European political party
A European political party, formerly known as a political party at European level and informally as a Europarty, is a type of European political alliance recognised as a political party operating transnationally in Europe and within the institutions of the European Union. They are regulated and funded by EU Regulation 1141/2014 on the statute and funding of European political parties and European political foundations, and their operations are supervised by the Authority for European Political Parties and European Political Foundations.
European political parties – mostly consisting of national member parties, and few individual members – have the right to campaign during the European elections, for which they often adopt manifestos outlining their positions and ambitions. Ahead of the elections, some of them designate their preferred candidate to be the next President of the European Commission. The work of European parties can be supplemented by that of an officially affiliated European political foundation; foundations are independent from European parties and contribute to the public debate on policy issues and European integration.
European parties' counterparts in the European Parliament are the Parliament's political groups. European parties influence the decision-making process of the European Council through coordination meetings with their affiliated heads of state and government. They also work closely with their members in the European Commission.
In addition to the registered European political parties, many other entities are politically active at the European level without meeting the criteria for registration or wishing to register.
History
1970s
The first European political parties formed during the 1970s, in the run-up to the first elections of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage. In 1973, following the enlargement of the European Community to Denmark, Ireland, and the United Kingdom, the enlarged Socialist congress met in Bonn and inaugurated the Confederation of the Socialist Parties of the European Community. In March 1976, the Federation of Liberal and Democrat Parties in Europe was founded in Stuttgart by parties from Denmark, France, Germany Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. A few months later, in July, party representatives from Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands met in Luxembourg and founded the European People's Party.1990s
In 1992, Section 41 of the Treaty of Maastricht added Article 138a to the Treaty of Rome. Article 138a stated that "Political parties at European level are important as a factor for integration within the Union. They contribute to forming a European awareness and to expressing the political will of the citizens of the Union", thus officially recognising the existence of European political parties.In 1997, the Treaty of Amsterdam established who should pay for expenditure authorised by the party article. This provided a mechanism whereby European parties could be paid out of the budget of the European Union, and European parties started to spend the money. Such expenditure included the funding of national parties, an outcome not originally intended.
2000–2003
In June 2000, the European Court of Auditors considered that the funding of European political parties should not be carried out using appropriations made for political groups in the European Parliament, as had long been the case. This decision led the 2001 Treaty of Nice to add a second paragraph to Article 191 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union to explicitly allow the funding of European political parties from the budget of the European Union. The new paragraph stated that "the Council, acting in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 251, shall lay down the regulations governing political parties at European level and in particular the rules regarding their funding." The reference to "Article 251" refers to the co-decision procedure, which involves both the European Parliament and the Council as co-legislators.In November 2003, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union adopted Regulation 2004/2003 "on the regulations governing political parties at European level and the rules regarding their funding". Regulation 2004/2003 provided the first official definition of European political parties and created a framework for their public funding.
This framework provided that, out of a total envelope for European parties, 15% would be distributed equally, and 85% would be distributed in proportion to each party's number of members of the European Parliament. Additionally, public funding could not exceed 75% of a European party's reimbursable expenditure ; this means that European parties were required to raise 25% of their budget from specific private sources, such as donations or member contributions. Regulation 2004/2003 also introduced transparency obligations, limitations on donations, and prohibitions on spending, including a ban on the direct or indirect funding of national parties and candidates.
2004–2007
The Regulation was later detailed by the Decision of the Bureau of the European Parliament of 29 March 2004 and amended by Regulation 1524/2007.In particular, Regulation 1524/2007 clarified the funding framework and changed the co-financing rate, allowing public funding from the general budget of the European Union to reach 85% of European parties' reimbursable expenditure. This change meant that European parties were only requested to provide 15% in private co-financing.
Regulation 1524/2007 also allowed European parties to set up affiliated European political foundations, separate entities contributing to the debate on European issues, organising conferences, and carrying out research, and linking like-minded national political foundations. Finally, the revised regulation explicitly allows European parties to finance campaigns conducted for elections to the European Parliament.
2014
In October 2014, the European Parliament and the Council adopted Regulation 1141/2014, which replaced Regulation 2004/2003 and overhauled the framework for European political parties and foundations, including by giving them a European legal status. It also established the Authority for the European political parties and European political foundations, a standalone entity for the purpose of registering, controlling, and imposing sanctions on European parties and foundations.Regulation 1141/2014 applied as of 1 January 2017, and covered the activities of European parties and foundations starting with the financial year 2018. Since then, applications for public funding are placed with the APPF, but decisions on funding remain with the European Parliament.
2018–2019
In May 2018, the European Parliament and the Council adopted Regulation 2018/673, which amended Regulation 1141/2014 by detailing provisions relating to the registration of political parties and foundations, and transparency regarding political programmes and party logos.Among others, Regulation 2018/673 introduced a number of changes, including the following:
- within the overall amount of public funding available, the shares of the lump sum and of the MEP-based funding were brought, respectively, to 10 and 90% ; and
- European parties' co-financing rate was brought down to 10%.
2020s
In June 2021, in line with Article 38 of Regulation 1141/2014, MEPs Charles Goerens and Rainer Wieland of the European Parliament's Committee on Constitutional Affairs presented a draft report on the implementation of the Regulation. With regard to funding, the draft report called on the Commission and co-legislators to clarify the definition of indirect funding from European political parties and foundations to national member parties, remove the ban on financing referendum campaigns on European issues, allow the funding of European parties from non-EU national parties, broaden the categories of private funding, decrease European parties' co-financing rate, and simplify accounting procedures.In November 2021, the European Commission proposed a text for a new regulation aimed at replacing Regulation 1141/2021, using the recast procedure. The Commission's document proposes a definition of political advertising, strengthens provisions on gender balance, clarifies the requirements for the display of the logo of the European political party by its member parties, and extends the obligation to comply with EU values to member parties. With regard to funding, this proposal retained the European Parliament's suggestion to lower European parties' co-financing rate. It also included a new category of "own resources", allowing European parties to raise private funding from specific economic activities, such as seminar fees or publication sales; funding from this new category would be capped at 5% of European parties' budget. Finally, it proposed allowing European parties to receive contributions from national member parties located in non-EU members of the Council of Europe. The European Parliament's AFCO Committee criticised the decision of the European Commission to opt for the recast method, which effectively limits discussions to the provisions of the Regulation which the Commission has decided to modify and prevents a wider review of the Regulation.
In March 2022, the Council of the European Union adopted a political agreement. In July 2022, the European Parliament's AFCO Committee adopted its own position, which was endorsed by the Plenary in September 2022. Trilogues between the European Parliament, Council of the European Union, and European Commission took place in September, October and November 2022, and in March 2023, but did not reach an agreement.
In October 2024, Loránt Vincze and Charles Goerens were appointed rapporteurs for the new parliamentary term. In June 2025, the Council and Parliament reached a provisional agreement, to be formally submitted to both institutions for adoption. Among others, the agreed text required national member parties to respect EU values and gender balance, allowed associated parties to collaborate but not sway decisions or pay membership fees, and amended financing rules by increasing the maximum share of public funding from 90 to 95% and allowing a limited amount of self-generated income. The Parliament approved the agreement in plenary on 21 October, while the General Affairs Council adopted it on 17 November. Most provisions are expected to enter into force on 1 January 2026.