Germany has still not implemented recommendations made as early as 2009 on transparency in political party financing, the Council of Europe’s Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) deplored in an interim report published on Tuesday, 4 June.
GRECO experts denounce the non-publication of election campaign accounts at the federal level, the failure to lower the €50,000 threshold for the immediate declaration of donations to political parties and the lack of transparency rules regarding donations to election candidates.
The following were also pointed out: - the lack of strict separation between the financing of political parties and foundations and parliamentary groups; - the insufficient independence of external audits of the financial situation of political parties; - the weakness of the resources available to the control mechanism under the authority of the President of the Bundestag.
The effectiveness of the sanctions applicable in the event of a violation of the Code of Conduct for parliamentarians is not guaranteed, also notes GRECO, which asks the German government to inform it of future progress on all these issues. (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)