IGC deal on party funding rules in sight

Date: 12/10/00

By John Shelley

GOVERNMENTS are likely to approve a change to the EU treaty which would pave the way for common rules to govern how political parties are funded and managed at the European level, according to diplomats.

Intergovernmental Conference negotiators say they are close to agreement on a move which would commit the Union to drawing up a statute for European political parties. This initiative follows a scathing Court of Auditors report, published earlier this year, which criticised political groups for poor accounting methods and a lack of financial control over the way they spend taxpayers' money. "This proposal is essentially aimed at addressing the problems that were uncovered in the Court of Auditors report," said one official.

The existing treaty recognises the importance of European political parties, but does not lay down rules on how they should be governed or funded. The proposed changes, drawn up by the European Commission, would add a section to the treaty committing member states to providing a legal framework for European political parties and introducing strict controls on how they operate.

Officials had feared the plans would be opposed by governments because they would lead to direct Union funding of political groups. But there was almost unanimous agreement on the proposal in preliminary talks, with only Finland and Denmark objecting to the plan. "We were very pleasantly surprised to see how much support there was for this," said one official.

The proposal is based on an existing article in the EU treaty which calls on governments to agree a common statute for MEPs. Officials concede that, as with the statute, it is the detailed drafting process which is likely to prompt the real rows over the rules for political parties.

Governments are likely to approve a change to the EU treaty which would pave the way for common rules to govern how political parties are funded and managed at the European level, according to diplomats. Intergovernmental Conference negotiators say they are close to agreement on a move which would commit the Union to drawing up a statute for European political parties.