What changed

Recital 2 a (new): (2a) Article 8 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) establishes the principle of gender mainstreaming, by which the Union aims to eliminate inequalities, and to promote equality between men and women in all its activities.

A. whereas, according to the Consultative Working Party of the legal services of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission, the Commission proposal does not include any substantive amendments other than those identified as such in the proposal and whereas, as regards the codification of the unchanged provisions of the earlier acts together with those amendments, the proposal contains a straightforward codification of the existing texts, without any change in their substance;

Recital 2 a (new): (2a) Article 8 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) establishes the principle of gender mainstreaming, by which the Union aims to eliminate inequalities, and to promote equality, between men and women, in all its activities.

Recital 12 a (new): (12a) Differentiated levels of affiliation and a category of ‘research partners’ should be recognised for European political foundations, in order to allow more flexibility and to facilitate freedom of research.

Recital 30: (30) European political parties, their member parties and European political foundations should lead by example in closing the gender gap in the political domain. If they wish to benefit from EU funding, European political parties and European political foundations should have internal rules promoting gender equality, including a gender equality plan and a protocol to prevent, detect and combat sexual harassment and harassment on the grounds of gender. In addition, European political parties should be transparent about the gender balance of their member parties and should provide evidence on their member parties’ gender representation as regards candidates to and Member of the European Parliament. European political parties and European political foundations should also provide evidence on their internal policy on gender equality by means of an annual report. The European political parties are also encouraged to provide information in relation to their member parties’ on inclusiveness and representation of minorities.

Recital 41: (41) European political parties and European political foundations should not use funding received from the general budget of the European Union for the direct or indirect funding of other political entities and, in particular, national parties or candidates. The prohibition of indirect funding should however not prevent European political parties or European political foundations from publicly supporting and engaging with their member parties or member organisations in the Union on issues of relevance for the Union, from supporting political activities in the common interest, or from engaging in educational activities, in order to be able to fulfil their mission under Article 10(4) TEU and to reinforce the European demos. The prohibition of indirect funding should not prevent the participation of representatives and staffers of political parties, or of potentially politically active persons, infrom theparticipating in events of European political foundations. However, European political foundations should not engage in the training of political candidates in the six months before national or European elections. Moreover, European political parties should only finance activities in the context of national referendum campaigns when they concern issues directly related to the Union. 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.

This amendment is necessary for pressing reasons related to the internal logic of the text in order to ensure its legal consistency.

Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 3: (3) ‘European political party’ means a political alliance which pursues political objectives, which aims to pursue those objectives across the Union, and of which a majority of its member parties are either recognised by, or established in accordance with, the legal order of at least one Member State, and have their seat within the European Union, and which is registered with the Authority for European political parties and foundations referred to in Article 7, in accordance with this Regulation;

Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 3: (3) ‘European political party’ means a political alliance which pursues political objectives, which aims to pursue those objectives across the Union, and of which a majority of its member parties are either recognised by or established in accordance with the legal order of at least one Member State and have their seat within the European Union, and is registered with the Authority for European political parties and foundations referred to in Article 7, in accordance with this Regulation;

This amendment is necessary for pressing reasons related to the internal logic of the text in order to ensure its legal consistency.

This amendment is necessary for pressing reasons related to the internal logic of the text in order to ensure its legal consistency.

Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 8: (8) 'contribution' means any payment, except where it is clearly indicated that the contribution comes from the general budget of the European Union, including membership fees, or any contribution in kind, or the provision below market value of any goods, services (including loans) or works, and any other transaction which constitutes an economic advantage for the European political party or the European political foundation concerned, when provided to that European political party or to that European political foundation by one of its members that has its seat or his or her place of residence within the Union, with the exception of usual political activities carried out on a voluntary basis by individual members;

Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 8: (8) 'contribution' means any payment, except where it is clearly indicated that the contribution comes from the general budget of the European Union, including membership fees, or any contribution in kind, or the provision below market value of any goods, services (including loans) or works, and any other transaction which constitutes an economic advantage for the European political party or the European political foundation concerned, when provided to that European political party or to that European political foundation by one of its members that have their respective seats or places of residence within the Union, with the exception of usual political activities carried out on a voluntary basis by individual members;

Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 8 a (new): (8 a) 'association fees' means any payment provided to the European political party or European political foundation by one of its member parties or member organisations that has its seat in a third country that belongs to the Council of Europe and has full rights of representation therein.

This amendment is necessary for pressing reasons related to the internal logic of the text in order to ensure its legal consistency.

Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 8 a (new): (8 a) 'association fees' means any payment provided to the European political party or European political foundation by one of its member parties or member organisations, which have their seat in a third country that belongs to the Council of Europe and has full rights of representation therein.

This amendment is necessary for pressing reasons related to the internal logic of the text in order to ensure its legal consistency.

Article 4 – paragraph 1 – point j: (j) its own internal rules regarding gender balance.equality.

This amendment is necessary for pressing reasons related to the internal logic of the text in order to ensure its legal consistency.

Article 4 a (new): Article 4a / Transparency obligations with regard to use of logos, publication of political programme and gender balance / 1. Each European political party shall ensure that member parties publish on their websites the political programme and logo of the European political party. The European political party’s logo shall be displayed in the top section of the front page of the member party’s website, in a clearly visible manner. / 2. Each European political party and its member parties shall publish on their websites information on the gender balance among the candidates at the elections to the European Parliament that take place after ...[date of entry into force of this Regulation], along with updated information on gender representation among their Members of the European Parliament. Each European political party shall ensure that its member parties publish such information concerning their respective candidates in the European elections and concerning their Members of European Parliament on their websites.

Article 4 a (new): Article 4a / Transparency obligations with regard to use of logos, publication of political programme and gender balance / 1. Each European political party shall ensure that member parties publish on their websites the political programme and logo of the European political party. The European political party’s logo shall be displayed in the top section of the front page of the member party’s website, in a clearly visible manner. / 2. Each European political party and its member parties shall publish on their websites information on the gender balance among the candidates at the elections to the European Parliament following the entry into force of this Regulation along with updated information on gender representation among their Members of the European Parliament. Each European political party shall ensure that its member parties publish such information concerning their respective candidates in the European elections and concerning their Members of European Parliament on their websites.

Article 5 – paragraph 2: 2. Each European political party shall transmit to the Authority information concerning each political advertisement that it sponsors or publishes directly to enable the wider context and objectives of the political advertisement to be understood by citizens. That information shall include at least the information listed in point 1 of Annex II. The information shall be provided to the Authority in a form which is easily accessible and which uses plain language.

This amendment is necessary for pressing reasons related to the internal logic of the text in order to ensure its legal consistency.

Article 5 – paragraph 2: 2. Each European political party shall transmit to the Authority information concerning each political advertisement that it sponsors or publishes directly to enable the wider context and objectives of the political advertisement to be understood by citizens. That information shall include at least the information listed in point 1 of Annex II. The information shall be provided to the Authority in a form which is easily accessible and using plain language.

Article 6 – paragraph 1 – point i a (new): (ia) its own internal rules regarding gender equality.

Article 6 a (new): Article 6a / Requirements for gender equality rules / 1. Collegiate governing bodies of European political parties and European political foundations shall be gender-balanced. / 2. European political parties and European political foundations shall adopt a gender equality plan including mechanisms to ensure the active participation of women in all their diversity and European political parties shall invite their member parties to do the same. / 3. European political parties and European political foundations shall have a protocol to prevent, detect and combat sexual harassment and harassment on the grounds of gender. They shall ensure the independence and expertise of the experts conducting investigations and shall take appropriate measures towards perpetrators of those acts. European political parties and European political foundations shall incorporate the prohibition of acts of sexual harassment and harassment on the grounds of gender into their internal rules.

This amendment is necessary for pressing reasons related to the internal logic of the text in order to ensure its legal consistency.

Article 11 – paragraph 2: 2. Where, following a verification conducted under paragraph 1 of this Article, the Authority considers that one of the grounds for deregistration under Article 19(1), point (a)(i) or (ii), might apply to a European political party or European political foundation, the Authority shall, without undue delay, inform the European political party or European political foundation concerned thereof. / Where the Authority has knowledge of circumstances indicating that one of the grounds for deregistration under Article 19(1), point (a), or under Article 19(2) might apply to a European political party or European political foundation, the Authority shall without undue delay inform the European political party or European political foundation concerned thereof. / When informing a European political party or European political foundation in accordance with the first or second subparagraph, the Authority shall invite that European political party or European political foundation to submit its observations within one month from receipt of the information concerned.

Article 11 – paragraph 2: 2. The Authority shall, without undue delay, inform the European political party or European political foundation of the grounds for deregistration that might apply in the event that either of the following occurs: / (a) following a verification conducted under paragraph 1 of this Article, the Authority considers that one of the grounds for deregistration under Article 19(1), point (a)(i) or (ii), might apply to a European political party or European political foundation; or / (b) the Authority has knowledge of circumstances indicating that one of the grounds for deregistration under Article 19(1), point (a), or under Article 19(2) might apply to a European political party or European political foundation. / The Authority shall invite the European political party or European political foundation concerned to submit observations within one month of the date of receipt of the information referred to in the first subparagraph of this paragraph.

This amendment is necessary for pressing reasons related to the internal logic of the text in order to ensure its legal consistency.

This amendment is necessary for pressing reasons related to the internal logic of the text in order to ensure its legal consistency.

Article 11 a (new): Article 11a / Verification of the registration conditions relating to the values upon which the Union is founded / 1. The European Parliament, acting on its own initiative or following a reasoned request from a group of citizens, submitted in accordance with the relevant provisions of its Rules of Procedure, or the Council or the Commission, may lodge with the Authority a request to verify whether a specific European political party or European political foundation complies with the conditions laid down in Article 3(1), points (d) and (e), and Article 3(2), points (c) and (d). In such cases, and in the cases referred to in Article 11b(2), the Authority shall inform the European political party or European political foundation concerned without undue delay, invite it to submit its observations and give it the opportunity to introduce measures to remedy the situation within one month. / The period may be extended by the Authority upon the reasoned request of the European political party or European political foundation concerned if an extension is necessary and appropriate with regard to the corrective measures envisaged by the European political party or European political foundation. / Upon the expiry of the period mentioned in the first and second subparagraphs or upon receipt of any observations and information concerning corrective measures from the European political party or European political foundation concerned within that period, the Authority shall submit the observ…

Article 11 a (new): Article 11a / Verification of the registration conditions relating to the values upon which the Union is founded / 1. The European Parliament, acting on its own initiative or following a reasoned request from a group of citizens, submitted in accordance with the relevant provisions of its Rules of Procedure, or the Council or the Commission, may lodge with the Authority a request to verify whether a specific European political party or European political foundation complies with the conditions laid down in Article 3(1), points (d) and (e), and Article 3(2), points (c) and (d). In such cases, and in the cases referred to in Article 11b(2), the Authority shall inform the European political party or European political foundation concerned without undue delay, invite it to submit its observations and give it the opportunity to introduce measures to remedy the situation within one month. / The deadline may be extended by the Authority upon the reasoned request of the European political party or European political foundation concerned if and in so far as such an extension is necessary and appropriate with regard to the corrective measures envisaged by the European political party or European political foundation. / Upon the expiry of the deadline mentioned in the first and second subparagraphs or upon receipt of any observations and information concerning corrective measures from the European political party or European political foundation concerned within that deadline, the Autho…

This amendment is necessary for pressing reasons related to the internal logic of the text in order to ensure its legal consistency.

Article 19 – paragraph 1: 1. A European political party or a European political foundation shall lose its European legal personality upon its removal from the Register by a decision of the Authority: / (a) if, in the context of the procedure laid down in Article 11, the Authority finds that / (i) one of the conditions for registration laid down in Article 3(1), point (a),(b), (c), (f) or (g), or in Article 3(2), point (a), (b), (e), (f) or (g), is not complied with by the European political party or European political foundation in question; / (ii) one of the governance provisions set out in Article 4(1), point (a), (b), (d), (e), (f), (h), (i) or (j),(i), or in Article 6(1), points (a) to (e) or (g), is not complied with by the European political party or European political foundation in question; / (iii) the European political party or European political foundation in question is in one of the exclusion situations referred to in Article 136(1) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046; / (iv) the decision to register the European political party or European political foundation in question is based on information of a decisive nature for the registration decision that was incorrect or misleading or the decision was obtained by deceit; / (b) if, in the context of the procedure laid down in Article 11a, the Authority finds that the conditions for registration laid down in Article 3(1), point (d) or (e), or Article 3(2), point (c) or (d), concerning respect for the values enshrined in Article 2 TEU, have been …mani…

This amendment is necessary for pressing reasons related to the internal logic of the text in order to ensure its legal consistency.

Article 34 – title: Termination of a funding decision with future effect

Article 34 – title: Withdrawal of a funding decision with effect for the future

Article 34 – paragraph 1: 1. The Authorising Officer of the European Parliament shall terminate an ongoing funding decision addressed to a European political party or aEuropean political foundation with future effect on the basis of the following grounds: / (a) a decision by the Authority to remove the party or foundation from the Register, with the exception of a decision based on the ground for deregistration laid down in Article 19(1), point (a) (iv); / (b) a sanction decision based on Article 30(1), points (a)(v) and (vi). / Other grounds for the termination of a funding decision with future effect may be provided for in the contribution or grant agreement.

This amendment is necessary for pressing reasons related to the internal logic of the text in order to ensure its legal consistency.

Article 34 – paragraph 2: 2. A decision to terminate the funding decision with future effect shall take effect on the day specified in the decision to terminate or, if no day is specified therein, on the day on which the decision to terminate is notified to the European political party or European political foundation. / (deleted) / (deleted)

Article 34 – paragraph 1:2 1.a (new): 2a. The termination of the funding decision with future effect shall have the following consequences: / (a) the contribution or grant agreement shall be terminated from the date referred to in paragraph 2; / (b) payments by the Authorising Officer of the European Parliament shall withdrawbe anlimited ongoingto fundingthe decisionreimbursable addressedexpenditure toactually aincurred by the European political party or Europeanthe politicaleligible foundationcosts withactually effectincurred forby the futureEuropean onpolitical thefoundation basisup ofto the followingdate grounds:referred /to (a)in aparagraph decision2; by/ the(c) Authorityexpenditure toor removecosts incurred by the European political party or European political foundation from the Register,day withreferred theto exceptionin ofparagraph a2 decisionshall basedbe onqualified as non-reimbursable expenditure or ineligible costs; / (d) the groundAuthorising forOfficer deregistrationof laidthe downEuropean inParliament Articleshall 19(1),recover pointall (a)Union (iv);funds unduly paid, including: / (b)(i) aUnion sanctionfunds decisionthat basedhave onbeen Articlespent 30(1),for pointsnon-reimbursable (a)(v)expenditure andor (vi).ineligible costs; and / Other(ii) groundsany forunused Union pre-financing that has not been spent before the withdrawaldate ofreferred ato fundingin decisionparagraph with2, effectincluding forunspent Union funds from previous years; and / (e) the futureAuthorising mayOfficer beof providedthe forEuropean Parliament shall recover any amounts unduly paid from a natural person in therespect contributionof orwhom granta agreement.decision pursuant to Article 31 has been taken.

This amendment is necessary for pressing reasons related to the internal logic of the text in order to ensure its legal consistency.

Article 34 a (new): Article 34a / Withdrawal of the funding decision with retroactive effect / 1. On the basis of a decision taken by the Authority removing a European political party or European political foundation from the Register, based on the ground for deregistration laid down in Article 19(1), point (a)(iv), the Authorising Officer of the European Parliament shall withdraw funding decisions addressed to the European political party or European political foundation concerned with retroactive effect from the date of the adoption of those decisions. / 2. The withdrawal of the funding decision with retroactive effect shall have the following consequences: / (a) the contribution or grant agreement shall be terminated from the day of the notification of that termination to the European political party or European political foundation concerned; / (b) all expenditure or costs incurred by the European political party or European political foundation shall be qualified as non-reimbursable expenditure or ineligible costs; and / (c) any amount paid under the contribution or grant agreement, along with any unspent Union funds from previous years, shall be considered to be undue payments and shall be recovered under Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046.

Article 34 – paragraph 2: 2. A decision to withdraw the funding decision with effect for the future shall take effect on the day specified in the withdrawal decision or, if no day is specified therein, on the day on which the withdrawal decision is notified to the European political party or European political foundation. / (deleted) / (deleted)

This amendment is necessary for pressing reasons related to the internal logic of the text in order to ensure its legal consistency.

Article 34 – paragraph 2 a (new): 2a. The withdrawal of the funding decision with effect for the future shall have the following consequences: / (a) the contribution or grant agreement shall be terminated from the day that the withdrawal decision takes effect; / (b) payments by the Authorising Officer of the European Parliament shall be limited to the reimbursable expenditure actually incurred by the European political party or the eligible costs actually incurred by the European political foundation up to the date when the withdrawal decision takes effect; / (c) expenditure or costs incurred by the European political party or European political foundation from the day that the withdrawal of the funding decision takes effect shall be qualified as non-reimbursable expenditure or ineligible costs; / (d) the Authorising Officer of the European Parliament shall recover all Union funds unduly paid, including: / (i) Union funds that have been spent for non-reimbursable expenditure or ineligible costs; and / (ii) any unused Union pre-financing that has not been spent before the date on which the withdrawal decision takes effect, including unspent Union funds from previous years; and / (e) the Authorising Officer of the European Parliament shall recover any amounts unduly paid from a natural person in respect of whom a decision pursuant to Article 34 has been taken.

This amendment is necessary for pressing reasons related to the internal logic of the text in order to ensure its legal consistency.

Article 34 a (new): Article 34a / Retroactive withdrawal of the funding decision / 1. On the basis of a decision taken by the Authority removing a European political party or European political foundation from the Register, based on the ground for deregistration laid down in Article 19(1), point (a)(iv), the Authorising Officer of the European Parliament shall withdraw funding decisions addressed to the European political party or European political foundation concerned with retroactive effect from the date of the adoption of those decisions. / 2. The retroactive withdrawal of the funding decision shall have the following consequences: / (a) the contribution or grant agreement shall be terminated from the day of the notification of that termination to the European political party or European political foundation concerned; / (b) all expenditure or costs incurred by the European political party or European political foundation shall be qualified as non-reimbursable expenditure or ineligible costs; and / (c) any amount paid under the contribution or grant agreement, along with any unspent Union funds from previous years, shall be considered to be undue payments and shall be recovered under Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046.

This amendment is necessary for pressing reasons related to the internal logic of the text in order to ensure its legal consistency.