PURPOSE: to amend the Financial Regulation so as to
take into account changes proposed by the Commission in its
proposal for a Regulation on the statute and funding of European
political parties and European political foundations.
PROPOSED ACT: Regulation of the European Parliament
and of the Council.
BACKGROUND: 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 - which will replace current Regulation
(EC) No 2004/2003 - contains new
rules regarding, inter alia, the funding of political
parties and political foundations at European level. Their
effectiveness requires that they are accompanied by a corresponding
set of financial rules anchored in the Financial Regulation
(Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012).
The proposal follows the European
Parliament resolution of 6 April 2011 regarding the financing
of the European political parties which considers that, in light of
the experience gained, the financing of European political parties
and European political foundations should be improved as regards a
number of points. In particular, it calls for an end to the system
of grants and the creation of a new financing instrument in the
Financial Regulation “devoted solely and tailored specifically
to the funding of European Parties and
foundations”.
IMPACT ASSESSMENT: after a detailed analysis, it is
proposed that political parties should indeed be financed
through a new instrument ("contributions") rather than through an
operating grant, as it is currently the case.
As regards European political foundations, it
is considered that they should continue to receive an operating
grant. The Commission feels that the request of the European
Parliament to exclude European political foundations also from the
grant system is not justified given that the specific
characteristics of European political parties are not the same as
the European political foundations.
LEGAL BASIS: Article 322 of the Treaty on the
Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), in conjunction with the
Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community, and in
particular Article 106a thereof.
CONTENT: the Commission proposal establishes a new
Title VIII be inserted in part Two of the Financial Regulation
dedicated to Contributions to European political parties and it
repeals the specific provisions regarding European political
parties which are currently provided for under Title VI (grants) of
part One.
The proposal introduces the following
elements:
- Abolition of the "annual work programme":
in accordance with Parliament’s resolution,
the payment of contributions shall not be a precondition for the
presentation of an annual work programme and an estimated operating
budget.
- Introduction of eligibility criteria: the authorising officer should request directly from
the Registry of European political parties (set up in the EP)
certificates confirming that European political parties are duly
registered and are in compliance with relevant obligations (e.g.
presentation of accounts) and have not been suspended or subject to
any administrative penalty as foreseen in the proposal for a
Regulation on the statute and funding of European political parties
and European political foundations.
- Abolition of the selection criteria: the selection criteria will not be required in the new
Title, since there is little value in verifying the financial and
operational capacity of European political parties to represent its
citizens, a fortiori when no annual work programme or
estimated budget is submitted.
- Control on their statutory obligations:
a provision has been introduced which will
explicitly require that European political parties should not be
subject to debarment from the Registry or subject to an
administrative penalty during the financial year covered by the
contribution. In such cases, their contributions would be reduced
or terminated and any pre-financing paid recovered. The authorising
officer should request such confirmation to the EP Registry before
making the payment of the balance.
- Controls on expenditure and not on actions:
while financial support should be awarded
without an annual work programme and estimated operating budget,
European political parties should justify ex post the sound
use of Union funds. In particular, the authorising officer should
verify if the EU funds have been used to pay reimbursable
expenditure as established in the call for contributions within the
time limits laid down in this Regulation.
- Time limits to use of EU funds: Parliament called for the possibility to 'build up
reserves and carry-over of funds'. The new Title does not prevent
European political parties from building reserves from their own
sources. In addition, European political parties should also
benefit from a certain flexibility regarding the time limits to use
the EU funds awarded. However, EU funds that have not been spent
should be used within a reasonable time.
- Financing and pre-financing methods: as in the case of grants, contributions may be paid
either through the reimbursement of a percentage of the
expenditures incurred or through a system of predefined lump sum,
unit costs, and flat rate (forfaits). Contributions should be paid
in one pre-financing payment covering 100% of the sum, unless the
authorising officer decides otherwise for duly justified
reasons.
- Interest on pre-financing: by derogation from the Financial Regulation, any
interest yielded by the pre-financing amounts received by the
European political parties should be used to pay reimbursable
expenditures within the following two financial years.
- Penalty and control regime: as in the case for grants, the new Title should
include the standard provisions regarding the control of the EP,
OLAF, and the Court of Auditors. It should also include the same
penalty regime (administrative and financial penalties) which is
applicable to grant beneficiaries.
BUDGETARY IMPLICATION: the envisaged modification of
the Financial Regulation has no budgetary implications.