Commission seeks to ease political campaigning

The European Commission will take an important step to encourage European political debate next week by making it easier for pan-European political parties and foundations to operate.

Vice-President Margot Wallström will present a proposal on 27 June which will make it easier for European political parties to use money for campaigning by extending the period in which they have to spend allocated funds by three months.

The proposal would also allow the creation of European political foundations linked to official political parties such as the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) and the Party of European Socialists (PES).

Existing national think-tanks linked to political parties such as Germany’s Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, which is closely linked to the Christian Democrats, and the Social Democrat Friedrich Ebert Stiftung are already part of wide networks of like-minded political organisations.

Wallström’s proposal would also allow recognised political parties to use part of the funding they receive from the EU’s budget to finance EU-wide political foundations. Political groups in the European Parliament are very keen on the initiative, which is expected to enable them to campaign more effectively for the 2009 European elections.

The European Commission will take an important step to encourage European political debate next week by making it easier for pan-European political parties and foundations to operate.

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