of elections to the European Parliament, in which the European political parties or their members are required to participate under this Regulation, providing a precise indication of the electoral recognition of a European political party. These should reflect the European Parliament's role of directly representing the Union's citizens, assigned to it by Article 10(2) TEU, as well as the objective for European political parties to participate fully in the democratic life of the Union and to become actors in Europe's representative democracy, in order effectively to express the views, opinions and political will of the citizens of the Union. Eligibility for funding from the general budget of the European Union should therefore be limited to European political parties which are represented in the European Parliament by at least one of their members and to European political foundations which apply through a European political party that is represented in the European Parliament by at least one of its members.
(24)
In order to increase the transparency of European political party funding, and to avoid potential abuse of the funding rules, a member of the European Parliament should, for the purposes of funding only, be regarded as a member of only one European political party, which should, where relevant, be the one to which his or her national or regional political party is affiliated on the final date for the submission of applications for funding.
(25)
The procedures to be followed by European political parties and their affiliated European political foundations when they apply for funding from the general budget of the European Union should be laid down, as well as the procedures, criteria and rules to be respected in arriving at a decision on the grant of such funding.
(26)
In order to enhance the independence, accountability and responsibility of European political parties and European political foundations, certain types of donations and contributions from sources other than the general budget of the European Union should be prohibited or subject to limitations. Any restriction on free movement of capital which such limitations might entail is justified on grounds of public policy and is strictly necessary for the attainment of those objectives.
(27)
European political parties should be able to finance campaigns conducted in the context of elections to the European Parliament, while the funding and limitation of election expenses for parties and candidates at such elections should be governed by the rules applicable in each Member State.
(28)
European political parties should not fund, directly or indirectly, other political parties and, in particular, national parties or candidates. European political foundations should not fund, directly or indirectly, European or national political parties or candidates. Moreover, European political parties and their affiliated European political foundations should not finance referendum campaigns. These principles reflect Declaration No 11 on Article 191 of the Treaty establishing the European Community annexed to the Final Act of the Treaty of Nice.
(29)
Specific rules and procedures should be laid down for distributing the appropriations available each year from the general budget of the European Union, taking into account, on the one hand, the number of beneficiaries and, on the other, the share of elected members in the European Parliament of each beneficiary European political party and, by extension, its respective affiliated European political foundation. Those rules should provide for strict transparency, accounting, auditing and financial control of European political parties and their affiliated European political foundations, as well as for the imposition of proportionate sanctions, including in the event of a breach by a European political party or a European political foundation of the values on which the Union is founded, as expressed in Article 2 TEU.
(30)
In order to ensure compliance with the obligations laid down by this Regulation regarding the funding and expenditure of European political parties and European political foundations and regarding other matters, it is necessary to establish effective control mechanisms. To that end, the Authority, the Authorising Officer of the European Parliament and the Member States should cooperate and exchange all necessary information. Mutual cooperation amongst Member States' authorities should be also encouraged in order to ensure the effective and efficient control of obligations stemming from applicable national law.
(31)
It is necessary to provide for a clear, strong and dissuasive system of sanctions in order to ensure effective, proportionate and uniform compliance with the obligations regarding the activities of European political parties and European political foundations. Such a system should also respect the ne bis in idem principle whereby sanctions cannot be imposed twice for the same offence. It is also necessary to define the respective roles of the Authority and of the Authorising Officer of the European Parliament in controlling and verifying compliance with this Regulation as well as the mechanisms for cooperation between them and the Member States' authorities.
(32)
In order to help raise the European political awareness of citizens and to promote the transparency of the European electoral process, European political parties may inform citizens during elections to the European Parliament of the ties between them and their affiliated national political parties and candidates.
(33)
For reasons of transparency, and in order to strengthen the scrutiny and the democratic accountability of European political parties and European political foundations, information considered to be of substantial public interest, relating in particular to their statutes, membership, financial statements, donors and donations, contributions and grants received from the general budget of the European Union, as well as information relating to decisions taken by the Authority and the Authorising Officer of the European Parliament on registration, funding and sanctions, should be published. Establishing a regulatory framework to ensure that this information is publicly available is the most effective means of promoting a level playing field and fair competition between political forces, and of upholding open, transparent and democratic legislative and electoral processes, thereby strengthening the trust of citizens and voters in European representative democracy and, more broadly, preventing corruption and abuses of power.
(34)
In compliance with the principle of proportionality, the obligation to publish the identity of donors who are natural persons should not apply to donations equal to or below EUR 1 500 per year and per donor. Furthermore, such obligation should not apply to donations the annual value of which exceeds EUR 1 500 and is below or equal to EUR 3 000 unless the donor has given prior written consent to the publication. These thresholds strike an appropriate balance between, on the one hand, the fundamental right to the protection of personal data and, on the other hand, the legitimate public interest in transparency regarding the funding of European political parties and foundations, as reflected in international recommendations to avoid corruption in relation to the funding of political parties and foundations. The disclosure of donations exceeding EUR 3 000 per year and per donor should allow effective public scrutiny and control over the relations between donors and European political parties. Also in compliance with the principle of proportionality, information on donations should be published annually, except during election campaigns to the European Parliament or for donations exceeding EUR 12 000, in respect of which publication should take place expeditiously.
(35)
This Regulation respects the fundamental rights and observes the principles enshrined in the Charter, in particular Articles 7 and 8 thereof, which state that everyone has the right to respect for his or her private life and to the protection of personal data concerning him or her, and it must be implemented in full respect of those rights and principles.
(36)
Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council (8) applies to the processing of personal data carried out by the Authority, the European Parliament and the committee of independent eminent persons in application of this Regulation.
(37)
Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (9) applies to the processing of personal data carried out in application of this Regulation.
(38)
For the sake of legal certainty, it is appropriate to clarify that the Authority, the European Parliament, the European political parties and European political foundations, the national authorities competent to exercise control over aspects related to the financing of European political parties and European political foundations, and other relevant third parties referred to or provided for in this Regulation are data controllers within the meaning of Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 or Directive 95/46/EC. It is also necessary to specify the maximum period for which they may retain personal data collected for the purposes of ensuring the legality, regularity and transparency of the funding of European political parties and European political foundations and the membership of European political parties. In their capacity as data controllers, the Authority, the European Parliament, the European political parties and European political foundations, the competent national authorities and the relevant third parties must take all the appropriate measures to comply with the obligations imposed by Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 and Directive 95/46/EC, in particular those relating to the lawfulness of the processing, the security of the processing activities, the provision of information, and the rights of data subjects to have access to their personal data and to procure the correction and erasure of their personal data.
(39)
Chapter III of Directive 95/46/EC on judicial remedies, liability and sanctions applies as regards the data processing carried out in application of this Regulation. The competent national authorities or relevant third parties should be liable in accordance with applicable national law for any damage that they cause. In addition, Member States should ensure that the competent national authorities or relevant third parties are liable to appropriate sanctions for infringements of this Regulation.
(40)
Technical support afforded by the European Parliament to European political parties should be guided by the principle of equal treatment, should be supplied against invoice and payment and should be subject to a regular public report.
(41)
Key information on the application of this Regulation should be available to the public on a dedicated website.
(42)
Judicial control by the Court of Justice of the European Union will help to ensure the correct application of this Regulation. Provisions should also be made to allow European political parties or European political foundations to be heard and to take corrective measures before a sanction is imposed on them.
(43)
Member States should ensure that national provisions that are conducive to the effective application of this Regulation are in place.
(44)
Member States should be given sufficient time to adopt provisions to ensure the smooth and effective application of this Regulation. Provision should therefore be made for a transitional period between the entry into force of this Regulation and its application.
(45)
The European Data Protection Supervisor was consulted and adopted an opinion (10).
(46)
Given the need for significant changes and additions to the rules and procedures currently applicable to political parties and political foundations at Union level, Regulation (EC) No 2004/2003 should be repealed,
