The committee adopted the own-initiative report by Jo LEINEN (PES, DE) on the funding of European political parties, which is governed by Regulation (EC) No. 2004/2003. The report looked at the political background to this issue and put forward proposals to improve the system of funding on the basis of practical experience to date.
Political
background: the committee stressed that political parties were a vital
element in building a European political area, benefiting democracy at European
level. European political parties could help overcome the gulf between many
members of the public and the EU institutions, particularly during the
present period of reflection on the future of
Proposals for improvement: a number of changes should be made to the funding system in order to achieve greater flexibility:
- at the start of the parliamentary term, a funding plan should be agreed over several years to provide greater financial certainty;
- in order to be able to make longer-term financial plans, parties should be able to build up reserves from their own funds, particularly those derived from donations and membership subscriptions;
- against the background of increasing demands on the political work of European political parties as a result of enlargement, there should be an "appropriate increase" in their funding.
Lastly, MEPs also called for a discussion of such issues as: support for European political foundations to assist European political parties in their work of political information and education; establishing European lists of European parties for the European elections; the role which European political parties can play in referendums on European topics; and ways of promoting and enhancing the role of European political youth organisations and movements.