Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL amending Regulation (EU, Euratom) No. 1141/2014 of the European Parliament and the Council of 22 October 2014 on the statute and funding of European political parties and European political foundations
Date: 2017-09-13
Institutions: European Commission, Secretariat-General
Subjects: EU financing, European party, foundation, freedom of association, freedom of expression, party financing

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 13.9.2017  COM(2017) 481 final 2017/0219 (COD)   Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL amending Regulation (EU, Euratom) No. 1141/2014 of the European Parliament and the Council of 22 October 2014 on the statute and funding of European political parties and European political foundations   
 
 
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

1. 

• 

CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL 

Reasons for and objectives of the proposal 

Democracy  is  one  of  the  fundamental  values  on  which  the  European  Union  is  founded.  To 
ensure  the  functioning  of  a  representative  democracy  on  the  European  level,  the  treaties 
determine  that  the  citizens  of  the  European  Union  are  directly  represented  in  the  European 
Parliament. 

The  right  to  freedom  of  association  and  the  right  to  freedom  of  expression  are  fundamental 
rights of every citizen of the Union. 

Political  parties  fulfil  an  essential  role  in  a  representative  democracy,  creating  a  direct  link 
between the citizens and the political system, thereby enhancing the legitimacy of the system. 
The  same  happens  at  European  level:  according  to  Article  10  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". Article 12(2) of the Charter of 
Fundamental Rights of the European Union expresses the same principle. 

Fostering  political  debate  across  Europe  on  European  issues  through  vibrant  European 
political parties is a long standing Commission objective.  

In  the  run  up  to  the  2014  European  elections,  the  Commission  issued  a  Recommendation1, 
calling  on  European  and  national  political  parties,  supported  by  the  institutions  and  the 
Member States, to take a number of steps to strengthen the role of European political parties 
in  contributing  to  forming  European  political  awareness  and  to  expressing  the  will  of  the 
citizens of the Union. One of these steps was the "Spitzenkandidat". 

European  political  parties  responded  to  the  Commission's  call  and  the  2014  European 
Parliament elections were fundamentally different from previous ones. For the first time, they 
established a link between the results of the elections and the choice of the current European 
Commission President, Jean-Claude Juncker. "Spitzenkandidaten" or candidates for President 
of the European Commission, with different political programmes allowed voters to make an 
informed choice between alternative political platforms for Europe, rather than on exclusively 
national political issues, thus ‘europeanising’ the elections. 

Regulation 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  foundations2 
was  introduced  to  increase  the  visibility,  recognition,  effectiveness,  transparency  and 
accountability of European political parties and their affiliated political foundations.  

Political  parties  and  foundations  satisfying  a  number  of  conditions  were  offered  the 
opportunity to become European legal entities by registering at European level, and thereby 
enhancing access to European financial support. These conditions include representation in a 
sufficiently  large  number  of  EU  Member  States  and  respect,  both  in  their  programme  and 
activities,  of  the  values  on  which  the  EU  is  founded  -  respect  for  human  dignity,  freedom, 

1  Recommendation of 12.3.2013 on enhancing the democratic and efficient conduct of the elections to the 

European Parliament C(2013)1303 final http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-
content/EN/ALL/?uri=OJ:L:2013:079:TOC  

2  OJ L 317 of 4.11.2017, pp 1-27. 

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democracy,  equality,  the  rule  of  law  and  respect  for  human  rights,  including  the  rights  of 
people belonging to minorities.  

An  independent  Authority  for  European  political  parties  and  foundations  ("the  Authority") 
was created, for the purpose of registering, controlling and, if necessary, imposing sanctions 
on European political parties and foundation, including to consider cases where such entities 
allegedly  fail  to  respect  these  fundamental  European  values.  Where  doubts  arise  about 
whether  a  party  or  foundation  is  observing  this  requirement  in  practice,  the  European 
Parliament,  the  Council  or  the  Commission  may  lodge  a  request  with  the  Authority  for 
European  political  parties  and  European  political  foundations  to  verify  the  situation.  Before 
coming  to  a  decision  on  whether  to  de-register  a  party  or  foundation,  the  Authority  must 
consult a Committee of independent eminent persons. 

Nevertheless,  the  Commission’s  report  on  the  2014  European  elections3  found  that  work 
remained to be done to increase the participation of citizens and the inclusivity of elections, 
enhance  the  European  dimension  of  the  political  debate,  reverse  the  trend  of  low  turnouts, 
further  enhance  the  democratic  legitimacy  of  the  EU  decision-making  process,  highlight 
affiliations between national and European parties, and promote political accountability. 

Moreover, despite the progress made with Regulation No 1141/2014, the existing rules have 
loopholes that need to be addressed. 

The European Parliament, as well as a number of European political parties, have called for 
improvements and adjustments to these rules. The European Parliament services in charge of 
the  administration  of  this  Regulation  have  worked  on  a  number  of  cases  resulting  from 
inappropriate use of funding.  

In  March  2017,  Parliament  held  a  plenary  debate  and  issued  an  oral  question  inviting  the 
Commission  to  respond  both  on  the  timing  of  any  changes  and  on  certain  specific  changes 
which  concerned  the  level  of  co-financing,  the  possibility  of  multi-party  membership  of 
European Parliaments' Members, the number of members required for funding, the financing 
of referendum campaigns, the introduction of a financial capacity criterion and allowing the 
building of financial reserves.  

In this debate, the Commission expressed its willingness to engage with the Parliament, along 
with the Council, in monitoring the early stages of implementing the new rules. On 15 June 
2017, Parliament adopted a resolution4 calling upon the Commission to propose a revision of 
the current legal framework as soon as possible to address its shortcomings, especially with 
respect  to  the  level  of  co-financing  requested,  and  of  the  possibility  of  multi-party 
membership of European Parliaments' Members.  

Parliament and its political parties wrote to the Commission to restate their call for changes; a 
call elaborated in a comprehensive report provided to the Commission.   

3  Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and 
Social  Committee  and  the  Committee  of  the  Regions,  Report  on  the  2014  European  Parliament  elections 
COM/2015/0206 final http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=COM:2015:0206:FIN.  

4 See http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+TA+P8-TA-2017-

0274+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN  

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Given  the  above  and  based  on  the  extensive  input  obtained  from  various  stakeholders  (see 
section  3),  the  Commission  has  therefore  decided  to  propose  a  limited  number  of  targeted 
amendments  to  this  Regulation.  These  aim  to  close  the  loopholes,  improve  transparency,  to 
ensure  the  appropriate  allocation  and  expenditure  of  limited  resources  from  the  EU  budget, 
and  thereby  to  strengthen  the  genuine  electoral  representation  of  European  citizens  by 
European  political  parties.  The  amendments  will  ensure  that  the  existing  rules  are  not 
circumvented or its provisions misused.  

The focused changes should be in place before the 2019 European elections. They will help 
address  the  challenges  identified  by  the  Commission  in  relation  to  the  2014  European 
elections, in particular in relation to the affiliations between national and European parties and 
increased political accountability. 

• 

Specific issues addressed 

In the first place, the current rules are prone to abuse regarding the issue of who can sponsor 
the  registration  of  a  European  political  party,  because  they  allow  the  required  level  of 
representation  (i.e.  in  seven  Member  States)  to  be  met  either  (i)  by  support  from  member 
parties represented in regional parliaments, a national Parliament or the European Parliament; 
(ii) by support from individual members of such parliaments or (iii) by a mixture of the two.  

In the first years after the introduction of funding for European political parties, most of the 
beneficiaries  were  alliances  made  up  of  national  parties  coming  from  the  same  political 
family.  However,  several  European  political  parties  created  in  recent  years  are  composed 
mainly  of  individual  politicians  and/or  strongly  dominated  by  one  or  two  national  political 
parties.  There  are  several  cases  of  different  members  of  a  single  national  party  sponsoring 
more  than  one  European  political  party;  in  some  extreme  cases,  a  single  member  has 
sponsored more than one party. 

The  Authority  has  also  been  confronted  with  practical  problems  linked  to  the  multiparty 
membership. It is often unclear how to avoid double counting for representation, how to deal 
with  prior  memberships,  and  how  to  make  a  connection  between  the  representation  and 
funding  criteria  -  including  the  issue  of  a  Member  of  the  European  Parliament  counting  for 
different European political parties as regards, on the one hand, registration and, on the other 
hand, funding. 

The  second  issue  of  concern  regards  proportionality  of  the  EU  funding  received  to 
representation in the European Parliament. Currently, European political parties can apply for 
funding if they are represented in the European Parliament by at least one Member. A number 
of European political parties as well as the European Parliament's administration, have asked 
to increase the threshold of representation to three Members, to prevent the misuse of public 
funding via "one-man parties". 

However, the practical impact of such a change would be minimal, as at present even the least 
represented  European  political  parties  eligible  for  funding  currently  have  3  Members5  (see 
graph).  More  importantly  such  a  change  would  raise  serious  legal  concerns  related  to 

5  Alliance for Peace and Freedom (APF), Alliance européenne des Mouvements Nationaux (EANM), 

European Alliance for Freedom (EAF) and Europeans United for Democracy (EUD). The European Political 
Party Coalition pour la Vie et la Famille (CVF) has no MEP and is therefore not eligible for funding after 
2017, the last year of application of the former rules from the 2004 Regulation. 

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fundamental  rights  of  freedom  of  association  and  equality  of  opportunities  for  parties 
presenting candidates for elections and would unduly limit the pluralistic nature of European 
politics. 

There  is  another  way  of  addressing  this  concern  by  changing  the  distribution  key  for  the 
funding  of  the  eligible  European  political  parties  and  the  European  political  foundations. 
Currently, 15% of the total amount available is distributed equally to all parties which meet 
the one Member threshold, leaving 85% to be distributed in proportion to each party’s share 
of elected Members (the same distribution key is used for foundations). This leads to a rather 
unbalanced  reflection  of  the  electoral  representation  in  Parliament.  The  tables  below6, 
provided by administration of the European Parliament, show the effect of changing the fixed 
portion of funding compared to the portion related to the level of representation in Parliament. 
Lowering the set aside amount to 5% could help restore a more proper balance and thus lead 
to a fairer and better reflection of electoral representation in Parliament.  

6  Based on funding in 2017, under the rules of the 2004 Regulation, and thus not taking account of 2014 
Regulation's requirement of minimum one Member of the European Parliament to receive funds. 

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In the third place, next to abuse and proportionality issues, European political parties and – to 
a larger extent – the political foundations have difficulties meeting the current  co-financing 
threshold  of  15%.  The  European  Parliament  services  have  also  been  confronted  by  some 
dubious  practices  in  this  respect,  such  as  some  parties  seeking  to  meet  the  letter  of  the  co-
financing  requirement  via  circular  financial  flows.  As  regards  financial  capacity,  in  the 
financial year 2015, the Parliament's external auditor flagged concerns in 8 out of 28 reports. 
This indicates that the beneficiaries’ own resources are not sufficient. 

In many cases, the shortfall in own resources from membership contributions and donations 
can  only  be  balanced  by  the  use  of  contributions  in  kind.  In  2015  parties  received 
contributions  in  kind  amounting  to  €238,009  and  foundations  to  €283,649.  The  objective 
evaluation of these contributions poses significant problems. In several cases, the Parliament's 
administration  has  been  unable  to  verify  this  valuation  in  detail  and  ascertain  whether  the 
contributions were actually necessary for and directly related to the activity mentioned, and to 
determine  whether  the  underlying  activities  were  in  the  interest  of  the  European  party 
exclusively or possibly shared with a partner organisation.  

Fourthly, there is a lack of clarity and transparency in the existing rules regarding the steps to 
be taken in cases where a party or foundation ceases to comply with the registration criteria 
or is found to have been registered on the basis of incorrect information. 

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Applicant foundationWM Centre for European StudiesWMCES5.357.0395.465.2732,0%5.465.2732,0%Foundation for European Progressive StudiesFEPS4.536.2504.536.2500,0%4.536.2500,0%European Liberal ForumELF1.487.7681.496.2500,6%1.496.2500,6%Green European FoundationGEF1.127.2771.119.077-0,7%1.110.878-1,5%Transform EuropeTE983.080966.399-1,7%949.717-3,4%Institute of European DemocratsIED403.750403.7500,0%403.7500,0%Centrum Maurits CoppietersCMC457.035432.024-5,5%385.655-15,6%New Direction - Foundation for European ReformND1.487.7681.500.7740,9%1.513.7801,7%European Foundation for FreedomEFF261.250203.006-22,3%143.914-44,9%Christian Political Foundation for EuropeCPFE/Sallux310.164253.899-18,1%197.634-36,3%Fondation pour une Europe des Nations et des LibertésFENL1.010.3921.010.3920,0%1.003.438-0,7%Institute for Direct Democracy in EuropeIDDE670.655635.595-5,2%600.536-10,5%Identités & Traditions Européennes ITE262.098203.006-22,5%143.914-45,1%Europa Terra NostraETN262.098203.006-22,5%143.914-45,1%Fondation PegasusFP190.000126.667-33,3%63.333-66,7%TOTAL18.806.62318.555.367-1,3%18.158.234-3,4%[1]:  Grants awarded by Bureau Decision of 12 December 2016The grant amount is the lowest amount of the following elements:1.      grant amount requested in the grant application2.      85% of eligible expenditure declared in the provisional operating budget submitted with the grant application3.      possible grant amount as result of distribution defined in Art. 10 of the Regulation 2004/2003Art. 10 of the Regulation 2004/2003 states that appropriations available on respective budget lines for parties and foundations shall be distributed annually as follows:-  15 % shall be distributed in equal shares;-  85 % shall be distributed among those which have elected members in the European Parliament, in proportion to the number of elected members.[2]:  Scenario AThe grant amount is the lowest amount of the elements defined in [1], but Art. 10 of the Regulation 2004/2003 states that appropriations available on respective budget lines for parties and foundations shall be distributed annually as follows:-  10 % shall be distributed in equal shares;-  90 % shall be distributed among those which have elected members in the European Parliament, in proportion to the number of elected members.[3]:  Scenario BThe grant amount is the lowest amount of the elements defined in [1], but Art. 10 of the Regulation 2004/2003 states that appropriations available on respective budget lines for parties and foundations shall be distributed annually as follows:-  5 % shall be distributed in equal shares;-  95 % shall be distributed among those which have elected members in the European Parliament, in proportion to the number of elected members.Difference [3] / [1](%)EUROPEAN POLITICAL FOUNDATIONS - GRANTS AWARDED 2017Grant awarded [1]Scenario A (10%/90%) [2]Difference [2] / [1](%)Scenario B (5%/95%) [3] 
 
Fifthly, based on the experience of Parliament's administration, there is a need to extend the 
scope of possible measures to recover funds misspent by parties and foundations. 

Consistency with other Union policies 

• 
In its 2017 Report on EU Citizenship Rights7, the Commission recognised that the functioning 
of  the  EU  is  founded  on  representative  democracy.  This  requires  transparency  and  an 
accessible,  accountable  political  culture,  supported  by  an  effective  electoral  system  and  an 
informed and engaged electorate. To that end, the Commission has committed to intensifying 
Citizens’ Dialogues and taking further action to explain its policies to citizens, as highlighted 
by  Commission  President  Jean-Claude  Juncker  in  his  2016  State  of  the  Union  address;  to 
conducting,  ahead  of  the  2019  elections,  an  EU-wide  information  and  awareness-raising 
campaign on EU citizenship rights, including on electoral rights; to organising in 2018 a high-
level event on democratic participation with a focus on encouraging best practices to increase 
the  participation  of  young  people  and  vulnerable  and  underrepresented  groups;  and  to 
promoting best practices that help citizens vote and stand for EU elections, including practices 
that allow citizens to retain the right to vote when moving to another Member State, facilitate 
cross-border access to political news, and support turnout and broad democratic participation 
in  the  perspective  of  the  2019  European  elections.8  The  current  proposal  is  aligned  to  and 
complements  these  priorities  and  in  addition  to  the  issues  set  out  in  the  previous  section 
therefore  includes  some  changes  to  enhance  the  transparency  of  the  link  between  parties  at 
Member State level and the European parties with which they are affiliated.  

A  number  of  initiatives  are  indirectly  linked  to  this  revision,  in  particular  the  Commission 
Recommendation9 on enhancing the democratic and efficient conduct of the elections to the 
European  Parliament  and  the  reform  of  both  the  1976  European  Electoral  Act  and  of  the 
European Council decision on the composition of the European Parliament10. 

2. 

• 

LEGAL BASIS, SUBSIDIARITY AND PROPORTIONALITY 

Legal basis 

The proposal is based on Article 224 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, 
which states that "the European Parliament and the Council, acting in accordance with  the 
ordinary legislative procedure, 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"  as  well  as  on  Article  106a  of  the  Treaty  establishing  the 
European Atomic Energy Community11. 

7  COM(2017)30 final 
8  These best practices will also address e-democracy tools, remote voting arrangements (e.g. e-voting) and cross-

border access to political information, and will target improving on low voter turnout. 

9  http://ec.europa.eu/justice/citizen/document/files/c_2013_1303_en.pdf.  
10 European  Council  Decision  of  28  June  2013  establishing  the  composition  of  the  European  Parliament 

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=uriserv:OJ.L_.2013.181.01.0057.01.ENG. 

11 https://europa.eu/european-

union/sites/europaeu/files/docs/body/consolidated_version_of_the_treaty_establishing_the_european_atomic_e
nergy_community_en.pdf  

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• 

Subsidiarity 

Since the existing Regulation provides for an EU-level system, including a specific European 
legal  personality  for  parties  and  foundations  and  funding  from  the  EU  budget,  any 
shortcomings in this system can only be remedied through EU legislation. Action by Member 
States alone is therefore not a relevant option. 

The proposed focused changes therefore fully comply with the principle of subsidiarity. The 
EU  level  is  the  only  one  at  which  rules  governing  the  statute  and  funding  of  European 
political parties and European political foundations can be laid down. In setting out possible 
reform  measures,  the  Commission  has  been  careful  to  reflect  the  principles  contained  in 
Protocol No. 2 to the Treaties. 

• 

Proportionality 

As  explained  in  Section  5,  the  targeted  measures  proposed  do  not  go  beyond  what  is 
necessary  to  achieve  the  long-term  objective  of  developing  and  strengthening  European 
democracy and the legitimacy of the EU institutions, by seeking to make European political 
parties and European political foundations more effective and accountable democratic actors. 
In particular, The proposal therefore complies with the principle of proportionality.  

• 

Choice of the instrument 

Only a Regulation can amend an existing Regulation. 

3. 

STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATIONS AND IMPACT ASSESSMENTS 

• 

Stakeholder consultations and collection and use of expertise 

In preparing the current proposal, the Commission has been in close dialogue and consultation 
with  the  relevant  stakeholders.  It  has  held  several  meetings  with  representatives  of  the 
political parties at European level, political groups in the European Parliament, Members of 
the  European  Parliament,  services  of  the  European  Parliament,  the  Authority  for  European 
political parties and European political foundations as well as national experts. 

A  hearing  was  held  on  12  July  2017  in  the  European  Parliament's  Committee  on 
Constitutional  Affairs12.  The  Committee  members,  together  with  the  Director  of  the 
Authority, the Director-General for Finance of the European Parliament and a representative 
of the Commission debated the possible changes to the current Regulation. There was broad 
consensus  that  there  is  a  need  to  close  certain  loopholes  in  the  Regulation  before  the 
upcoming European Parliaments' elections. The focused changes would increase the level of 
transparency and help close the loopholes that allow  the objectives of the current Regulation 
being circumvented or its provisions misused .  

European  political  parties  and  foundations,  the  Parliament  services  as  well  as  the  Authority 
have  also  identified  other  potential  shortcomings  of  the  current  Regulation,  however  these 
were considered less urgent. 

12  The agenda, list of speakers and conclusions are available here: 

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//NONSGML+COMPARL+AFCO-OJ-
20170712-1+01+DOC+PDF+V0//EN  

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Interested parties have provided input based on their experience and expertise with regard to 
the  current  rules  governing  the  political  parties  and  political  foundations  under  both 
Regulation (EC) No 1141/2014 and the Financial Regulation. 

• 

Impact assessment 

The  proposal  is  expected  to  improve  the  effectiveness  with  which  Regulation  1141/2014 
achieves its objectives by closing some of the existing loopholes. It is based on the extensive 
input obtained from various stakeholders as set out above and the analysis of a limited number 
of targeted solutions.  

This proposal is not accompanied by a specific impact assessment as it is not expected to have 
wider significant economic, social and environmental impacts.  

• 

Fundamental rights 

Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) provides that “The Union is founded on the 
values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect 
for  human  rights,  including  the  rights  of  persons  belonging  to  minorities.  These  values  are 
common to the Member States in a society in which pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, 
justice, solidarity and equality between women and men prevail.” 

Article  10(1)  and  (2)  TEU  provide  that  “The  functioning  of  the  Union  shall  be  founded  on 
representative  democracy”  and  that  “Citizens  are  directly  represented  at  Union  level  in  the 
European Parliament”. Subparagraph 4 of the same provision stipulates: “political parties at 
European level contribute to forming European political awareness and to expressing the will 
of citizens of the Union”. Articles 11 and 12 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU 
enshrine the right to freedom of expression and of association. In particular, Article 12 of the 
Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union reads that “Everyone has the right to 
freedom  of  peaceful  assembly  and  to  freedom  of  association  at  all  levels,  in  particular  in 
political,  trade  union  and  civic  matters,  which  implies  the  right  of  everyone  to  form  and  to 
join  trade  unions  for  the  protection  of  his  or  her  interests.  Political  parties  at  Union  level 
contribute to expressing the political will of the citizens of the Union”. 

The  amendments  which  are  the  subject  of  this  proposal  pursue  the  objectives  of  these 
provisions, and are thus compatible with and give effect to the fundamental rights guaranteed 
by Article 12 of the Charter. 

4. 

BUDGETARY IMPLICATIONS 

The  EU  funding  provided  to  European  political  parties  and  European  political  foundations 
will continue to come from the budget of the European Parliament. No change to the amounts 
allocated  is  proposed  by  virtue  of  this  proposal.  The  present  proposal  has  no  significant 
implications for the EU budget. 

5. 

• 

OTHER ELEMENTS 

Evaluation and reporting arrangements 

The present proposal is for limited and focused reform of the existing Regulation which itself 
provides  for  a  more  comprehensive  review.  It  is  proposed  to  change  the  timetable  for  that 
review to allow it to be based on substantial evidence of the operation in practice of both the 
existing Regulation and the amendments proposed here. 

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• 

Detailed explanation of the specific provisions of the proposal  

To further provide for a genuine European dimension to the European political parties and to 
increase  transparency  while  ensuring  that  European  funding  is  well  spent,  the  Commission 
proposes a limited set of focused amendments to Regulation (EC) No 1141/2014, to address 
who can sponsor the registration of a political party, to have an allocation of funding which is 
more  proportionate  to  the  representativeness  of  European  political  parties  in  the  European 
Parliament and to address difficulties faced by European political parties and foundations in 
meeting  the  co-financing  threshold.  Such  changes  will  close  the  loopholes  of  the  existing 
rules which make them prone to abuse.  

To  address  the  issue  of  "multiparty  membership"  several  options  were  considered:  (i)  to 
prevent Members of the European Parliament from the same national party from sponsoring 
different  European  parties;  (ii)  to  no  longer  allow  regional  parliamentarians  to  sponsor  the 
registration and (iii) to allow for national parties sponsoring only. The last was considered the 
most effective option as it achieves the same objective as option (i) but in a manner which is 
more objective and fair, and easier to enforce.  

The  Commission  therefore  proposes  to  amend  Article  3(1)b  to  allow  only  parties,  and  no 
longer individuals, to sponsor the creation of a European political party. This would make it 
harder  for  entities  without  substantial  representation  within  Member  States  to  be  created  as 
European  level  parties,  and  receive  European  funding  once  they  meet  the  threshold  of  one 
Member of the European Parliament.  

This change does not preclude European parties from allowing individual membership, only 
that  such  membership  would  no  longer  be relevant  to  the registration  criteria.  No  change  is 
therefore proposed to the definition of a political party or alliance. 

To deal with European political parties' and foundations' difficulties in meeting the current co-
financing  threshold  of  15%,  it  should  be  lowered  enabling  more  of  the  public  funding  set 
aside  for  European  parties  and  foundations  to  be  directed  appropriately,  for  example  in 
election campaigns. It would also reduce incentives for questionable practices.  Following the 
consideration  of  several  options,  the  Commission  decided  to  propose  to  lower  the  co-
financing requirement foreseen in Article 17.4 to 10% for European political parties and 5% 
for European political foundations. 

The  level  of  transparency  in  European  elections  has  always  been  a  vital  factor  for  the 
Commission. By making a clearer link between national and European political parties clarity 
and  transparency  can  be  enhanced.  This  is  particularly  important,  as  this  proposal  aims  to 
allow  sponsoring  of  European  political  parties  by  parties  only.  Citizens  should  be  offered 
clear and relevant information upfront, including with regard to party affiliations, in order to 
understand the impact of their votes at the European party level. It is proposed to require an 
additional  condition  for  a  European  political  party  to  receive  funding,  by  inserting  a  new 
Article  18.3a  which  would  require  it  to  report  on  the  publication,  on  its  member  parties' 
websites,  of  its  political  programme  and  logo  as  well  as  and  information  on  the  gender 
representation among the  candidates at the last  elections to the European  Parliament and its 
members of the European Parliament. 

It is proposed to improve the proportionality of EU funding by linking it more clearly to the 
representation  in  Parliament,  by  amending  the  distribution  key  for  financing  foreseen  in 
Article  19.1.  It  is  proposed  to  lower  the  fixed  amount  to  5%,  thereby  increasing  the  share 
which is distributed in proportion to the members elected to Parliament. For the reasons set 

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out  above,  the  alternative  option  of  increasing  the  threshold  of  representation  needed  to  be 
eligible for funding was rejected. 

When  a  European  political  party  or  foundation  ceases  to  comply  with  whichever  of  the 
registration criteria, including in particular of representation and participation in European 
elections, or where registration was based on incorrect/misleading information, the Authority 
should  be  empowered  to  de-register  them.  The  case  law  of  the  Court  of  Justice  admits  the 
possibility  of  retroactively  withdrawing  a  favourable  administrative  act  within  a  reasonable 
period and whilst respecting the legitimate expectations of a beneficiary of the measure, who 
has  been  led  to  rely  on  the  lawfulness  thereof.  Changes  made  in  Article  27  clarify  this,  to 
allow the Authority to enforce the rules more effectively.  

To  protect  EU  financial  interests  and  the  Union’s  reputation,  the  authorising  officer  of  the 
European Parliament must be able to recover amounts unduly paid, from individuals having 
committed  illegal  activities  detrimental  to  the  financial  interests  of  the  European  Union  for 
their own benefit, or for the benefit of other entities or individuals. The Commission therefore 
introduces changes to Article 30.  

Finally, alongside transitional measures, the Commission proposes that the revision clause in 
the current Regulation should be adapted to allow for the evaluation report to be published in 
the  first  part  of  2022  and  thus  also  to  assess  the  amendments  proposed  in  the  present 
Regulation.    

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2017/0219 (COD) 

Proposal for a 

REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 

amending Regulation (EU, Euratom) No. 1141/2014 of the European Parliament and the 
Council of 22 October 2014 on the statute and funding of European political parties and 
European political foundations  

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  on  the  Functioning  of  the  European  Union,  and  in  particular 
Article 224 thereof, 

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  establishing  the  European  Atomic  Energy  Community,  and  in 
particular Article 106a thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission, 

After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national Parliaments, 
Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee13,  
Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions14, 
Having regard to the opinion of the Court of Auditors15,  

Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

Regulation (EU, Euratom) No. 1141/2014 establishes a specific European legal status 
for  European  political  parties  and  political  foundations  to  benefit  from  and  provides 
for their funding from the general budget of the European Union.  

A  need  has  been  identified  to  amend  Regulation  (EU,  Euratom)  No.  1141/2014  in 
order  to  better  meet  the  objective  of  encouraging  and  assisting  European  political 
parties and their affiliated European political foundations in their endeavour to provide 
a strong link between European civil society and the Union institutions, in particular 
the European Parliament. 

It is necessary to better ensure a genuine transnational dimension of European political 
parties and political foundations as regards their acquisition of the specific European 
legal  status  through  registration.  Moreover,  in  order  to  strengthen  the  link  between 
politics  at  national  level  and  at  Union  level  and  to  prevent  the  same  national  party 
from  artificially  creating  several  European  political  parties  with  similar  or  identical 
political tendencies, it should be excluded that members of the same national political 
party are taken into account in relation to different political alliances, for the purpose 
of  the  minimum  representation  requirements  for  those  alliances  to  be  registered  as  a 

13  OJ C , , p. . 
14  OJ C , , p. . 
15  OJ C , , p. . 

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(4) 

(5) 

(6) 

European party. Therefore, only political parties and no longer individuals should be 
taken into account for the purpose of these minimum representation requirements. 

European political parties and foundations should be enabled to absorb a larger part of 
the  appropriations  dedicated  to  their  funding  in  the  general  budget  of  the  European 
Union.  Therefore,  the  maximum  share  of  financial  contributions  or  grants  from  the 
general  budget  of  the  European  Union  in  the  annual  reimbursable  expenditure 
indicated in the budget of a European political party and in the eligible costs incurred 
by a European political foundation should be increased. 

For reasons of transparency and in order to strengthen the scrutiny and the democratic 
accountability  of  European  political  parties  and  the  link  between  European  civil 
society  and  the  Union  institutions,  in  particular  the  European  Parliament,  access  to 
funding  from  the  general  budget  of  the  European  Union  should  be  made  conditional 
upon  the  publication  by  the  member  parties  of  the  programme  and  logo  of  the 
European  political  party  concerned,  as  well  as  information  regarding  the  gender 
representation  among  the  candidates  at  the  last  elections  to  the  European  Parliament 
and among the members of the European Parliament. 

To establish a more proportionate allocation of resources from the general budget of 
the European Union, objectively reflecting the genuine electoral support of a European 
political  party,  the  funding  of  European  political  parties  and,  by  extension,  of  their 
respective  affiliated  political  foundations  should  be  linked  more  closely  to  a 
demonstrable  level  of  electoral  support.  Therefore,  the  rules  on  the  distribution  of 
funding should be adapted to take greater account of the share of elected members in 
the European Parliament of each European political party. 

(7)  Where  a  European  political  party  or  political  foundation,  due  to  a  change  in 
circumstances, no longer fulfils whichever of the conditions for registration, it should 
be removed from the Register. 

(8) 

(9) 

For reasons of legal certainty and transparency it should be explicitly provided that a 
European  political  party  or  political  foundation  can  be  removed  from  the  Register, 
within  a  reasonable  period,  where  the  party  or  foundation  has  provided  false  or 
incomplete information on the basis of which a decision has been made to register that 
party or foundation. 

The protection of the EU financial interests should be strengthened by providing that, 
in cases of infringement, the effective recovery of funding from the general budget of 
the European Union would be ensured through a recovery of amounts unduly paid also 
from natural persons responsible for the infringement in question.  

(10) 

In order to evaluate the implications of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No. 1141/2014 as 
amended  by  this  Regulation  on  the  basis  of  substantial  evidence  of  its  practical 
operation, the date of the proposed comprehensive review should be delayed. 

(11)  The  new  requirements  regarding  publicity  of  the  programme  and  logo  of  European 
political parties and of information regarding gender representation should apply to the 
largest possible extent already to applications for funding for 2019, the year in which 
elections  to  the  European  Parliament  will  take  place.  Therefore,  transitional 
arrangements should be provided for. 

(12)  Regulation (EU, Euratom) No. 1141/2014 should therefore be amended accordingly, 

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HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 

Article 1 

Regulation (EU, Euratom) No. 1141/2014 of the European Parliament and the Council of 22 
October 2014 on the statute and funding of European political parties and European political 
foundations is amended as follows: 

(1) In Article 3(1)b, the first subparagraph is replaced by the following: 

"its  member  parties  must  be  represented  by,  in  at  least  one  quarter  of  the  Member  States, 
members of  the European Parliament,  of national Parliaments, of regional parliaments or  of 
regional assemblies, or" 

(2) Article 17(4), is replaced by the following: 

"4. Financial contributions or grants from the general budget of the European Union shall not 
exceed  90  %  of  the  annual  reimbursable  expenditure  indicated  in  the  budget  of  a  European 
political  party  and  95  %  of  the  eligible  costs  incurred  by  a  European  political  foundation. 
European  political  parties  may  use  any  unused  part  of  the  Union  contribution  awarded  to 
cover  reimbursable  expenditure  within  the  financial  year  following  its  award.  Amounts  still 
unused  after  that  financial  year  shall  be  recovered  in  accordance  with  the  Financial 
Regulation." 

(3) In Article 18 

, the following paragraph 3a is inserted:  

"3a. A European political party shall include in its application evidence demonstrating that its 
member  parties  have  continuously  published  on their  websites,  during  12  months  preceding 
the  moment  at  which  the  applications  is  made,  the  political  programme  and  logo  of  the 
European political party as well as information, in relation to each of the  member parties of 
the  European  political  party,  on  the  gender  representation  among  the  candidates  at  the  last 
elections to the European Parliament and among the Members of the European Parliament." 

(4) Article 19(1) is replaced by the following: 

"1. The respective appropriations available to those European political parties and European 
political  foundations  which  have  been  awarded  contributions  or  grants  in  accordance  with 
Article 18 shall be distributed annually on the basis of the following distribution key: 

— 5 % shall be distributed in equal shares among the beneficiary European political parties, 

— 95 % shall be distributed in proportion to their share of elected members of the European 
Parliament among the beneficiary European political parties. 

The same distribution key shall be used to award funding to European political foundations, 
on the basis of their affiliation with a European political party." 

(5) Article 27 is amended as follows:  

(a) Paragraph 1 (b) is replaced by the following: 

"(b) where it is established, in accordance with the procedures set out in Article 10(2) to (5), 
that it no longer fulfils one or more of the conditions set out in Article 3(1) or in Article 3(2); 
or" 

(b) In paragraph 1, the following subparagraph (ba) is inserted:  

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"(ba) where the party or foundation in question did not fulfil one or more of the conditions set 
out  in  Article  3(1)  or  Article  3(2)  at  the  moment  of  its  registration  and  where  the  party  or 
foundation  has  provoked  the  decision  to  register  it  by  means  of  false  or  incomplete 
information relating to those conditions; a decision removing the party or foundation from the 
Register shall be adopted within a reasonable period from the moment at which the Authority 
could have ascertained that the party or foundation in question did not fulfil the condition or 
conditions concerned;" 

(c) The following paragraph 5a is inserted:  

"5a.  Where  the  Authority  imposes  a  financial  sanction  in  the  situations  referred  to  in 
paragraph  2  (a)  (v)  or  (vi)  it  may,  for  the  purpose  of  recovery  pursuant  to  Article  30  (2), 
establish  that  a  natural  person  who  is  a  member  of  the  administrative,  management  or 
supervisory body of the European political party or the European political foundation, or who 
has powers of representation, decision or control with regard to the European political party or 
the  European  political  foundation  is  also  responsible  for  the  infringement  in  the  following 
cases: 

a. 
In the situation referred to in paragraph 2 (a) (v) where, in the judgment referred to in 
that  provision,  the  natural  person  has  been  found  also  being  responsible  for  the  illegal 
activities in question; 

In  the  situation  referred  to  in  paragraph  2  (a)  (vi)  where  the  natural  person  is  also 

b. 
responsible for the conduct or inaccuracies in question." 

(6) In Article 30(2), the following sentence is added: 

"The Authorising Officer of the European Parliament shall also recover amounts unduly paid 
under contribution or grant agreement or decision from a natural person in respect of which a 
decision pursuant to Article 27 (5a) has been taken.".  

 (7) Article 38 is replaced by the following: 

"Article 38 

Evaluation 

The European Parliament shall, after consultation of the Authority, publish five years after the 
moment  at  which  this  Regulation  becomes  applicable,  a  report  on  the  application  of  this 
Regulation and on the activities funded. The report shall indicate, where appropriate, possible 
amendments to be made to the statute and funding systems. 

No more than six months after the publication of the report by the European Parliament, the 
Commission  shall  present  a  report  on  the  application  of  this  Regulation  accompanied,  if 
appropriate, by a legislative proposal to amend this Regulation." 

(8) The following Article 40a is inserted: 

"Article 40a 

Transitional provision 

By the way of derogation from Article 18(3a) and as regards applications for funding for the 
financial year 2019, the Authorising Officer of the European Parliament shall, before deciding 
on an application on funding, request evidence from a European political party demonstrating 
that its member parties have continuously published on their websites, for a period beginning 
one  month  after  the  entry  into  force  of  Regulation  (EU,  EURATOM)  No.  XX/2018,  the 
political  programme  and  logo  of  the  European  political  party  as  well  as  information,  in 
relation  to  each  of  the  member  parties  of  the  European  political  party,  on  the  gender 

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representation  among  the  candidates  at  the  last  elections  to  the  European  Parliament  and 
among the members of the European Parliament."     

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

Article 2 

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

Done at Brussels, 

For the European Parliament 
The President 

For the Council 
The President 

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