The Committee on Constitutional Affairs adopted the report by Mercedes BRESSO (S&D, IT) and Rainer WIELANDSUR (EPP, DE) on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EU, Euratom) No. 1141/2014 of the European Parliament and the Council on the statute and funding of European political parties and European political foundations.
The committee recommended that European Parliament’s position adopted at first reading under the ordinary legislative procedure should amend the Commission proposal as follows.
Conditions for registration: Members noted that a political alliance shall be entitled to apply to register as a European political party where its member parties must not be members of another European political party.
Respect for the values of the Union: their affiliated European political foundations wishing to obtain recognition as such at Union level shall respect certain principles and fulfil certain conditions in their programme and in their activities, the values on which the Union is founded, namely respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities.
Application for funding: in order to receive funding, a European political party shall include in its application evidence demonstrating that the majority of its member parties and in any event a minimum of seven of them have continuously published on their websites, in a comprehensive, reliable and user-friendly way, during 12 months preceding the moment at which the applications is made, the political programme and logo of the European political party.
Breakdown of appropriations: Members proposed that the appropriations available to those European political parties and European political foundations which have been awarded contributions or grants shall be distributed annually on the basis of the following distribution key:
Sanctions: the Authority shall decide to remove a European political party or a European political foundation from the Register by way of sanction where a decision to register the party or foundation in question is based on incorrect or misleading information for which the applicant is responsible or where that decision has been obtained by deceit.
Information from the European Public Prosecutor's Office: the obligation under Council Regulation (EU) 2017/1939 to report to the EPPO any conduct that could constitute an offence within the competence of the EPPO shall also apply to the Authority for European political parties and European political foundations.