DECISION OF THE AUTHORITY FOR EUROPEAN POLITICAL PARTIES AND EUROPEAN POLITICAL FOUNDATIONS

of 13 September 2018

to remove Europa Terra Nostra from the Register

(Only the German text is authentic)

(2018/C 418/05)

THE AUTHORITY FOR EUROPEAN POLITICAL PARTIES AND EUROPEAN POLITICAL FOUNDATIONS,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community,

Having regard to Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2014 on the statute and funding of European political parties and European political foundations (1), in particular Article 40a thereof,

Whereas:

(1) On 13 September 2017, the European Commission put forward a proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014 on the statute and funding of European political parties and European political foundations (2).

(2) On 9 April 2018, the Authority for European political parties and European political foundations (‘Authority’) received an application for registration as a European political foundation under Article 8(1) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014 from Europa Terra Nostra (‘ETN’).

(3) On 24 April 2018, the Authority adopted a decision to register ETN as a European political foundation (the ‘decision to register’). The decision to register was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 31 May 2018, and ETN acquired European legal personality on that date. ETN is formally affiliated with the European political party Alliance for Peace and Freedom (‘APF’).

(4) On 3 May 2018, the European Parliament and the Council adopted Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/673 (3) amending Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014. Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/673 entered into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union, i.e., 4 May 2018, and amended, among other things, the conditions applicants must satisfy to obtain registration as a European political party.

(5) Pursuant to Article 40a(3) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014, European political parties registered before 4 May 2018 were required to submit documents proving that they satisfied the conditions laid down in points (b) and (ba) of Article 3(1) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014 as amended (the ‘amended conditions for registration’) by 5 July 2018 at the latest. Pursuant to Article 40a(4) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014, the Authority is to remove a European political party and its affiliated European political foundation from the Register where the party in question fails to prove by 5 July 2018 that it meets the amended conditions for registration.

(6) On 4 May 2018, the Authority addressed to all registered European political parties a letter informing them of the conclusion of the legislative process leading to the adoption of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/673 (the ‘letter of 4 May 2018’). The letter of 4 May 2018 set out the implications of the new legal framework and reminded European political parties of their obligation to submit documents proving that they satisfied the amended conditions for registration by 5 July 2018.

(7) On 22 June 2018, the Authority received a submission from Kotleba — Ľudová Strana Naše Slovensko (‘LSNS’) stating, among other things, that LSNS is a member party of APF and is represented in the national council of the Slovak Republic.

(8) On 2 July 2018, the Authority received a submission from Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands (‘NPD’) stating, among other things, that NPD is a member party of APF and is represented in the European Parliament.

(9) The Authority has received no further documentation from either APF or national political parties on behalf of APF for the purpose of proving that APF satisfied the amended conditions for registration by 5 July 2018.

(10) On 10 August 2018, the Authority sent APF and ETN a preliminary assessment to provide them with an opportunity to be heard pursuant to Article 34 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014 with respect to the amended conditions for registration and APF’s failure to produce sufficient documents by 5 July 2018.

(11) Neither APF nor ETN submitted any observations in response to the Authority’s preliminary assessment of 10 August 2018.

(12) The Authority takes the view that APF failed to prove within the time limit set by the European legislator that it satisfied the amended conditions for registration. This is because APF has submitted insufficient documentation by 5 July 2018, i.e., documents originating from LSNS (Slovakia) and NPD (Germany) only. Those two submissions are insufficient to prove that APF satisfied the amended conditions for registration in at least one quarter of the Member States.

(13) The Authority also considers that an analysis of the merits of the submissions of LSNS and NPD is not necessary because, even if those submissions were in principle suitable for proving that APF satisfied the amended conditions for registration in two Members States, that would not change the fact that APF has submitted insufficient documentation by 5 July 2018.

(14) Pursuant to Article 40a(4) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014, the Authority considers that APF failed to prove that it satisfied the amended conditions for registration by 5 July 2018 and that APF and ETN must therefore be removed from the Register,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1 Europa Terra Nostra is hereby removed from the Register.

Article 2 This Decision is addressed to Europa Terra Nostra Kurfürstendamm 195, 3. OG 10707 Berlin DEUTSCHLAND

Done at Brussels, 13 September 2018. For the Authority for European political parties and European political foundations The Director M. ADAM

(1) OJ L 317, 4.11.2014, p. 1.

(2) COM/2017/0481 final - 2017/0219 (COD).

(3) OJ L 114 I, 4.5.2018, p. 1.