The European Parliament adopted by 392 votes to 119, with 56 abstentions, amendments 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).
The matter was referred back to the committee responsible for inter-institutional negotiations.
The main amendments adopted in plenary are the following:
Enlargement to parties outside the EU27
The regulation aims to lay down the conditions governing the statute and funding of political parties at European level and of political foundations at European level. For the purposes of the regulation, Members defined a ‘political party’ as an association of citizens recognised by the legal order of at least one Member State or of a third country which, being a member of the Council of Europe, has full rights of representation there or is established in accordance with that legal order.
Transparency obligations regarding the use of logos, publication of the political programme and gender balance
Parliament introduced a specific article stating that each European political party should 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.
Each European political party and its member parties should 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.
Moreover, 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, along with updated information on gender representation among their Members of the European Parliament.
Requirements for gender equality rules
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.
Verification of the registration conditions relating to the values upon which the Union is founded
A political alliance could apply for registration as a European political party on condition that it ensures that its member parties based in the Union respect the values set out in Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union and that its member parties based in a third country belonging to the Council of Europe respect equivalent values.
According to the amended text, the European Parliament, on its own initiative or following a reasoned request from a group of citizens, or the Council or the Commission could ask the Authority to verify whether a European political party or a specific European political foundation complies with the conditions for registration relating to the respect of the values on which the Union is founded.
In such cases, the Authority should 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 take steps to remedy the situation within one month.
The Authority could only take a decision on deregistration for non-compliance with the conditions for registration relating to respect for the values on which the Union is founded in the event of a clear and serious breach of those conditions. A decision by the Authority to deregister a European political party or a European political foundation would only enter into force if no objection is made by the European Parliament and the Council within a period of three months of the communication of the decision to them or if, before the expiry of that period, the European Parliament and the Council have both informed the Authority that they will not object. Any objection raised to a decision of the Authority to deregister a European political party or European political foundation shall be duly reasoned and should be made public.
Verification of obligations under national law
The Member State in which the European political party or European political foundation has its seat could submit an application for deregistration to the Authority if a European political party or European political foundation is in breach of the relevant obligations under the applicable national law and if, in the light of the freedom of association enshrined in Article 12 of the Charter and the need to guarantee the pluralism of political parties in Europe, this breach is sufficiently serious to justify its deregistration. This duly reasoned request should identify precisely and exhaustively the illegal actions and the specific national requirements that have not been respected.
It should be noted that Members have also clarified the provisions concerning the verification of compliance with the conditions and requirements for registration and the examination of grounds for deletion from the register by the Authority.
Donations, contributions, fees and additional own resources
European political parties and European political foundations, when submitting their annual financial statements, will also have to provide a list of all donors and their corresponding donations, indicating both the nature and the value of individual donations.
For all donations with a cumulative annual value of more than EUR 3 000 from a single donor, European political parties and European political foundations should ask these donors to provide the necessary information so that they can be properly identified.
The total value of contributions to a European political party should not exceed 40% of its annual budget. The total value of association fees to a European political party should not exceed 20 % of the total value of contributions to that party.
Furthermore, the share of additional own resources in the total budget of a European political party or a European political foundation should be capped at 10% of the amount generated from contributions and fees in order to keep it proportionate to the total budget of these entities. The funding of European political parties from the general budget of the European Union or from any other source could be used to finance referendum campaigns when these concern issues directly related to the European Union.
EU funding of national referendum campaigns
The funding of European political parties from the general budget of the European Union or from any other source may be used to finance referendum campaigns when those campaigns concern issues directly related to the European Union (and not only when they concern the implementation of the EU treaties as proposed by the European Commission).