Party funding under attack from auditors

Date: 23/03/2000

By Gareth Harding

THE Parliament's main political groups are bracing themselves for a barrage of criticism from the Court of Auditors for channelling taxpayers' money into pan-European political parties.

The EU's financial watchdog presented the top-secret results of a year-long investigation into party financing to Parliament President Nicole Fontaine last week. But the assembly's ruling body immediately sent the report back on the grounds that the language used was too vague and that it failed to name names.

One senior MEP said it was "impossible to grasp the scope or dimension of the problem" outlined in the report because the criticisms it contained were couched in such general terms. Fontaine also complained to Court President Jan Karlsson that it did not give the slightest indication of which groups were implicated in any misuse of funds.

Karlsson has, however, spoken to the leaders of all the political groups, flagging up areas of concern.

The report is expected to call for a shake-up in the way political parties are funded.

At present, it is estimated that between 5-10% of the €35 million Parliament groups get from taxpayers is used to finance the Europe-wide parties of which they are members.

The report is likely to recommend that groups such as the Party of European Socialists should no longer receive funding from the Parliament's budget but should continue to receive subsidies from the Union's budget in the same way that non-governmental organisations do.

The Parliament's major political groups recently agreed a code laying down common rules to govern the way they are funded, but this has yet to be approved by the European Commission and EU governments.

The European Parliament's main political groups are bracing themselves for a barrage of criticism from the Court of Auditors for channelling taxpayers' money into pan-European political parties.