Europese politieke partijen moeten officiële juridische status krijgen (en)

European-level political parties and foundations should have a legal personality based directly on EU law, say Constitutional Affairs Committee MEPs. Greater flexibility in funding, a higher ceiling for donations and a right for European parties to take part in referendum campaigns are among other suggestions made by MEPs on Tuesday.

The committee supported these proposals in a vote on a report by Marietta Giannakou (EPP, EL) on the functioning of the current regulation on European political parties. The rapporteur stressed in a debate on Monday that she wanted "to make sure political parties have a real legal status. At present they are NGOs, and this is not in line with the Lisbon Treaty, which speaks of their importance."

Need for more convergence

Currently most of the 13 European political parties receiving EU funding are registered as non-governmental organisations in Belgium. The rest are based in other Member States. MEPs argue that more convergence is needed and conclude that this "can only be achieved by establishing a common legal and fiscal status based on EU law for the European political parties".

An authentic legal status and a legal personality would "enable the European political parties and their political foundations to act as representative agents of the European public interest", add MEPs. They therefore ask the Commission to propose a draft statute.

Funding criteria and referenda campaigns

The committee recommends several reforms to the rules on the funding of political parties. Currently EU funding can cover 85% of the expenditure of a party, which must therefore find the remaining 15% itself. MEPs believe the 15% "could be reduced to 10%". They also suggest raising the ceiling for donations from €12,000 to €25,000 per year per donor and bringing forward the point in time when the annual grant to the parties is paid.

A distinction is made between granting a party recognition as a European political party and giving it funding. MEPs believe that to receive EU funding the party should have at least one Member in the European Parliament.

They also suggest that European-level parties be allowed to take part in referendum campaigns, as long as the subject "has a direct link with issues concerning the European Union". The current regulation forbids this.

Background

European-level political parties are umbrella organisations made up of national political parties in the EU states. A regulation passed in 2003 lays down the criteria they need to meet as well as the funding rules. It was amended in 2007 to include political foundations.

Parliament is required to draft a report on how the regulation is functioning. Hence the current non-legislative report, that may later lead to legislative proposals amending the regulation. The plenary vote on this text is expected to take place in the session of 4-7 April.