EU in brief" "
“The political parties at the European level are an important factor for integration within the Union. They contribute to forming a European consciousness and expressing the political will of the Union’s citizens”: so reads article 191 of the Treaty of the European Community, recently completed by the provisions contained in the Treaty of Nice. And it is just by virtue of the recent entry into force of the Treaty of Nice (on I February 2003) that the European Commission adopted a draft Regulation last Wednesday, concerning the status and funding of the European political parties. Reviving and developing a similar scheme of Jacques Delors in 1991, the Executive’s proposal intends to allocate an annual sum of 8.4 million euros administered by the European Parliament for the activities of the political parties represented at the EU level. The minimum regulations for their recognition and the necessary transparency in the administration of the funds are also established: “To be eligible for EU funding, a party must be represented by members elected to the European Parliament or to national or regional parliaments in at least one third of the member states. Alternatively a party must have obtained at least 5% of the votes during the most recent European elections in at least one third of the member states. For reasons of transparency, a European party that receives EU funding must publish each year a balance-sheet of its own income and expenditure. It must also publish the identity of donors and the amount of their respective donations. The European funding cannot be used to finance electoral campaigns, nor for the direct or indirect funding of national parties”. The draft Regulation now passes to the examination of the EP and the Council for possible modifications and amendments.
