Call for contributions (No IX-2021/01) ‘Contributions to European political parties’ 2020/C 202/02
Date: 2020-06-16
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: EU financing, European party, party financing








C_2020202EN.01000201.xml










16.6.2020   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 202/2






Call for contributions (No IX-2021/01)
‘CONTRIBUTIONS TO EUROPEAN POLITICAL PARTIES’
(2020/C 202/02)


Contents









A.

INTRODUCTION AND LEGAL FRAMEWORK











B.

OBJECTIVE OF THE CALL











C.

PURPOSE, CATEGORY AND FORM OF FUNDING











D.

BUDGET AVAILABLE











E.

ADMISSIBILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR FUNDING APPLICATIONS











F.

CRITERIA FOR EVALUATION OF FUNDING APPLICATIONS











F.1

Exclusion criteria











F.2

Eligibility criteria











F.3

Award criteria and distribution of funding











G.

SHARED CONTROL BY EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND AUTHORITY











H.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS











I.

TIMING











J.

DISCLOSURE AND PROCESSING OF PERSONAL DATA











K.

OTHER INFORMATION




A.   INTRODUCTION AND LEGAL FRAMEWORK









1.


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’.












2.


In accordance with Article 224 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, the European Parliament and the Council lay down the regulations governing political parties at European level and in particular the rules regarding their funding. These rules are laid down in 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), as subsequently amended.












3.


Pursuant to Article 17(1) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014, a European political party which is registered in accordance with the conditions and procedures of the regulation and represented in the European Parliament by at least one of its members, and is not in one of the situations of exclusion referred to in Article 136(1) of the Financial Regulation, may apply for funding from the general budget of the European Union, in accordance with the terms and conditions published by the Authorising Officer of the European Parliament in a call for contributions.












4.


Hence, the European Parliament is launching this call for contributions with a view to awarding contributions to European political parties (‘call’).












5.


The basic legal framework is defined in the following legal acts:






a)


Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014;










b)


Decision of the Bureau of the European Parliament of 1 July 2019, laying down the procedures for implementing Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the statute and funding of European political parties and European political foundations (2) (‘Bureau Decision of 1 July 2019’);










c)


Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 July 2018 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union, amending Regulations (EU) No 1296/2013, (EU) No 1301/2013, (EU) No 1303/2013, (EU) No 1304/2013, (EU) No 1309/2013, (EU) No 1316/2013, (EU) No 223/2014, (EU) No 283/2014, and Decision No 541/2014/EU and repealing Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 (3) (‘Financial Regulation’);










d)


Commission Delegated Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2015/2401 of 2 October 2015 on the content and functioning of the Register of European political parties and foundations (4);










e)


Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/2246 of 3 December 2015 on detailed provisions for the registration number system applicable to the register of European political parties and European political foundations and information provided by standard extracts from the register (5);










f)


European Parliament’s Rules of Procedure (6).








B.   OBJECTIVE OF THE CALL









6.


The objective of this call is to invite registered European political parties to submit applications for funding from the Union budget (‘funding applications’).




C.   PURPOSE, CATEGORY AND FORM OF FUNDING









7.


The purpose of the funding is to support the European political party’s statutory activities and objectives for the financial year from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2021 under the terms and conditions set out in the contribution agreement to be concluded between the beneficiary European political party and the European Parliament.












8.


The category of the funding is the contribution to European political parties, pursuant to Title XI of the Financial Regulation (‘contribution’). The contribution takes the form of a reimbursement of a percentage of reimbursable expenditure actually incurred.












9.


The maximum amount paid to the beneficiary by the European Parliament shall neither exceed 90 % of the reimbursable expenditure indicated in the estimated budget nor 90 % of the reimbursable expenditure that were actually incurred.




D.   BUDGET AVAILABLE









10.


The foreseen funding for the financial year 2021 under Article 402 of Parliament’s budget ‘Funding of European political parties’ amounts to EUR 46 000 000 as adopted by Parliament in its draft estimates. The available appropriations to be distributed will be established by the budgetary authority in the final approved budget for the year 2021.




E.   ADMISSIBILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR FUNDING APPLICATIONS









11.


Funding applications will be admissible if they






a)


are submitted in writing on the application form as annexed to this call, including all supporting documents required therein;










b)


contain the commitment, expressed in writing by signing the declaration form which is annexed to the present call, that the applicant agrees to the terms and conditions as well as to the exclusion criteria specified in Annex 1a to the Bureau Decision of 1 July 2019;










c)


contain a letter of a legal representative certifying the authorisation to undertake legal obligations on behalf of the applicant;










d)


are sent to the President of the European Parliament by 30 September 2020 as electronic copy, preferably in pdf format, to the following functional mailbox: fin.part.fond.pol@europarl.europa.eu.




Original applications shall be kept by the applicant and sent to Parliament as a whole or partially on simple request of Parliament’s services to the following physical address:










President of the European Parliament




Attn. Mr Didier Kléthi, Director-General of Finance




SCH 05B031




L-2929 Luxembourg




LUXEMBOURG




















12.


Where, pursuant to Article 4(2) of the Bureau Decision of 1 July 2019, the applicant is invited by the authorising officer by delegation to submit original supporting documents or clarifications in paper form as regards the application, the former shall use the physical address indicated in paragraph 11.
Any other correspondence as regards the application shall follow by using the functional mailbox: fin.part.fond.pol@europarl.europa.eu.












13.


Applications assessed as incomplete may be rejected.




F.   CRITERIA FOR EVALUATION OF FUNDING APPLICATIONS

F.1   Exclusion criteria









14.


Applicants shall be excluded from funding procedure, if they are:






a)


in one of the situations of exclusion referred to in Article 136(1), 136(2) or 141 of the Financial Regulation;










b)


subject of any of the sanctions provided for in Article 27(1) and in points (v), (vi) and (vii) of Article 27(2)(a) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014.








F.2   Eligibility criteria









15.


In order to be eligible for Union funding, applicants must satisfy the conditions laid down in Articles 17 and 18 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014, i.e. the applicant






a)


must be registered with the Authority for European political parties and European political foundations (7) (the ‘Authority’) in accordance with Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014;










b)


must be represented in the European Parliament by at least one Member of the European Parliament;










c)


must comply with the obligations listed in Article 23 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014, i.e. it must have submitted the annual financial statements (8), external audit report and the list of donors and contributors, as specified therein;










d)


must comply with the obligations listed in Article 18(2a) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014, i.e. must have submitted the evidence demonstrating that its EU member parties have, as a rule, published on their websites, in a clearly visible and user-friendly manner, the political programme and logo of the European political party for a period between 1 October 2019 and 30 September 2020.
















16.


Moreover, in accordance with Article 17(3) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014, membership of a Member of the European Parliament in several European political parties will result in considering the Member concerned as a member of only one European political party, which shall, where relevant, be the one to which his or her national or regional political party is affiliated on the final date for submission of funding applications.












17.


Member parties of European political parties are encouraged to include information on gender balance on their websites.




F.3   Award criteria and distribution of funding









18.


In accordance with Article 19 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014, the respective available appropriations shall be distributed annually. They shall be distributed among the European political parties whose applications for funding have been approved in the light of the eligibility and exclusion criteria, on the basis of the following distribution key:






a)


10 % will be distributed in equal shares among the beneficiary European political parties;










b)


90 % will be distributed among the beneficiary European political parties in proportion to their share of elected members of the European Parliament; pursuant to Article 17(3) of Regulation (EC) No 1141/2014, a Member of the European Parliament shall be considered as a member of only one European political party, which shall, where relevant, be the one to which his or her national or regional political party is affiliated on the final date for the submission of funding applications.








G.   SHARED CONTROL BY EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND AUTHORITY









19.


Article 24(1) and (2) (9), of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014 foresee shared control between the European Parliament and the Authority.












20.


Where, pursuant to Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014, the Authority is competent for controlling compliance with the provisions of that Regulation, the European Parliament shall forward the relevant parts of the funding applications to the Authority.












21.


In the course of the ensuing controls and verifications, applicants shall, upon request, provide documentation or clarifications to the Authority, in original or electronic format, including parts of the original funding applications kept in accordance with paragraph 11 above.












22.


The Authority will communicate to the European Parliament the result of its controls and verifications.




H.   TERMS AND CONDITIONS









23.


Applicants are obliged to notify the European Parliament of any changes as regards the documents submitted or any information referred to in the application within two weeks of such a change. Failing such notification, the authorising officer may decide on the basis of the information available, notwithstanding any information provided at a later stage or published through other channels.












24.


In respect to the condition that the applicant continues to fulfil the criteria for funding, the burden of proof rests with the applicant.












25.


The terms and conditions as regards Union funding to be awarded under this call are laid down in Annex 1a to the Bureau Decision of 1 July 2019.












26.


Each applicant shall accept the terms and conditions referred to in paragraph 23 of this call, by signing the declaration form which is annexed to the present call. These terms and conditions bind the beneficiary to whom the funding is awarded and are stipulated in the contribution agreement.




I.   TIMING









27.


The deadline for submitting the funding applications is 30 September 2020.












28.


The Authorising Officer of the European Parliament shall adopt a decision within three months after the closure of the call for contributions. Following that decision, individual decisions signed by the President of the European Parliament are notified to the applicants.












29.


It is foreseen that successful applicants will receive in January 2021 the draft contribution agreement to be signed by them and that rejected applicants will be informed at the same time. The payment of the pre-financing shall take place within 30 days following the subsequent signature of the contribution agreement on behalf of the European Parliament.




J.   DISCLOSURE AND PROCESSING OF PERSONAL DATA









30.


The European Parliament and the Authority shall publish, including on the internet, information pursuant to Article 32 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014.












31.


Any personal data collected in the context of the present call shall be processed in accordance with the provisions of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 and Decision No 1247/2002/EC (10) and pursuant to Article 33 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014.












32.


Such data shall be processed for the purpose of evaluating the funding applications and safeguarding the financial interests of the Union. This is without prejudice to the possible transfer of this data to the bodies responsible for carrying out verification and audit tasks in accordance with Union law, such as internal audit services of the European Parliament, the Authority, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), the European Court of Auditors, or the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF).












33.


On the basis of a written request, any natural person related to the beneficiary may obtain access to his or her personal data and rectify any inaccurate or incomplete data. The request concerning the processing of his or her personal data may be submitted to the European Parliament’s Directorate-General for Finance or the European Parliament’s Data Protection Officer. The person concerned may, at any time, lodge a complaint to the European Data Protection Supervisor concerning the processing of his or her personal data.












34.


Personal data may be registered in the Early Detection and Exclusion System by the European Parliament, should the beneficiary be in one of the situations mentioned in Article 136(1) and 141 of the Financial Regulation.




K.   OTHER INFORMATION









35.


Any questions relating to this call should be sent by email, quoting the publication reference, to the following functional mailbox address: fin.part.fond.pol@europarl.europa.eu












36.


The basic legislation specified in paragraph 5(b) of this call and the funding application form annexed to this call are available on the European Parliament’s internet site (http://www.europarl.europa.eu/tenders/invitations.htm).
Annex: Funding application form, including the financial identification form, the declaration on the terms and conditions as well as the exclusion criteria, and the model of estimated budget






(1)  OJ L 317, 4.11.2014, p. 1. Two amendments were published in OJ L 114 I, 4.5.2018, p. 1, and in OJ L 85 I, 27.3.2019, p. 7.

(2)  OJ C 249, 25.7.2019, p. 2.

(3)  OJ L 193, 30.7.2018, p. 1.

(4)  OJ L 333, 19.12.2015, p. 50.

(5)  OJ L 318, 4.12.2015, p. 28.

(6)  European Parliament’s Rules of Procedure of February 2020.

(7)  Established pursuant to Article 6 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014.

(8)  Unless the applicant was not subject to the control under Article 23 of the Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014 (for example: newly created)

(9)  Article 24(1)-(2) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014 – General rules on control:






‘1.


Control of compliance by European political parties and European political foundations with their obligations under this Regulation shall be exercised, in cooperation, by the Authority, by the Authorising Officer of the European Parliament and by the competent Member States.










2.


The Authority shall control compliance by European political parties and European political foundations with their obligations under this Regulation, in particular in relation to Article 3, points (a), (b), and (d) to (f) of Article 4(1), points (a) to (e) and (g) of Article 5(1), Article 9(5) and (6), and Articles 20, 21 and 22.
The Authorising Officer of the European Parliament shall control compliance by European political parties and European political foundations with the obligations relating to Union funding under this Regulation in accordance with the Financial Regulation. In carrying out such controls, the European Parliament shall take the necessary measures in the fields of the prevention of and the fight against fraud affecting the financial interests of the Union.’





(10)  OJ L 295, 21.11.2018, p 39.




Annex a

FUNDING APPLICATION FORM

CONTRIBUTIONS (1) TO EUROPEAN POLITICAL PARTIES

FOR FINANCIAL YEAR [INSERT]


COMPOSITION OF FUNDING APPLICATION

The following table is intended to help you prepare your funding application. It can be used as a checklist to make sure that you have included all the requisite documents.







Document number



Documents to be supplied



 




 



Documents which must be supplied but are not included in this model of the funding application



 




1.


Covering letter indicating the contribution amount requested for financial year n signed by the legal representative


☐




2.


Letter of a legal representative certifying the authorisation to undertake legal obligations on behalf of the applicant


☐




3.


List of the persons having powers of representation, decision-making or control over the applicant organisation, like the President, members of the Board, Secretary-general, Treasurer (2)



☐




4.


Proof of registration by the Authority at the date of funding application (only for applicants for which the decision for registration is not yet publicly available, i.e. not yet published on the website of the Authority or in the Official Journal)


☐




5.


List of its Members of the European Parliament, with an up-to-date proof of membership and setting out name, country of origin, direct or indirect affiliation to the European political party (3) and name of the relevant national or regional party (if applicable) (4)



☐




6.


Evidence demonstrating that its EU member parties have, as a rule, published on their websites, in a clearly visible and user-friendly manner, the political programme and logo of the European political party for a period between 1 October 2019 and 30 September 2020


☐




7.


Only in case of a new applicant who could not fulfil the conditions set by Article 23(1) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014: the most recent audited financial statements prepared by a professional accountant


☐




 



Documents which must be supplied and are included in this model of the funding application



 




8.


Financial identification form (only in case of a new applicant, or in case of changes of name, address or bank account)


☐




9.


Declaration on general terms and conditions as well as exclusion criteria


☐




10.


Balanced estimated budget


☐





FINANCIAL IDENTIFICATION FORM





DECLARATION ON GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS AS WELL AS EXCLUSION CRITERIA

I, the undersigned, the legal representative of [insert applicant’s name] certify that:






—


I have read and agree to the General Terms and Conditions as stipulated in the model contribution agreement,










—


the applicant is not in one of the situations referred to in Article 136(1)(*) and 141(*) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 of the European Parliament and of the Council (‘Financial Regulation’) (5),










—


the applicant is not subject of any of the sanctions provided for in Article 27(1)(*) and in points (v), (vi) and (vii) of Article 27(2)(a)(*) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council (6),










—


the information supplied in this application and its annexes is accurate and no information has been withheld, either in full or in part, from the European Parliament.




Authorised signature:






Title (Mrs, Mr, Prof...), name and forename:


 




Function in the organisation applying for funding:


 




Place/Date:


 




Signature:


 




(*) The Articles listed above are referred to below:

Article 136(1) of the Financial Regulation:

The authorising officer responsible shall exclude a person or entity referred to in Article 135(2) from participating in award procedures governed by this Regulation or from being selected for implementing Union funds where that person or entity is in one or more of the following exclusion situations:






(a)


the person or entity is bankrupt, subject to insolvency or winding-up procedures, its assets are being administered by a liquidator or by a court, it is in an arrangement with creditors, its business activities are suspended, or it is in any analogous situation arising from a similar procedure provided for under Union or national law;










(b)


it has been established by a final judgment or a final administrative decision that the person or entity is in breach of its obligations relating to the payment of taxes or social security contributions in accordance with the applicable law;










(c)


it has been established by a final judgment or a final administrative decision that the person or entity is guilty of grave professional misconduct by having violated applicable laws or regulations or ethical standards of the profession to which the person or entity belongs, or by having engaged in any wrongful conduct which has an impact on its professional credibility where such conduct denotes wrongful intent or gross negligence, including, in particular, any of the following:






(i)


fraudulently or negligently misrepresenting information required for the verification of the absence of grounds for exclusion or the fulfilment of eligibility or selection criteria or in the implementation of the legal commitment;










(ii)


entering into agreement with other persons or entities with the aim of distorting competition;










(iii)


violating intellectual property rights;










(iv)


attempting to influence the decision-making of the authorising officer responsible during the award procedure;










(v)


attempting to obtain confidential information that may confer upon it undue advantages in the award procedure;














(d)


it has been established by a final judgment that the person or entity is guilty of any of the following:






(i)


fraud, within the meaning of Article 3 of Directive (EU) 2017/1371 of the European Parliament and of the Council and Article 1 of the Convention on the protection of the European Communities’ financial interests, drawn up by the Council Act of 26 July 1995;










(ii)


corruption, as defined in Article 4(2) of Directive (EU) 2017/1371 or active corruption within the meaning of Article 3 of the Convention on the fight against corruption involving officials of the European Communities or officials of Member States of the European Union, drawn up by the Council Act of 26 May 1997, or conduct referred to in Article 2(1) of Council Framework Decision 2003/568/JHA), or corruption as defined in other applicable laws;










(iii)


conduct related to a criminal organisation as referred to in Article 2 of Council Framework Decision 2008/841/JHA;










(iv)


money laundering or terrorist financing within the meaning of Article 1(3), (4) and (5) of Directive (EU) 2015/849 of the European Parliament and of the Council;










(v)


terrorist offences or offences linked to terrorist activities, as defined in Articles 1 and 3 of Council Framework Decision 2002/475/JHA, respectively, or inciting, aiding, abetting or attempting to commit such offences, as referred to in Article 4 of that Decision;










(vi)


child labour or other offences concerning trafficking in human beings as referred to in Article 2 of Directive 2011/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council;














(e)


the person or entity has shown significant deficiencies in complying with main obligations in the implementation of a legal commitment financed by the budget which has:






(i)


led to the early termination of a legal commitment;










(ii)


led to the application of liquidated damages or other contractual penalties; or










(iii)


been discovered by an authorising officer, OLAF or the Court of Auditors following checks, audits or investigations;














(f)


it has been established by a final judgment or final administrative decision that the person or entity has committed an irregularity within the meaning of Article 1(2) of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2988/95);










(g)


it has been established by a final judgment or final administrative decision that the person or entity has created an entity in a different jurisdiction with the intent to circumvent fiscal, social or any other legal obligations in the jurisdiction of its registered office, central administration or principal place of business;










(h)


it has been established by a final judgment or final administrative decision that an entity has been created with the intent referred to in point (g).





Article 141(1) of the Financial Regulation:

The authorising officer responsible shall reject from an award procedure a participant who:






(a)


is in an exclusion situation established in accordance with Article 136;










(b)


has misrepresented the information required as a condition for participating in the procedure or has failed to supply that information;










(c)


was previously involved in the preparation of documents used in the award procedure where this entails a breach of the principle of equality of treatment, including distortion of competition, that cannot be remedied otherwise.




In accordance with Article 18(2) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014, the applicant may not be the subject of any of the sanctions provided for in Article 27(1) and in points (a)(v), (vi) and (vii) of Article 27(2).

Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014 – Article 27(1):

In accordance with Article 16, the Authority shall decide to remove a European political party or a European political foundation from the Register by way of sanction in any of the following situations:






(a)


where the party or foundation in question has been found by a judgment having the force of res judicata to have engaged in illegal activities detrimental to the financial interests of the Union as defined in Article 106(1) of the Financial Regulation;










(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 (2);










(ba)


where a decision to register the party or foundation in question is based on incorrect or misleading information for which the applicant is responsible, or where such a decision has been obtained by deceit; or










(c)


where a request by a Member State for de-registration on grounds of serious failure to fulfil obligations under national law meets the requirements set out in point (b) of Article 16(3).




Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014 – Article 27(2)(a)(v), (vi) and (vii):
The Authority shall impose financial sanctions in the following situations:






(a)


non-quantifiable infringements:






(v)


where a European political party or a European political foundation has been found by a judgment having the force of res judicata to have engaged in illegal activities detrimental to the financial interests of the Union as defined in Article 106(1) of the Financial Regulation;










(vi)


where the European political party or the European political foundation concerned has at any time intentionally omitted to provide information or has intentionally provided incorrect or misleading information, or where the bodies authorised by this Regulation to audit or conduct checks on the beneficiaries of funding from the general budget of the European Union detect inaccuracies in the annual financial statements which are regarded as constituting material omissions or misstatements of items in accordance with the international accounting standards defined in Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 1606/2002.










(vii)


where, in accordance with the verification procedure provided for in Article 10a, it is established that a European political party or a European political foundation has deliberately influenced or attempted to influence the outcome of elections to the European Parliament by taking advantage of an infringement of the applicable rules on the protection of personal data.










(1)  The category of the funding is the contribution to European political parties, pursuant to Title XI of the Financial Regulation (OJ L 193, 30.7.2018, p. 1).

(2)  For example with reference to relevant provisions of the statutes of the applicant, where applicable.

(3)  For MEPs that are affiliated to a European political party directly on an individual basis, a membership form from each of the MEPs claimed by the applicant has to be provided. For MEPs that are affiliated to European political party indirectly through their member party, the following documents are necessary: a membership form for each member party, signed by a person authorised legally to represent that member party or, in alternative, a proof of payment of the 2020 membership fee in the form of a bank transfer originating from each member party or, in further alternative, a membership form from each of the MEPs claimed by the applicant. Template membership forms for MEPs and member parties can be requested from the Authority.

(4)  If a European political party has recently provided part of the documentation identified above to the Authority, the EP will not request the production of that documentation again. It is however incumbent upon each applicant to set out clearly in its application for funding what documentation it provided to the Authority and when.

(5)  OJ L 193, 30.7.2018, p. 1.

(6)  OJ L 317, 4.11.2014, p. 1.





Annex b

ESTIMATED BUDGET