52001PC0343

Amended proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION on the statute and financing of European political parties (presented by the Commission pursuant to Article 250 (2) of the EC Treaty)

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

The Commission tabled its proposal based on Article 308 on the Statute and financing of European political parties on 13 February 2001 [COM(2000)898 - 2001/0011(CNS)].

Consultation of Parliament is compulsory for the adoption of a regulation under Article 308.

Parliament gave its opinion on 17 May 2001, proposing 25 amendments, of which the Commission accepted 16 wholly and 4 in part [SCHLEICHER Report, Document A5-0167/2001, Minutes of the Sitting of 17 May 2001, p. 29-36].

The amendments accepted by the Commission are included in this revised proposal.

A number of amendments adopted by Parliament and accepted by the Commission increase transparency of financing from external sources, but without entering into the issue of forbidding financing from certain sources, or would more clearly prohibit direct or indirect financing of national parties (Amendments 5, 10, 15, 18 and 33).

Other amendments (Amendments 19, 20, 58 and 35 in part) tighten up or clarify control procedures and so improve the text.

Another series of amendments accepted by the Commission seeks to make clearer the purposes for which financing granted under the Regulation may be used (Amendments 17 first part, and 32).

The Commission also accepted amendments (Amendments 1 and 2) introducing a reference to the Charter of Fundamental Rights.

The Commission had proposed that an Independent Eminent Persons Committee should deal with disputes relating to respect for the basic democratic conditions set out in Article 1 of the Regulation. Parliament, however, preferred that such disputes should be dealt with by the Bureau of Parliament itself. The Commission can accept this expression of Parliament's political will (Amendment 13).

Amended proposal for a COUNCIL REGULATION on the statute and financing of European political parties

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 308 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission [1],

[1] OJ C

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament [2],

[2] OJ C

Whereas:

(1) Article 191 of the Treaty and Article 12(2) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights acknowledge that political parties at European level are important as a factor for integration within the European Union and that they contribute to forming a European awareness and to expressing the political will of the citizens.

(2) It is necessary to make provision for a statute and a programme accessible to all citizens of the Union for European political parties and to ensure that they respect fundamental rights and principles of democracy and the state based on the rule of law, in accordance with the Treaty and the Charter of Fundamental Rights, and that they have their own managing bodies.

(3) Once they have been recognised, European political parties must have legal personality.

(4) Provision should be made for the financing of European political parties so as to cover part of their operating costs and the cost of promoting democracy in the countries applying for accession.

(5) The conditions laid down by this Regulation should be applied on the same basis to all European political parties, but account should be taken of their actual representativeness in the European Parliament.

(6) In accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, financing should be given solely to parties that are sufficiently representative at European level so as to avoid financing purely national parties, or parties to which financing has been refused at national level on the grounds that they do not respect democratic principles. This financing should not replace autonomous financing of the parties.

(7) Donations and other financial contributions to European political parties must take place transparently.

(8) In accordance with the declaration by the Nice European Council on Article 191 of the Treaty, the funding for political parties provided out of the budget of the European Communities may not be used to fund, either directly or indirectly, political parties at national level.

(9) The nature of the expenditure that can be financed under this Regulation, in keeping with Article 191 of the Treaty and the objectives of the approved statute, should be defined.

(10) The appropriations allocated to financing parties should be determined in the annual budgetary procedure.

(11) Implementation of the measures provided for by this Regulation contributes to the achievement of the objectives of the Union under democratic conditions. The Treaty does not provide, for the adoption of this Regulation, powers other than those under Article 308.

(12) This Regulation should expire at the end of the second financial year following its entry into force,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1 Statute

Any European political party or long-term European union of such parties may register a statute of a European political party (hereinafter referred to as "statute") subject to the following conditions:

a) it must be established in the European Union;

b) it must have established itself as a political group in the European Parliament, or intend to establish one or to participate in an existing group;

c) its programme and its activities must respect the fundamental principles of democracy, respect for fundamental rights and the state based on the rule of law, established by the Treaty on European Union.

The statute shall define in particular the bodies responsible for the party's political and financial management.

Citizens of the Union and all natural or legal persons residing or having their registered office in a Member State shall have the right of access to the statutes deposited with the European Parliament.

The intention to form a political grouping or participate in an existing grouping must be expressed by a formal declaration deposited with the European Parliament.

Article 2 Legal person

European political parties shall have legal personality. In particular, they may purchase and dispose of movable and immovable assets and bring legal actions.

Article 3Review of the conditionsThe Bureau of the European Parliament shall decide on any dispute concerning compliance with the conditions referred to in Article 1.

Article 4Financing

Financing may be charged to the general budget of the European Communities for European political parties that have registered a statute and satisfy one of the following conditions:

a) the party or its national components are represented by elected members in the European Parliament or the national Parliaments or regional Parliaments in at least five Member States; or

b) the party or its national components received at least five per cent of the votes at the most recent European elections in at least five Member States.

Parties satisfying those conditions shall publish their budgets and their accounts annually and declare their sources of finance by providing a list specifying the donors and the donations given by each donor. Anonymous donations cannot be accepted under any circumstance.

Article 5Nature of expenditure

1. Financing granted under this Regulation may only be used to meet expenditure, incurred in connection with European political work as defined in Article 191 of the Treaty, directly linked to the objectives set out in the statute.Expenditure may include, among other things, administrative expenditure, logistical support, meetings, studies, information and publications directly linked to the objectives set out in the statute.

2. The valuation of buildings, inventory and their depreciation shall be carried out in accordance with Commission Regulation (EC) No 2909/2000 [3].

[3] OJ L 336, 30.12.2000, p. 75.

3. The European Parliament may make available, against invoice, technical support, rooms and interpreters. Detailed rules shall be drawn up by the Bureau of the European Parliament on the basis of the principle of equal treatment.

4. Where European political parties engage in joint activities with national parties and other organisations, evidence of the financial outlay incurred by the European political parties must be made available to the European Court of Auditors.

Article 6Implementation and control

Appropriations for financing parties shall be determined in accordance with the budgetary procedure and shall be implemented in accordance with the financial regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities.

Control of financing granted under this Regulation shall be excercised in accordance with the financial regulation and its implementing rules.

Control shall also be exercised on the basis of an annual certification by an external and independent audit. This certification shall be transmitted, within six months after the end of the financial year concerned, to the European Parliament and the Court of Auditors.

For monitoring purposes, suitably qualified officials of the competent services may carry out any on-the-spot checks they may consider necessary to verify that the financing has been used in a lawful and regular manner. In carrying out their tasks, they may inspect all supporting and accounting documents and any other documents they consider relevant and may request any information they consider necessary to carry out their checks.

The parties' financial rules and internal audit procedures shall conform to guidelines to be issued following consultation of the European Court of Auditors.

Monies wrongly received must be refunded.

Any document or information required by the Court of Auditors in order to carry out its task shall be supplied to it at its request by the political parties receiving payments charged to the budget.

Article 7Distribution

In application of Articles 1, 2 and 4, financing shall be distributed annually as follows:

a) 15% of the annual amount shall be distributed in equal shares among the parties that satisfy the conditions and make a duly substantiated request;

b) 85% shall be distributed among European parties which have elected members in the European Parliament, in proportion to the number of elected members.

Financing charged to the general budget of the European Communities, including that provided for in this Regulation, may not be given to a European political party unless it can prove that it receives at least 25% of its budget from sources other than the general budget of the European Communities.

Article 8Report

The Commission will report to the European Parliament and to the Council within eighteen months of the entry into force of this Regulation.

Article 9Entry into force and expiry

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

It shall expire at the end of the second financial year following its entry into force.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels,

For the Council

The President