9.5.2013   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 133/90

1.

The EESC joins the Commission and Parliament in stressing that improving the functioning of the European Union entails developing at this level political parties and foundations that are better known and recognised, and also more representative and closer to the citizens.

2.

The EESC supports both the creation of a single European statute for European political parties and foundations and the review of how their operation is monitored, with a view to improving their effectiveness, visibility, transparency, accountability and internal party democracy.

3.

As such, the EESC particularly stresses the need for parties and foundations covered by this statute to subscribe to the objectives of the European project and to the fundamental values underlying it, as laid down in the European treaties and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

3.1

In terms of the objectives of the European project, the EESC feels that a statute of this kind should entail a commitment to strengthening peace, to cooperation between States and peoples, to promoting economic and social progress and the well-being of citizens, and to the democratic exercise of freedom of expression and debate.

3.2

With regard to compliance with the fundamental values enshrined at European level, the EESC highlights the need to respect those set out in the European treaties, particularly in the preamble to the Treaty on European Union, and in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, Article 21 of which prohibits discrimination based on any ground. The principle of equality between women and men in all areas – which is also laid down in Article 23 of the Charter – should also find practical application in all the governing bodies of European political parties and foundations.

3.3

The EESC recommends that compliance with the basic principles described above should be confirmed by means of a statement to that effect by political parties and foundations wishing to take advantage of the European statute. It is up to the European Parliament, and in particular its Committee on Constitutional Affairs, to monitor and flag up any violations of the basic rights and principles set out in the EU treaties.

3.4

The EESC would also highlight the key role that the Court of Justice of the European Union needs to play in monitoring compliance with these principles, including by allowing for applications for the adoption of interim measures.

4.

The EESC also stresses the need to support, alongside existing European political parties and foundations, the emergence and development of new parties and foundations at European level, provided they meet the required criteria in terms of operation, respect for values and representativeness.

4.1

With regard to the additional condition for eligibility for funding, the criterion of having one elected member of the European Parliament does not seem appropriate given that voting procedures – and thus the conditions for success – vary widely between Member States.

4.2

The EESC therefore suggests that representativeness should be referred to in a way that is less likely to create arbitrary discrimination. It suggests taking inspiration from the criteria established for European Citizens' Initiatives (ECIs) in this connection, and setting the requirement of having obtained at least one million votes across at least seven countries at the last European elections.

4.3

The funding and donations received by European parties and foundations, and their budgets, must be transparent and public. The public have the right and duty to be informed about the funding arrangements of and expenses incurred by parties and foundations. Any sanctions and/or suspensions of funding must be published in the press.

5.

The EESC would also take the opportunity, as part of its examination of this proposed regulation, to strongly emphasise the ongoing – and worsening – inequality of treatment between European political parties and foundations, on the one hand, and European-level associations and foundations with more general objectives, on the other (e.g. economic, trade-union, social, humanitarian, cultural, environmental or sporting associations, etc.).

5.1

Article 11 of the Treaty on European Union (known as the Lisbon Treaty) enshrines the principle of participatory democracy and thus the importance of the associations and foundations that lead the debate in the EU's public arena. The EESC notes that these European associations have become more important – in some cases even of paramount importance – in these times of universal internet access. They already act as new conduits for participatory democracy, thus playing a vital and growing role in the provision of information, in public debate and in the European opinion forming process. In so doing, they provide a valuable adjunct and complement to the structures for representative political democracy. This added value is particularly evident at European level, inasmuch as the many ramifications of this participatory democracy naturally transcend national borders.

5.2

In view of the way in which the crisis is widening the gulf between the public and European political leaders and decision makers, the EESC would draw the Commission's attention to the risk that an inappropriate approach, focusing solely on the specific, independent rights of European political ‘associations’ without recognising equivalent rights for these other European associations, could be counterproductive. The EESC is particularly keen to stress that the principle of a political Europe is inextricably linked to the principle of a Europe of citizens and civil society, supported by associations and organisations with appropriate, effective and uniform legal tools at every level.

5.3

The EESC once again laments the Commission's decision, several years ago, to withdraw the draft statute for a European association, supposedly due to difficulties in reaching political agreement in the Council. In the Committee's view, this is not in itself an acceptable reason on a subject like this; nor has there been any concrete evidence of such difficulties to date.

5.4

The EESC would also reiterate its concerns regarding the endless barriers to the registration of companies with European statutes, whether they come down to the unattractiveness of the existing statute, which is a real fiasco, or to persistent delays and obstacles in developing a simplified statute that is available to a significant number of businesses of all sizes.

6.

The EESC would also reiterate its support – set out in its opinion of 18 September 2012 (1) – for the draft statute for a European foundation, and stress the need to avoid any kind of discrimination between such foundations and European political foundations.

7.

The EESC reaffirms its support for a single legal status for European political parties and foundations; in view of that support and the comments it has made, and in line with the principle of non-discrimination guaranteed by the European Union, it urges the Commission to present, in the near future, an equivalent European Regulation on the statute and funding of European non-political associations and to speed up efforts to adopt the Regulation on the statute for a European foundation.