MEPs agree party funding rules

Date: 24/02/2000

By Gareth Harding

The European Parliament's four main political groups have clinched a ground-breaking deal on common rules to govern the way they are funded.

The move, which is designed to ensure that EU taxpayers' money is not misused, comes in response to sharp criticism of the way political groups in the Strasbourg-based assembly channel public funds into European political parties.

The latter are federations of national parties from the same political family, which work together at the pan-European level. The Party of European Socialists (PES) for example groups together the UK Labour Party, the French Socialists, the German Social Democrats and the continent's other centre-left parties to coordinate common policies ahead of EU summits and Euro-election campaigns.

At present, European political parties receive no direct funding from taxpayers. They do, however, get substantial subsidies from the Parliament's political groups, which are funded to the tune of €35 million by the assembly.

Officials estimate that between 5-10% of political group funds find their way into party coffers to be used for political purposes. In the case of the centre-right European People's Party (EPP), this means some €1.74 million of public money is spent on campaigning.

The parties are also indirectly funded by taxpayers as they are housed in the Parliament's buildings, staffed by group officials and use the assembly's translators.

The European Court of Auditors is currently investigating the way European parties are financed and is expected to recommend that groups and parties disentangle their accounts to avoid potential abuses.

The issue of party funding has also shot to the top of the political agenda in recent months following revelations that former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl failed to declare millions of euro of donations which were channelled into a secret bank account, and allegations that former French President François Mitterrand contributed money to Kohl's 1994 election campaign.

The draft European party statute, agreed this week by the leaders of the Socialists, Christian Democrats, Greens and Liberals after years of haggling, states that European political parties should continue to receive EU funding, but only if they stick to a set of common rules.

They must make their accounts public, declare where all their funding comes from and ensure that a "significant" part of their annual budget is financed by members' contributions and donations by sponsors.

Pan-European parties must also respect the Union's fundamental principles, such as democracy, respect for human rights and the rule of law - a condition which some observers say is designed to avoid extreme-right parties, such as the Austrian Freedom Party or the French National Front, benefiting from EU funding.

The four political parties have written to European Commission President Romano Prodi urging him to draw up plans for a legally-binding statute based on their suggestions before the summer recess. Officials say Prodi is ready to act quickly, but admit that "it will not be easy to agree on a statute among EU governments", many of whose political parties benefit from the present arrangements.

The European Parliament's four main political groups have clinched a ground-breaking deal on common rules to govern the way they are funded.