On the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the statute and funding of European political parties and European political foundations (recast)
BUDG-PA-719619
Committee on Budgets · Rapporteur: Nils Ušakovs
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The draft opinion welcomes the Commission's proposal to recast the Regulation on European political parties and foundations, supporting changes to funding, reporting, and transparency ahead of the 2024 European elections.¶¶ It proposes amendments to allow contributions from certain non-EU countries, raise the donation identification threshold, align party and group names during campaigns, and fund the repository from the Authority's budget.¶¶¶
Committee position. The Committee on Budgets proposes amendments to the Commission's proposal, focusing on funding flexibility, transparency, and campaign alignment, and calls on the responsible committee to take them into account.¶
Key points
- Welcomes the recast of Regulation 1141/2014 to improve the framework for European political parties and foundations ahead of the 2024 European elections.¶
- Supports own resources as a new revenue category, lowering the co-financing rate for parties from 10% to 5%, and to 0% in election years.¶
- Calls for prudence in allowing contributions from outside the EU to avoid political interference, and agrees EU funds can finance national referendums on EU-related issues.
- Supports a common repository for disclosures, but insists its financing come from the Authority's budget, not the CERV programme.¶¶
- Calls for aligning party names with their European Parliament group names during campaigns, allowing use of either or both logos and names.¶¶
- Urges the Commission to align national rules on campaign financing to ensure equal access and avoid discrimination against European parties.¶
- Proposes annual spending limits per party per member state based on per capita to prevent excessive intervention in domestic issues.¶
- Introduces a 'research partner' category for foundations to allow flexible affiliations with researchers not acting for any organization.¶¶
- Allows contributions from member parties in former member states, EEA countries, EU candidates, and Eastern Partnership countries with agreements, subject to caps.¶¶¶
- Raises the donation identification threshold from EUR 3,000 to EUR 10,000 to reduce administrative burden.¶
- Clarifies that indirect funding excludes activities promoting EU political awareness, and allows parties to fund common interest activities and capacity building.¶¶
Who is affected
- European political parties and foundations: new funding rules, reporting requirements, and campaign name usage options.¶¶¶
- Member parties in non-EU countries: may contribute under conditions, with caps on total contributions.¶¶
- The Authority for European political parties: manages the repository, with funding from its own budget.¶¶
- National political parties: remain governed by national rules, with protections from indirect funding and campaign impacts.¶¶