The French Presidency of the Council of the European Union is pushing for a partial political agreement on the revision of the rules governing European political parties at the General Affairs Council scheduled for Tuesday 22 March.
The compromise proposal on this proposal, which the French authorities tabled on Friday 11 March, passed the stage of the meeting of Member States’ ambassadors to the EU on Wednesday 16 March. It does not include the provisions on political advertising, which are linked to a specific piece of legislation that may be agreed in the EU Council in April (see EUROPE 12840/5).
Taking into account a previous ministerial debate on this issue held at the end of January (see EUROPE 12876/3), the French authorities recommend deleting the provisions that would have allowed European political parties and foundations to receive contributions from member parties based in a Council of Europe country but outside the EU.
On the co-financing threshold, the compromise proposal reverts to the current regime, which provides for 10% co-financing for European political parties and 5% for European political foundations. Several countries oppose the Commission’s proposal to introduce a single co-financing threshold of 5%.
In order to increase transparency on donations to European parties, the Commission suggests the introduction of a due diligence mechanism for donations above €3,000. This threshold would trigger an obligation to ask donors to provide the information necessary for their correct identification. In order to strike a balance between increased transparency and limiting the administrative burden, the French Presidency’s compromise provides for a threshold of €1,500 per year per donor. Only donations, and not the expenditure arising from those donations, will have to be declared to the Authority for European political parties and European political foundations.
Germany has reservations about the obligation to disclose the identity of donors. The same applies to Poland regarding the provisions requiring European political parties and foundations to include internal rules on gender balance in their statutes.
See the French Presidency’s compromise proposal: https://aeur.eu/f/su (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)