Activities of François ALFONSI related to 2021/2018(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Statute and funding of European political parties and foundations (debate)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the application of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014 on the statute and funding of European political parties and European political foundations
Amendments (42)
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas European political parties and foundations help to raise European political awareness and express the will of Union citizens; whereas strong political parties and foundations at European level are essential for the development of a truly European political sphere;
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas European political parties and foundations should cooperate with their national member parties, in order to support them in bringing the Union closer to the citizens;
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas in order to continue to be aware of, to give expression to and where appropriate to mould the will of Union citizens, it is essential that the role and functioning of European political parties and foundations are not limited concerning issues of exclusively European relevance at Union level; whereas those European political parties and foundations should be allowed to use their funds accordinglyallowed to finance any activity which contributes to informing EU citizens and increasing European political awareness;
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas it should be possible for the own resources of European political parties and foundations to be formed of all kinds of legally acquired income and not only ofhave additional categories of revenue other than contributions and donations;
Amendment 26 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas the system for administrative control of expenditure should be lightened, and in particular, the requirement to submit accounts according to the International Financial Reporting Standards should be dropped because it does not correspond to the nature of the European political parties and foundations, and represents an unnecessary time- consuming and costly burden;
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H a (new)
Recital H a (new)
H a. whereas an alignment of the carry- over period for European political foundations with the requirements imposed on political parties would avoid a second layer audit and therefore significantly reduce the administrative burden on foundations;
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Highlights that in order to achieve their full potential, European political parties should allow citizens to be direct members, engage actively in European political discussions and be allowed to participate in European election campaigns;
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Underlines the importance of the registration of European political parties and foundations, since it requires compliance with all its conditions, including respect for Union fundamental values, and makes eligibility for funding from the Union budget conditional upon such compliance, as well as the need to ensure full transparency;
Amendment 40 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. WelcomNotes the attempt to reinforcement of the provisions on monitoring respect by European political parties and foundations for the fundamental values ofn which the Union is founded and for the procedure for dealing with infringements, including sanctions and recovery of funds;
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6 a. Notes the role of the Committee of independent eminent persons established by Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014 and its role on determining a manifest and serious breach of Union values by a European political party or a European political foundation; stresses, however, that current rules on its composition do not introduce sufficient safeguards to guarantee its independence;
Amendment 46 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Considers that the current system for verifying respect for rules on the use of contributions and grants is too cumbersomeneeds more clarity;
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Considers that making European political parties and foundations subject to European and national rules, which are laid down in different legal instruments, is a source of confusion and legal uncertainty; proposes therefore to harmonise further and strengthen the rules governing European political parties and foundations to ensure a comprehensive European legal framework for European parties and foundations addressing particularly conditions on registration, structure and operations, visibility and transparency, and sanctions;
Amendment 54 #
9. Underlines the need to make the definition of indirect funding from European political parties and foundations to national counterparts and members more precise in order to avoid hampering their required cooperation in promoting and explaining European policies, as well as their engagement with European citizens;
Amendment 59 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Regrets that the narrow interpretalack of clear definitions of the definmodalitiones of members of ahip to European political partyies and foundations in Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014 and the narrow interpretation of the concept of membership established by case law does not sufficiently recognise the need for flexibility in the internal organisation of European political parties and foundations, especially as regards associate members, including thosemembers from third countries; is concerned that this narrow interpretation has the effect of preventing, for no good reason, European political parties and foundations from receiving financial contributions from such members;
Amendment 66 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14 a. Regrets the change in the award criteria and distribution of funding introduced in the 2018 reform which decreased the percentage of funds that are allocated among the beneficiary European political parties in equal shares; is deeply concerned about the current funding structure as it fails to create a true level playing field between parties whilst also reducing the incentives for European political parties to reach out to citizens;
Amendment 68 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15 a. Laments that a flawed design in Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014 limits European political parties in truly fulfilling their role as modern political parties connecting citizens to the political system as they are unknown to citizens due to the limited individual membership, a limited role in influencing policy- making or shaping public agendas and thus do not trigger nearly the same level of activist mobilisation that national and regional parties are able to muster;
Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 b (new)
Paragraph 15 b (new)
15 b. Notes with concern that several existing trans-national political parties active in European politics and represented in the European Parliament are not permitted to register officially as European political parties due to disproportionate requirements listed in Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014, consequently hindering the democratic representation of smaller political parties at the European level;
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Considers that a clear set of rules and conditions should be established for the joint organisation and co-financing of activities concerning European issues by European political parties and national member partiefoundations and their members;
Amendment 86 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Calls for the prohibition on financing referendum campaigns to be lifted, if they are linked to European issues within the limits and in accordance with EU values;
Amendment 91 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Insists that different categories of party membership for both, parties and foundations, be recognised, that the affiliation of members from candidate countries for accession to the Union, from the European Free Trade Association, from EU neighbourhood countries and from former Member States be allowed, and that European political parties and foundations be allowed to legally collect membership fees from them;
Amendment 97 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Proposes that the scope of the prohibition on cross-party membership be extended to the members of national and regional parliaments and assemblieto more than one European political party be extended to all their members;
Amendment 98 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 a (new)
Paragraph 19 a (new)
19 a. Recalls that Regulation No 1141/2014 requires member parties to display the logo, the political programme and the website link of their EU party of affiliation on their websites as a condition for accessing funds; is concerned that, according to the logos project1a, member parties overwhelmingly fail to properly implement the Regulation’s display requirement, as only 15% of member parties display the logo in a clear and user-friendly manner; proposes to enforce Article 18(2a) to display European parties' logos alongside the logos of the national or regional party; _________________ 1a https://eudemocracy.eu/logos-project
Amendment 100 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Supports the creation of further categories of revenue, in order to cover all sources of income of political parties rather than just contributions and donations such us creating a new category on ‘other own resources’ which includes other grants, contributions from joint activities, conference fees, sales of publications, participation fees or other economic activities directly linked to political action;
Amendment 103 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 a (new)
Paragraph 21 a (new)
Amendment 106 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
Amendment 109 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Is in favour of increasing the transparency of the financing of European political parties and foundations by creating an obligation for the European Parliament to publish the annual financial statements it receives, including the value of each member party contribution listed separately and tied to the member party that provided it ;
Amendment 112 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 a (new)
Paragraph 24 a (new)
24 a. Is of the opinion that the information published by the European Parliament and the Authority should be presented in open and machine-readable formats in a user-friendly manner;
Amendment 117 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 a (new)
Paragraph 25 a (new)
25 a. Is in favour of introducing a prohibition of donations from legal persons;
Amendment 118 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 b (new)
Paragraph 25 b (new)
25 b. Suggests that donors should be obliged to cooperate with the authority; proposes to establish an obligation for donors to sign a declaration on the origin of the donation;
Amendment 120 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26
Paragraph 26
Amendment 125 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27
Paragraph 27
Amendment 128 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 a (new)
Paragraph 27 a (new)
27 a. Proposes to change the award criteria and distribution of funding by distributing 15 % of the funds in equal shares among the beneficiary European political parties, in order to promote political pluralism and safeguard operational capacity;
Amendment 131 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 28
Paragraph 28
Amendment 134 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30
Paragraph 30
30. Is of the opinion that the rules on eligibility of expenditure are too narrow and that European political parties and foundations should be allowed to finance any activity which contributes to increasing European political awareness and giving expression to the will of Union citizens;
Amendment 138 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31 a (new)
Paragraph 31 a (new)
31 a. Stresses, in particular, the need to include measures to ensure that European political parties are not classified as foreign legal entities under national law from Member States;
Amendment 139 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 31 b (new)
Paragraph 31 b (new)
31 b. Proposes to add the possibility to register political alliances by submitting a minimum number of signatures from at least one quarter of the Member States and with member parties in at least one quarter of the Member States; proposes to establish the minimum number of signatures required in each Member States on the basis of its population;
Amendment 141 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32
Paragraph 32
32. Insists that the national member parties of European political parties and their members must have a democratic structure and respect the fundamental values ofn which the Union is founded;
Amendment 145 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32 a (new)
Paragraph 32 a (new)
32 a. Urges the European Commission to review Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014 with a view to update rules for registration, financing, political and electoral campaigning and membership in order to make European political parties the mouthpiece for citizens in European politics and policy-making and to bring European citizens closer to European decision-making;
Amendment 148 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32 b (new)
Paragraph 32 b (new)
32 b. Calls in particular for the review of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014 to ease registration conditions under Article 3 and open membership to all EU citizens in order to provide for a more inclusive representation of political parties active at the European level;
Amendment 149 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 32 c (new)
Paragraph 32 c (new)
32 c. Requests, in addition to the current requirements included in Article 11 (1) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014, to introduce a provision for which the members of the Committee of independent eminent persons should neither belong to a national or regional party in the European Union nor be former members of the European Parliament, the Council or the Commission;
Amendment 153 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33
Paragraph 33
33. Is of the opinion that the hybrid staturole and functions of the Authority should be clarified and a possibility for an administrative appeal to the Authority’s decisions should be provided;
Amendment 155 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35
Paragraph 35
35. Considers that the coherence and legal certainty of certain provisions of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014 need to be enhanced, that the reasons for de-registration need to be consolidatfurther developed and clarified, that a common set of rules for the publication, entry into force and effect of de-registration decisions is necessary and that the rules on recovery need to be clarified;