2 Financing European political parties
(34688)
6321/13
| Opinion No 1/2013 concerning draft Commission Regulations on the statute and funding of European political parties and foundations and to amend the Financial Regulation (EU, Euratom No 966/2012) as regards the financing of European political parties
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Legal base | Opinion provided pursuant to Articles 287 and 322 TFEU
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Department | Foreign and Commonwealth Office
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Basis of consideration | Minister's letter of 25 March 2013
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Previous Committee Reports | HC 86-xxxv (2012-13) chapter 10 (13 March 2013); see also (34226) 13777/12 and (34259) 13842/12: HC 86-xix (2012-13), Chapter 2 (7 November 2012) and (34523) 17469/12: HC 86-xxvii Chapter 1(16 January 2013)
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Discussion in Council | Not applicable
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Committee's assessment | Politically important
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Committee's decision | For debate in European Committee B
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Background and previous scrutiny
2.1 The background and detail of this Court of Auditors' (ECA)
Opinion and its relevance to proposed Regulations to change funding
arrangements and funding eligibility conditions for European political
parties and foundations, including a proposal to amend the Financial
Regulation, are set out in our previous Report on this document.[8]
2.2 In that Report, we voiced concerns about
the current proposals to regulate funding arrangements for European
political parties and their eligibility for funding, in the light
of:
a) the weaknesses in the proposed new funding
arrangements for those parties highlighted in the ECA opinion;
and
b) recent attempts in the European Parliament
to exclude certain European parties from funding, linked to the
current proposal to leave such decisions to the European Parliament
alone.
2.3 We asked for further information from the
Government on these two issues, namely that it should let us know:
i) In relation to (a) above, what action it proposed
to take, both independently and collectively with other Member
States, to ensure that the ECA's concerns were pursued at future
negotiations of the current proposals. In particular, we said
that we would like to see the definition of "donations"
in the proposed Regulations appropriately broadened to capture
a wider range of transactions which are financially advantageous
to the donee political parties and minimise the potential for
misuse of EU funds.
ii) In relation to (b), its view on the recent
European Parliament proposal to withdraw funding from two political
parties, the European Alliance for Freedom and the European Alliance
for National Movements and whether the Council, if it has been
consulted, has come to a view.
2.4 In the meantime, we retained the current
document under scrutiny.
Minister's Letter of 25 March 2013
2.5 In his letter of response, the Minister for
Europe (Mr David Lidington) commits to keeping us up-to-date
with progress on the proposed Regulations.
2.6 He also informs us in relation to issue (a)
that:
"As the Committee is aware, negotiations are
ongoing on these proposals. The Court of Auditors' opinion is,
as I stated in my Explanatory Memorandum, a welcome contribution
and will prove informative to the ongoing debate. We have already
referenced the Court of Auditors' opinion during the course of
negotiations, as have other Member States, and will continue actively
to do so where relevant.
"With regard to the specific point you raise
about the Court's opinion on the question of donations, I also
have some concerns about the proposal as currently drafted. I
agree that European political parties and European political foundations
should be encouraged to obtain funding from sources other than
the EU budget and that donations have an important role to play
in this regard. However, it is important that this is not at the
cost of current levels of accountability, financial propriety
or transparency. I agree with the Court's suggestion, that extending
the definition of donations in a logical fashion to ensure a wide
range of transactions are caught within its remit could be a sensible
means by which to serve both of these aims. I will ensure that
this is taken account of in our negotiating position."
2.7 As regards issue (b), the Minister says that:
"We are aware that the European Parliament has
initiated the process, as outlined in Rule 210 of its current
Rules of Procedure, of verifying whether or not two political
parties at European level continue to observe the principles upon
which the EU is founded. The outcome of an eventual negative opinion
in this regard would be exclusion from funding. The next stage
in this process includes consideration by a committee of independent
eminent persons, as provided for in Regulation (EC) No 2004/2003;
one member of the committee will be appointed by the Council.
"I am conscious of the Scrutiny Committee's
concern about this process. Council is being consulted as part
of the wider negotiations on the Commission's proposals on the
statute and funding of European political parties. Current provisions
are being revisited as part of this process. The Committee references
the envisaged role of the European Parliament within the Commission's
proposals; I am keen to ensure that administrative and political
decisions are clearly divided. The former should be dealt with
in a neutral and apolitical way. I also think that the bar for
challenging a political party's status should be high. We will
continue to approach negotiations with these principles in mind."
Conclusion
2.8 We thank the Minister for
his prompt and helpful response on the specific issues we raised
in our Report in early March. We welcome the Minister's commitment
to keeping us informed of progress in the negotiation of the proposed
Regulations.
2.9 We also note the Minister's
assurance that the Government will continue to reference the Court
of Auditors' Opinion in the negotiations on the proposed Regulations.
However, we consider that the concerns raised by the Court are
of such importance to representative and transparent democracy
that they warrant further discussion within the House.
2.10 We therefore recommend
the Court's Opinion be debated in European Committee B.
8 See headnote Back
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