European political parties to strengthen European democracy and political dialogue
Not only in the European Union
BRUSSELS — Late last year the presidents of the European Parliament and the European Council signed a regulation supporting the development of European political foundations and widening the scope of activities of European political parties.
This decision is based on Article 191 of the EC Treaty, which recognizes that political parties at the European level are an important factor of integration and contribute to forming European awareness and expressing the will of the citizens of the Union.
A political party is an association of citizens that pursues political objectives in accordance with the legal order of at least one Member State or as an alliance of several parties. The parties must also have parliamentary representatives in one-quarter of the Member States, at the national or European level, or must have received three percent of the votes in the European Parliament elections in one-quarter of the Member States. The party has to observe the principles on which the European Union is founded: liberty, democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and rule of law.
The revised Regulation includes two significant improvements: a) it allows for the establishment of European political foundations linked to European political parties and b) it mandates European political parties to campaign for the elections to the European Parliament.
The revised Regulation is a major point in the democratization of the European Union. European political parties are finally being given the role that they should have, being at the center of the European political process.
The running of European election campaigns by European parties will deliver competition of programs and ideology at the European level and strengthen the European political debate at the national level.
The establishment of European political foundations and their engagement with the academic world and civil society will offer opportunities for the development of a political debate based on a variety of clearly defined ideological perspectives. European political foundations will play an important role in involving citizens in a permanent, genuine, and informed political dialogue.
Political foundations at the European level mean an entity or network of entities, which has a legal personality in a Member State, is affiliated with a political party at the European level, and which through its activities underpins and complements the objectives of the European political party. They will observe, analyze, and contribute to the debate on European public policy issues and the process of European integration by organizing and supporting seminars, training, conferences, and studies on such issues between relevant stakeholders, including youth organizations and other representatives of civil society. They will serve as a framework for national political foundations, academics, and other relevant actors to work together at the European level, including those of neighbourhood countries.
This new regulation will strengthen communication, dialogue, and active involvement of citizens. Therefore, it is of major importance for the European Union’s ability to achieve its objectives and deliver the right policies. A total of 10 political parties at the European level, representing the whole spectrum of political views, receive funding via the Regulation, which is administered by the European Parliament. The budget for the purposes of the political parties at the European level has been fixed at EUR 10.6 million for 2008.
All of these 10 European political parties recently set up foundations at the European level under a pilot project financed by the European Commission. Now that the new rules are in place, EUR 5 million will be available from the European Parliament’s budget for funding a wide range of activities of these political foundations in 2008.
The newly-created possibility for setting up foundations linked to European political parties is of particular importance for the strengthening of relations between the European Union and the countries in its direct neighbourhood.
With the support of these foundations, contacts between politicians and other representatives of civil society — from the European Union and neighbouring countries — can be intensified. At the same time, through these foundations the European political families will also acquire the possibility to give more and more structured support to the further development of political and civil life in neighbouring states. It goes without saying that Ukrainian political life can only benefit from these new opportunities. It is hoped that Ukrainian political actors will make good use of them.
