Financer les partis européens !

Meeting during the European Parliament's plenary session in Strasbourg, the Foreign Affairs Committee adopted a report on the statute and the financing of political parties at European level.

The report aims amending an EU Regulation governing the issue in question by strengthening the role of the political parties for the next European elections in 2009. It proposes authorising the financing of election campaigns for the 2009 elections.

The PSE Group in the European Parliament strongly supports the positive result of the vote on the report. Mr. Jo Leinen, member of the Socialist Group and draft person underlined the importance of the question: “How can political parties become actors of European political opinion and help shape a European consciousness and the expression of the will of citizens of the Union, if they cannot take action in European elections ?”

According to the proposals made in the report, the political parties will be able to finance European election campaigns with EU budget funds, the limit being the impossibility to directly or indirectly finance national political parties or their candidates. In order for the provisions of the report to apply for the next European elections in 2009, it has to be approved at the November of plenary session of the European Parliament.