What changed between the draft committee report and the plenary report

Removed:150. Notes that, in 2022, the appropriations entered under budget item 400, attributed to the political groups and non-attached Members, were used as follows:

Removed:151. Welcomes the fact that independent external auditors for the political groups only issued unqualified opinions for the financial year 2023;

Removed:152. Recalls that these appropriations are intended to cover activities in connection with the Union’s political activities, and that political groups are responsible to Parliament for their use;

Removed:European political parties and European political foundations

Removed:153. Highlights that the preservation of democratic integrity and the establishment of a fair environment for European political parties and European political foundations are crucial for the effective functioning and credibility of the Union; remarks that the Authority for European Political Parties and European Political Foundations (the Authority), an independent Union body, has been actively involved in this endeavour since its establishment on 1 September 2016 and as of 1 January 2017 when it achieved its full operational status; remarks that the Authority is tasked by the Union legislator with registering, monitoring compliance, and where necessary, imposing sanctions on European political parties and European political foundations;

Removed:154. Notes with satisfaction that the Authority has been proactively reaching out and raising awareness among a network of bodies and institutions relevant to the common defence of European democracy; highlights that, in particular, the Authority worked with Parliament, which provides the secretariat of the Committee of Independent Eminent Persons, to maximise procedural efficiency; notes that cooperation on the operational aspects was also strengthened with several other Union stakeholders, including the European External Action Service and the European Data Protection Board; notes that the Authority has strengthened its cooperation with Europol by signing a Memorandum of Understanding on strategic information exchange concerning cyber-enabled unlawful interference in Union democracy;

Removed:155. Notes that in order to further boost operational preparedness for the 2024 European Elections, the Authority organised a table-top exercise with the support and participation of the European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats for the Article 10a interlocutors of the Member States and other relevant experts and stakeholders at Union level (the latter participating as observers in the exercise);

Removed:156. Takes note that, in 2023, the Authority issued several preventive compliance recommendations to address compliance risks before they materialise, especially pertaining to requirements concerning governance provisions and internal structures; remarks that the Authority provided preliminary input on possible statutory amendments envisaged by European political parties and European political foundations; welcomes that following the Authority’s advice, seven entities have introduced amendments in their statutes and internal regulations with the objective of mitigating compliance risks, in particular to prevent potential threats of foreign interference;

Removed:157. Notes that the Authority has, in five cases, given the European political parties and European political foundations the opportunity for corrective measures regarding matters subject to verification, as required by Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014; notes that these were cases relating to reporting requirements, replies to requests for information by the Authority and provision of documents; takes note that the Authority reports that early scrutiny indicates that the relevant corrective measures were implemented by the European political parties and European political foundations concerned in all but one of these cases; welcomes that the Authority continues to monitor if corrective measures with long-term effect are ensuring sustained compliance in the areas concerned; notes that the Authority adopted one sanction decision in the course of 2023 that is currently subject to Court proceedings;

Removed:158. Welcomes that the Authority also continued publishing extensive guidance on its website referring to the most commonly identified risk areas and potentially problematic structures in the governance of European political parties and European political foundations; welcomes that it also communicated its findings and guidance of general interest to all European political parties and European political foundations;

Removed:159. Notes that, during 2023, the Authority’s compliance controls team carried out compliance controls taking into account, in particular, the annual submissions of European political parties’ and European political foundations’ financial documentation concerning the year 2022; notes that in addition to this regular annual process, the Authority also carried out ad hoc compliance controls, such as in cases of advance notifications of donations exceeding EUR 12 000 or when the Authority became aware of other potential instances of non-compliance with Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014; notes that where the Authority identified horizontal compliance risks, corresponding action points were communicated to the European political parties and European political foundations; notes that in 2023, the Authority gave European political parties and European political foundations a right to be heard as well as the opportunity to take corrective measures in accordance with Articles 29 and 34 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014 in 10 cases relating to financial compliance controls;

Removed:160. Notes that pursuant to Article 10a of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014, preventing threats of foreign interference in the European Union democracy is a key task of the Authority in the run-up to the 2024 European Elections, in close cooperation with national competent authorities as required by legislation; takes note of the activities carried out by the Authority in this regard, and detailed in its Annual Activity Report;

Removed:161. Notes that the Authority reports that it is facing constrained human resources; remarks that this creates multiple human, managerial and procedural challenges since the corresponding work cycles are partially overlapping, and it is exacerbated whenever off-cycle investigations or procedures occur;

Removed:162. Notes that, in 2023, the appropriations entered under budget item 402 were used as follows:

Removed:163. Notes that, in 2023, the appropriations entered under budget item 403 were used as follows: