Call for proposals IX-2017/01 — ‘Grants to political parties at European level’
Date: 2016-06-21
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: EU aid, financial aid, invitation to tender, party financing, political parties








C_2016223EN.01001001.xml










21.6.2016   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 223/10





Call for proposals IX-2017/01 — ‘Grants to political parties at European level’
(2016/C 223/11)
Under Article 10(4) of the Treaty on European Union, political parties at European level contribute to forming European political awareness and to expressing the will of citizens of the Union. Furthermore, Article 224 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union stipulates that the European Parliament and the Council, acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure, by means of regulations, shall lay down the regulations governing political parties at European level referred to in Article 10(4) of the Treaty on European Union and in particular the rules regarding their funding.
In this context, Parliament is launching a call for proposals with a view to the awarding of grants to political parties at European level.
1.   Basic act

Regulation (EC) No 2004/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 November 2003 (hereinafter ‘Regulation (EC) No 2004/2003’) on the regulations governing political parties at European level and the rules regarding their funding (1).
Decision of the Bureau of the European Parliament of 29 March 2004 laying down the procedures for implementing Regulation (EC) No 2004/2003 (hereinafter ‘the Bureau Decision of 29 March 2004’) (2).
Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of 25 October 2012 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union and repealing Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 (hereinafter ‘Financial Regulation’) (3).
Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 1268/2012 of 29 October 2012 on the rules of application of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union (hereinafter ‘Rules of Application’) (4).
2.   Objective

Under Article 2 of the Bureau Decision of 29 March 2004, ‘The European Parliament shall publish each year, before the end of the first half of the year preceding the year in respect of which the grant is being requested, a call for proposals with a view to the awarding of grants to parties and foundations.’
This call for proposals relates to grant applications for the financial year 2017 covering the period of activity from 1 January to 31 December 2017. The grant’s objective is to support the beneficiary’s annual work programme.
3.   Admissibility

Applications will not be admissible unless they are submitted in writing on the grant application form as in Annex 1 of the Bureau Decision of 29 March 2004 and are forwarded to the President of the European Parliament by the closing date. Applications judged not complete may be rejected.
4.   Criteria and supporting documents

4.1.   Eligibility criteria

In order to be eligible for a grant, a political party at European level must satisfy the conditions laid down in Article 3(1) of Regulation (EC) No 2004/2003, i.e.:






(a)


it must have legal personality in the Member State in which its seat is located;










(b)


it must be represented, in at least one quarter of Member States, by Members of the European Parliament or in the national Parliaments or regional Parliaments or in the regional assemblies, or it must have received, in at least one quarter of the Member States, at least three per cent of the votes cast in each of those Member States at the most recent European Parliament elections;










(c)


it must observe, in particular in its programme and in its activities, the principles on which the European Union is founded, namely the principles of liberty, democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and the rule of law;










(d)


it must have participated in elections to the European Parliament, or have expressed the intention to do so.




In order for the provisions laid down in Regulation (EC) No 2004/2003 to apply, a Member of the European Parliament may only be a member of one political party at European level (Article 10(1), last subparagraph of Regulation (EC) No 2004/2003).
In view of this, political parties are informed that the European Parliament applies the provisions in Article 3(1)(b) such that a Member of the European Parliament may only be a member of the political party at European level of which his or her national political party is a member.
Furthermore, a double membership in two European political parties is not possible for the purpose of fulfilling the criterion of Article 3 paragraph 1 b) of Regulation (EC) No 2004/2003.
4.2.   Exclusion criteria

Applicants must also certify that they are not in any of the circumstances described in Articles 106(1) and 107 of the Financial Regulation.
4.3.   Selection criteria

Applicants must provide evidence that they possess the legal and financial viability required to carry out the work programme set out in the application for funding and that they have the technical capability and management skills needed to carry out successfully the work programme for which they are applying for a grant.
4.4.   Award criteria

In accordance with Article 10 of Regulation (EC) No 2004/2003, the available appropriations for the financial year 2017 will be distributed as follows among the political parties at European level whose applications for funding have been approved in the light of the eligibility, exclusion and selection criteria:






(a)


15 % will be distributed in equal shares;










(b)


85 % will be distributed among those parties with elected members in the European Parliament, in proportion to the number of elected members.




4.5.   Notification obligation

Applicants awarded grant are obliged to notify of any changes as regards the documents submitted or any information referred to in the application within 2 weeks of such a change. Failing such notification, the authorising officer may make the decision based on the information available, notwithstanding any information provided at a later stage.
The burden of proof rests with the grant applicants and beneficiaries to prove that they continue to fulfil the necessary criteria.
4.6.   Supporting documents

For the purpose of assessing the above criteria, applicants must provide the following supporting documents:






(a)


original covering letter indicating the grant amount requested;










(b)


application form as in Annex 1 to the Bureau Decision of 29 March 2004, duly completed and signed (including the written solemn declaration);










(c)


statutes of the political party (5);










(d)


official certificate of registration (6);










(e)


recent proof of existence of the political party;










(f)


list of the directors/members of the Management Board (names and forenames, titles or functions within the applicant party) (7);










(g)


documents certifying that the applicant meets the conditions laid down in Article 3(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 2004/2003;










(h)


documents certifying that the applicant meets the conditions laid down in Article 3(1)(d) of Regulation (EC) No 2004/2003 (8)
 (9);










(i)


political programme of the political party (10);










(j)


comprehensive financial statement for 2015 certified by the external auditing body (11)
 (12);










(k)


description of the annual work programme;










(l)


provisional operating budget for the period concerned (1 January 2017 to 31 December 2017) indicating expenditure eligible for funding from the Community budget;










(m)


complete list of members.




5.   Financing from EU budget

The funding for the financial year 2017 under Article 402 of Parliament’s budget ‘Contributions to European political parties’ is put at a total of EUR 31 905 000. It is subject to approval by the budgetary authority.
The maximum amount paid to the beneficiary by the European Parliament may not exceed 85 % of the eligible operating costs of political parties at European level. The burden of proof shall lie with the political party concerned.
The financing shall take the form of an operating grant as provided for by the Financial Regulation and Rules of Application. The arrangements for paying the grant and the obligations governing its use will be set out in a grant award decision, a specimen of which appears in Annex 2a to the Bureau Decision of 29 March 2004.
6.   Procedure and closing date for submitting proposals

6.1.   Closing date and submission of applications

The closing date for submitting applications is 30 September 2016. Applications submitted after that date will not be considered.
Applications must:






(a)


be submitted on the grant application form (Annex 1 to the Bureau Decision of 29 March 2004);










(b)


be signed, without fail, by the applicant or his duly authorised representative;










(c)


be submitted under double cover; the two envelopes shall be sealed. In addition to the address of the recipient department as given in the call for proposals, the inner envelope must bear the following:

‘CALL FOR PROPOSALS — 
2017 GRANTS TO POLITICAL PARTIES AT EUROPEAN LEVEL



NOT TO BE OPENED BY THE MAIL SERVICE OR BY ANY UNAUTHORISED PERSON’

If self-adhesive envelopes are used, they must be sealed with adhesive tape and the sender must sign across this tape. The signature of the sender shall be deemed to comprise not only his hand-written signature, but also his organisation’s stamp;
The outer envelope must display the sender’s address and be addressed to:





EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT




Mail Service




KAD 00D008




2929 Luxembourg




LUXEMBOURG




The inner envelope must be addressed to:





President of the European Parliament




Attn. Mr Didier Kléthi, Director-General of Finance




SCH 05B031




2929 Luxembourg




LUXEMBOURG














(d)


be forwarded at the latest on the closing date laid down in the call for proposals either by registered mail, as evidenced by the postmark, or by courier service, as evidenced by the date of the deposit slip.




6.2.   Indicative procedure and timetable

The following procedure and timetable will apply to the awarding of grants to political parties at European level:






(a)


submission of applications to the European Parliament (no later than 30 September 2016);










(b)


consideration and selection by the relevant European Parliament department; only those applications deemed admissible will be examined on the basis of the eligibility, exclusion and selection criteria set out in the call for proposals;










(c)


adoption of the grant award decision by Parliament’s Bureau (in principle no later than 1 January 2017 as stipulated in Article 4 of the Bureau Decision of 29 March 2004);










(d)


notification of grant decisions;










(e)


payment of an advance of 80 % (within 15 days following the grant award decision).




6.3.   Further information

The following texts are available on the European Parliament’s internet site at the following address:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/tenders/invitations.htm:






(a)


Regulation (EC) No 2004/2003;










(b)


Bureau Decision of 29 March 2004;










(c)


Grant application form (Annex 1 to Bureau Decision of 29 March 2004).




Any questions relating to this call for proposals with a view to the awarding of grants should be sent by email, quoting the publication reference, to the following address: fin.part.fond.pol@europarl.europa.eu
6.4.   Processing of personal data

In accordance with Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council (13), personal data included in the application for funding and annexes thereto will be processed pursuant to the principles of fairness, lawfulness and proportionality for the express and legitimate purposes of this action. For the purposes of processing the application and of safeguarding the financial interests of the Communities, personal data may be processed by the competent services and bodies of the European Parliament and transferred to internal audit services, to the European Court of Auditors, to the Financial Irregularities Panel or to the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF).
Names of the members and representatives of the European political parties communicated with the application for funding to fulfil the requirement for representation as laid out in Article 3(1)(b) of Regulation (EC) No 2004/2003 may be published by the European Parliament and disclosed to the public under Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 regarding public access to European Parliament documents (14). Political parties are invited to include with their applications a declaration signed by the party members or representatives concerned indicating that they have been informed about, and agree to, disclosure of their names to the public.
Any individual concerned may contact the European Data Protection Supervisor (edps@edps.europa.eu) in order to appeal.


(1)  OJ L 297, 15.11.2003, p. 1.

(2)  OJ C 155, 12.6.2004, p. 1.

(3)  OJ L 298, 26.10.2012, p. 1.

(4)  OJ L 362, 31.12.2012, p. 1.

(5)  Or a declaration on honour that there have been no changes to the documents already forwarded.

(6)  Or a declaration on honour that there have been no changes to the documents already forwarded.

(7)  Or a declaration on honour that there have been no changes to the documents already forwarded.

(8)  Or a declaration on honour that there have been no changes to the documents already forwarded.

(9)  Including the lists of elected persons referred to in Articles 3(1)(b), first subparagraph, and 10(1)(b).

(10)  Or a declaration on honour that there have been no changes to the documents already forwarded.

(11)  Or a declaration on honour that there have been no changes to the documents already forwarded.

(12)  Unless the political party at European level was established during the current year.

(13)  OJ L 8, 12.1.2001, p. 1.

(14)  Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents (OJ L 145, 31.5.2001, p. 43).