Statute and financing of European political parties

The European Parliament proposed 25 amendments, of which the Commission accepts 16 wholly and 4 in part. A number of these increase transparency of financing from external resources, but without entering into the issue of forbidding financing from certain sources, or more clearly prohibiting financing of national parties. It is accepted that donors and the amounts donated must be declared and that anonymous donations cannot be accepted under any circumstances. Other amendments accepted by the Commission tighten up or clarify control procedures and so improve the text. This includes provisions for legal personality of European political parties. Another series of amendments accepted by the Commission seeks to make clearer the purposes for which financing granted under the Regulation may be used. This indicates expenditure incurred in connection with European political work as defined in Article 191 of the Treaty, directly linked to the objectives set out in the statute. The Commission accepts amendments introducing a reference to the Charter of Fundamental Rights. It had been proposed that an Eminent Persons Committee should deal with disputes relating to respect for the basic democratic conditions set out in Article 1 of the Regulation. Parliament preferred that such disputes be dealt with by the Bureau of the Parliament itself. The Commission can accept this expression of the Parliament's political will.�