Representatives of the European Parliament and the Council of the EU reached a political agreement in principle on Wednesday 16 January on the targeted amendment of the 2014 Regulation on the financing of European political parties, to include the possibility of imposing sanctions in the event of deliberate violations of data protection rules to influence the results of the European elections (see EUROPE 12094).
The negotiations, which began at the end of December, were finalised in record time. Firstly, because the positions of the Council (see EUROPE 12163) and the European Parliament (see EUROPE 12156) were very close, but above all because the new rules must be in place for the European elections in May 2019.
When a national supervisory authority reports a violation, the Authority for European Political Parties and European Political Foundations will now be able to initiate the verification procedure and decide to impose a fine of 5% of the sanctioned European party’s annual budget. In addition, any European party found guilty of violation will not be able to apply for EU co-financing for the current year.
The co-legislators also insisted on the possibility for the European political party to be heard before a decision is taken and accounting for the ne bis in idem principle, to avoid that the same offence is penalised twice, at national and European level.
In a statement, the European Commissioner for Justice, Věra Jourová, welcomed the agreement and hoped that European political parties would fully comply with the new rules “so that Europeans can cast their vote being fully and fairly informed during the campaign”.
The agreement has yet to be formally approved within both institutions. In the European Parliament, the Committee on Constitutional Affairs will take a decision on 29 January next, before a vote by Parliament in plenary session scheduled for March. (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)