In its Action Plan for Democracy, presented in early December (see EUROPE 12615/1), the European Commission promised to work on a third revision of the Regulation on the financing of European political parties (1141/2014). The institution published its roadmap on Wednesday 17 March, announcing a legislative proposal for the summer.
This revision, the Commission explains, will aim to make the link between national and European political parties more visible and to strengthen the rules to which they are subject, particularly in terms of finance.
“The Commission’s report on the 2019 European Parliament elections highlighted the need to increase the transparency of sources of financing for European political parties in order to tackle indirect funding by foreign interest channelled through possible national means or private donations”, the roadmap says.
As such, of the three scenarios that will be examined in the forthcoming impact assessment, one would only revise Chapter 4 of the Regulation: the chapter on party financing. This is to reduce the risk of foreign interference and abuse of public funds.
The most comprehensive revision scenario would also aim to ensure more transparency on non-Member State funding and an alignment of national transparency regimes for donations and contributions.
Risks identified
On the same day as the roadmap was published, MEPs on the Special Committee on Foreign Interference in all Democratic Processes in the European Union, including Disinformation (INGE) were discussing a working document on “covert funding of political activities by foreign donors”.
The document, drafted by Sandra Kalniete (EPP, Latvia), summarises the “main issues brought to the attention of the INGE Committee” on the subject. “It will serve as a framework for our discussions”, Ms Kalniete specified at the meeting.
The first finding of the paper is that electoral laws, in particular the provisions on the financing of political activities, are not harmonised at European level. And these laws have “loopholes” or “risks”, identified and classified by the MEP in seven categories.
“Foreign in-kind contributions” (loans from foreign banks, co-option of political figures) are the first category, which are both “the most challenging one when it comes to tangible proof and clear evidence”, and yet “have the most severe influence”, commented Ms Kalniete on Wednesday.
Other loopholes identified include: funding involving fictitious donors or from shell companies, the use of cryptocurrencies and cashless payments, guaranteeing anonymity, and the involvement of non-profit organisations—which are not required to reveal the identity of their donors, but are allowed to fund political parties and candidates.
Political advertising on the Internet is also singled out as not being subject to the same transparency measures and foreign funding restrictions as those on television, radio and in print.
Possible actions
In order to stop these various abuses, the working document recommends that common European standards be considered.
“Inaction at EU level would sustain the current patchwork of 27 different national jurisdictions”, writes Ms Kalniete, who asserts that it is also this otherness that “[allows] for opaque financing methods by foreign actors through various rules and practices within the EU”.
She therefore welcomed, on Wednesday, the announced revision of Regulation 1141/2014, but also the forthcoming proposal on the transparency of sponsored political content (see EUROPE 12644/28), “two legislative initiatives of crucial importance”.
To see the Commission’s roadmap: http://bit.ly/38S2sCQ
To see the working document: https://bit.ly/3qV5CMB (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)