What changed between the draft committee report and the plenary report

DRAFT EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION

5 unchanged paragraphs

on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the statute and funding of European political parties and European political foundations (recast)

(COM(2021)0734 – C90432/2021 – 2021/0375(COD))

(Ordinary legislative procedure – recast)

The European Parliament,

– having regard to the Commission proposal to Parliament and the Council (COM(2021)0734),

Changed:– having regard to Article 294(2) and Article 224 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,Union and Article 106a of the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community, pursuant to which the Commission submitted the proposal to Parliament (C900432/2021),(C90432/2021),

– having regard to Article 294(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Removed:– having regard to the Interinstitutional Agreement of 28 November 2001 on a more structured use of the recasting technique for legal acts2,

Added:– having regard to the opinion of the Court of Auditors of 7 April 2022,

Removed:– having regard to the letter of [...] sent by the Committee on Legal Affairs to the Committee on Constitutional Affairs in accordance with Rule 110(3) of its Rules of Procedure,

Added:– having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee of ...,

Added:– having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions of 28 April 2022,

Added:– having regard to the Interinstitutional Agreement of 28 November 2001 on a more structured use of the recasting technique for legal acts,

Added:– having regard to the letter of 16 June 2022 sent by the Committee on Legal Affairs to the Committee on Constitutional Affairs in accordance with Rule 110(3) of its Rules of Procedure,

– having regard to Rules 110 and 59 of its Rules of Procedure,

Changed:– having regard to the reportopinion of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs (A9-0000/2022),Budgets,

Added:– having regard to the report of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs (A9-0223/2022),

A. whereas, according to the Consultative Working Party of the legal services of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission, the Commission proposal does not include any substantive amendments other than those identified as such in the proposal and whereas, as regards the codification of the unchanged provisions of the earlier acts together with those amendments, the proposal contains a straightforward codification of the existing texts, without any change in their substance;

1. Adopts its position at first reading hereinafter set out, taking into account the recommendations of the Consultative Working Party of the legal services of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission;

2. Calls on the Commission to refer the matter to Parliament again if it replaces, substantially amends or intends to substantially amend its proposal;

Changed:3. Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council, the Commission and the national parliaments.

Change 1

Removed:Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 9: (9) ‘ancillary own resources’ means income generated by own economic activities, such as conference fees and sales of publications;

Added:Recital 2 a (new): (2a) Article 8 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) establishes the principle of gender mainstreaming, by which the Union aims to eliminate inequalities, and to promote equality, between men and women, in all its activities.

Removed:Article 4 – paragraph 1 – point j: (j) a requirement that member parties publish on their websites information on the gender representation among the candidates at the last elections to the European Parliament and on the evolution of gender representations among their Members of the European Parliament and its internal rules regarding gender balance;

Added:Recital 3 a (new): (3a) Article 21 of the Charter establishes the right to gender equality in all areas.

Removed:Article 5 – paragraph 2: 2. Each European political party shall transmit to the Authority information concerning each political advertisement that it sponsors or publishes directly to enable the wider context of the political advertisement and its aims to be understood by citizens. That information shall include at least the information listed in point 1 of Annex II.

Added:Recital 12 a (new): (12a) Differentiated levels of affiliation and a category of ‘research partners’ should be recognised for European political foundations, in order to allow more flexibility and facilitate freedom of research.

Added:Recital 23: (23) The European legal status granted to European political parties and their affiliated foundations should provide them with legal capacity and recognition in all the Member States. Such legal capacity and recognition do not entitle them to nominate candidates in national elections or in national or regional constituencies in the elections to the European Parliament . Any such or similar entitlement remains under the competence of Member States.

Added:Recital 38: (38) Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014 acknowledges only two categories of revenues for European political parties and European political foundations apart from contributions from the budget of the European Union, namely contributions or association fees from members and donations. A number of revenue sources generated from own economic activities (such as sales of publications or conference or workshop fees) fall outside the scope of those two categories, creating accounting and transparency problems. A third category of revenues (‘ancillary own resources’) should therefore be created. The proportion of ancillary own resources in the total budget of a European political party or of a European political foundation should be capped at 10 % of the amount generated by contributions and association fees so that it remains proportionate to the overall budget of these entities.

Added:Recital 39: (39) In order to reach out to their members and constituencies across the Union, European political parties should have the right to use their funding for cross-border political campaigns, such as referendum campaigns and campaigns conducted in the context of elections to the European Parliament, including by setting up and promoting Union-wide lists of candidates in such elections. The funding and limitation of election expenses for parties and candidates in those campaigns should be governed by the rules applicable in each Member State.

Added:Recital 41: (41) European political parties and European political foundations should not use funding received from the general budget of the European Union for the direct or indirect funding of other political entities and, in particular, national parties or candidates. The prohibition of indirect funding should however not prevent European political parties or European political foundations from publicly supporting and engaging with their member parties or member organisations in the Union on issues of relevance for the Union, from supporting political activities in the common interest, or from engaging in educational activities, in order to be able to fulfil their mission under Article 10(4) TEU and to reinforce the European demos. The prohibition of indirect funding should not prevent the participation of representatives and staffers of political parties, or of potentially politically active persons, in the events of European political foundations. However, European political foundations should not engage in the training of political candidates in the six months before national or European elections. Moreover, European political parties should only finance activities in the context of national referendum campaigns when they concern issues directly related to the Union. These principles reflect Declaration No 11 on Article 191 of the Treaty establishing the European Community annexed to the Final Act of the Treaty of Nice.

Added:Recital 50: (50) It is necessary to establish a common repository for the disclosures of European political parties. Given its specific role in the implementation of this Regulation, the Authority should establish and manage such repository as a part of the Registry for European political parties. The information contained in the repository should be transmitted by European Political Parties to the Authority using a standard format and may be automated. European political parties should make available in the Authority’s repository information to enable the wider context and objectives of the political advertisement to be understood by citizens. The information on the amount allocated to political advertising in the context of a specific campaign to be included in the repository may be based on a realistic estimate of funding and the actual amounts, once known. The amounts to be mentioned in the repository include donations for specific purposes, benefits in kind, contributions, association fees and ancillary own resources.

Added:This change aims at aligning the recital with Annex II - paragraph 1 - indent 2 regarding the disclosure of the actual amounts. In addition, other own resources are a new source of funding and should be reported, along with contributions, association fees, donations and benefits in kinds. The proposed terms “association fees” and “other own resources” apply throughout the text. Adopting the amendment will necessitate corresponding changes throughout.

Added:Recital 61: (61) In order to facilitating the monitoring of the implementation of this Regulation, single points of contact in charge of coordination with the European level should be designated by each Member State. Such contact points should be adequately resourced to be able to ensure effective coordination, including on issues related to the monitoring of political advertising. The Authority should regularly convene the single points of contact designated by the Member States in order to exchange best practices on matters of common concern.

Added:Regular meetings will help strengthening cooperation between Member States and the Authority and contribute to a better flow of information at European level.

Added:Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 1 – point b: (b) it is either recognised by, or established in accordance with, the legal order of at least one Member State or of a third country that belongs to the Council of Europe and has full rights of representation therein;

Added:This amendment is necessary for pressing reasons related to the internal logic of the text in order to ensure its legal consistency.

Added:Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 3: (3) ‘European political party’ means a political alliance which pursues political objectives, which aims to pursue those objectives across the Union, and of which a majority of its member parties are either recognised by or established in accordance with the legal order of at least one Member State and have their seat within the European Union, and is registered with the Authority for European political parties and foundations referred to in Article 7, in accordance with this Regulation;

Added:This amendment is necessary for pressing reasons related to the internal logic of the text in order to ensure its legal consistency.

Added:Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 7: (7) 'donation' means any payment, any offering in kind, the provision below market value of any goods, services (including loans) or works, and any other transaction which constitutes an economic advantage for the European political party or the European political foundation concerned, with the exception of contributions, association fees, ancillary own resources and usual political activities carried out on a voluntary basis by individuals;

Added:This amendment is necessary for pressing reasons related to the internal logic of the text in order to ensure its legal consistency.

Added:Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 8: (8) 'contribution' means any payment, except where it is clearly indicated that the contribution comes from the general budget of the European Union, including membership fees, or any contribution in kind, or the provision below market value of any goods, services (including loans) or works, and any other transaction which constitutes an economic advantage for the European political party or the European political foundation concerned, when provided to that European political party or to that European political foundation by one of its members that have their respective seats or places of residence within the Union, with the exception of usual political activities carried out on a voluntary basis by individual members;

Added:This amendment is necessary for pressing reasons related to the internal logic of the text in order to ensure its legal consistency.

Added:Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 8 a (new): (8 a) 'association fees' means any payment provided to the European political party or European political foundation by one of its member parties or member organisations, which have their seat in a third country that belongs to the Council of Europe and has full rights of representation therein.

Added:This amendment is necessary for pressing reasons related to the internal logic of the text in order to ensure its legal consistency.

Added:Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 9: (9) ‘ancillary own resources’ means income generated by own economic activities, such as from joint activities with other political entities, sales of publications, participation fees for conferences or workshops, or other activities directly linked to political activities;

Added:This amendment is necessary for pressing reasons related to the internal logic of the text in order to ensure its legal consistency.

Added:Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 10: (10) ‘indirect funding’ means funding from which the member party derives a financial advantage, even where no funds are directly transferred; this should include cases which allow the member party to avoid expenditure which it would otherwise have had to incur for activities, other than joint activities with other political entities co-financed to the extent that they concern issues of relevance for the Union´s fields of activities, organised for its own and sole benefit;

Added:Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 16: (16) ‘political advertising’ means advertising as defined in Article 2, point (2), of Regulation 2022/xx [on the transparency and targeting of political advertising];

Added:Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 17: (17) ‘political advertisement’ means advertisement as defined in Article 2, point (3), of Regulation 2022/xx [on the transparency and targeting of political advertising];

Added:Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 18: (18) ‘political advertising services’ means services as defined in Article 2, point (5), of Regulation (EU) 2022/xx [on the transparency and targeting of political advertising].

Added:Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point d: (d) it observes , in particular in its programme and in its activities, the values on which the Union is founded, as expressed in Article 2 TEU, namely respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities, and it provides a written declaration to that effect in the form of the template in Annex I ;

Added:Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point e: (e) it ensures that its member parties having their seat in the Union observe the values expressed in Article 2 TEU and that its member parties which have their seat in a third country that belongs to the Council of Europe and has full rights of representation therein observe equivalent values, and it provides a written declaration to that effect in the form of the template in Annex I;

Added:Article 3 – paragraph 2 – point c: (c) it observes, in particular in its programme and in its activities, the values on which the Union is founded, as expressed in Article 2 TEU, namely respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities, and it provides a written declaration to that effect in the form of the template in Annex I;

Added:Article 3 – paragraph 2 – point d: (d) it also ensures that its member organisations having their seat in the Union observe the values expressed in Article 2 TEU and that its member organisations, which have their seat in a third country that belongs to the Council of Europe and has full rights of representation therein, observe equivalent values, and it provides a written declaration to that effect in the form of the template in Annex I;

Added:Article 4 – paragraph 1 – point i: deleted

Added:Article 4 – paragraph 1 – point j: (j) its own internal rules regarding gender balance.

Added:This amendment is necessary for pressing reasons related to the internal logic of the text in order to ensure its legal consistency.

Added:Article 4 a (new): Article 4a / Transparency obligations with regard to use of logos, publication of political programme and gender balance / 1. Each European political party shall ensure that member parties publish on their websites the political programme and logo of the European political party. The European political party’s logo shall be displayed in the top section of the front page of the member party’s website, in a clearly visible manner. / 2. Each European political party and its member parties shall publish on their websites information on the gender balance among the candidates at the elections to the European Parliament following the entry into force of this Regulation along with updated information on gender representation among their Members of the European Parliament. Each European political party shall ensure that its member parties publish such information concerning their respective candidates in the European elections and concerning their Members of European Parliament on their websites.