Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2025/2445 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 November 2025 on the statute and funding of European political parties and European political foundations (recast)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 224 thereof,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community, and in particular Article 106a thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee (1),

Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions (2),

Having regard to the opinion of the Court of Auditors (3),

Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure (4),

Whereas:

(1) Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council (5) has been substantially amended several times (6). Since further amendments are to be made, that Regulation should be recast in the interests of clarity.

(2) Article 10(4) of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) states that political parties at European level contribute to forming European political awareness and to expressing the will of citizens of the Union. Article 12(2) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (the ‘Charter’) also states that such political parties contribute to expressing the political will of the citizens of the Union.

(3) Article 8 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) lays down that, in all its activities, the Union is to aim to eliminate inequalities, and to promote equality, between men and women.

(4) Article 11(1) of the Charter states that everyone has the right to freedom of expression, which includes the freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers. Article 12(1) of the Charter states that everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and to freedom of association at all levels, in particular in political, trade union and civic matters. Those rights are fundamental rights of every citizen of the Union.

(5) Article 21 of the Charter prohibits, inter alia, any discrimination based on sex or sexual orientation.

(6) In order for citizens of the Union to be able to participate fully in the democratic life of the Union, measures should be taken to ensure that they are able to use those rights.

(7) Thanks to the way in which they are able to bridge the gap between politics at national level and at Union level, truly transnational European political parties and their affiliated European political foundations have a key role to play in articulating the voices of citizens at European level.

(8) European political parties and their affiliated European political foundations should be encouraged and assisted in their efforts to provide a strong link between European civil society and the institutions of the Union, in particular the European Parliament.

(9) In recognition of the role attributed to European political parties by the TEU and in order to facilitate their work, it is necessary to create a specific European legal status for European political parties and their affiliated European political foundations.

(10) The Authority for European political parties and foundations (the ‘Authority’) is a body of the Union within the meaning of Article 263 of the TFEU whose purpose is to register, control and impose sanctions on European political parties and European political foundations. Registration should be required in order to obtain European legal status, which entails a series of rights and obligations. To avoid any possible conflict of interests, the Authority should be independent.

(11) It is necessary to lay down the procedures to be followed by European political parties and their affiliated European political foundations in order to obtain European legal status pursuant to this Regulation. It is likewise necessary to lay down the procedures and criteria to be respected when deciding whether to grant such European legal status. It is also necessary to lay down the procedures for cases in which a European political party or a European political foundation forfeits, loses or gives up its European legal status.

(12) In order to facilitate the oversight of legal entities that will be subject to both Union and national law, the power to adopt acts in accordance with Article 290 TFEU should be delegated to the Commission in respect of the functioning of a register of European political parties and foundations to be managed by the Authority (the ‘Register’), and, in particular, as regards the information and supporting documents held in the Register. It is of particular importance that the Commission carry out appropriate consultations during its preparatory work, including at expert level, and that those consultations be conducted in accordance with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement of 13 April 2016 on Better Law-Making (7). In particular, to ensure equal participation in the preparation of delegated acts, the European Parliament and the Council receive all documents at the same time as Member States’ experts, and their experts systematically have access to meetings of Commission expert groups dealing with the preparation of delegated acts.

(13) In order to ensure uniform conditions for the implementation of this Regulation, implementing powers should be conferred on the Commission as regards provisions on the registration number system and on standard extracts to be made available from the Register by the Authority to third parties upon request. Those powers should be exercised in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council (8).

(14) European political parties and their affiliated European political foundations wishing to obtain recognition as such at Union level, by virtue of being given European legal status, and to receive public funding from the general budget of the Union should respect certain principles and fulfil certain conditions. In particular, it is necessary for European political parties, their affiliated European political foundations and their respective members to observe the values on which the Union is founded, set out in Article 2 TEU. European political parties and their affiliated European political foundations should also ensure that their member parties and member organisations observe those values.

(15) The partners with which European political foundations can cooperate include universities, NGOs, training institutes, research partners and think tanks (‘cooperation partners’).

(16) When deciding whether to register a European political party or a European political foundation, in order to ascertain whether it complies with its obligations to observe the values on which the Union is founded, set out in Article 2 TEU, and whether it ensures that its members observe such values, the Authority should rely on a standard formal declaration to be issued by the European political party or European political foundation by using a template established by this Regulation.

(17) Decisions to remove a European political party or a European political foundation from the Register on the ground of non-compliance with the values on which the Union is founded, set out in Article 2 TEU, should be taken only in the event of a manifest and serious breach of those values. When taking such a decision, the Authority should fully respect the Charter.

(18) In order to protect the financial interests of the Union, decisions to remove a European political party or a European political foundation from the Register should take effect upon notification.

(19) The statutes of a European political party or a European political foundation should contain a series of basic provisions. Member States should be allowed to impose additional requirements for the statutes of European political parties and European political foundations which have established their seat on their respective territories, provided those additional requirements are not inconsistent with this Regulation.

(20) The Authority should regularly verify that the conditions and requirements relating to the registration of European political parties and European political foundations continue to be met. Decisions relating to the respect for the values on which the Union is founded, set out in Article 2 TEU, should only be taken in accordance with a specific procedure, following consultation of the committee of independent eminent persons established by Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014.

(21) The independence and transparency of the committee of independent eminent persons should be guaranteed.

(22) The unlawful use of personal data can expose democracies and electoral processes to potential risks. It is therefore necessary to protect the integrity of the European democratic process by providing for financial sanctions in situations where European political parties or European political foundations take advantage of infringements of rules on protection of personal data with a view to influencing the outcome of elections to the European Parliament.

(23) To that end, a verification procedure should be established whereby the Authority is required, in certain circumstances, to ask the committee of independent eminent persons to assess whether a European political party or a European political foundation has deliberately influenced or attempted to influence the outcome of elections to the European Parliament by taking advantage of an infringement of the applicable rules on protection of personal data. Where that is found to be the case, the Authority should impose effective, proportionate and dissuasive financial sanctions.

(24) Where the Authority imposes a sanction on a European political party or foundation in accordance with the verification procedure, it should take due account of the ne bis in idem principle, according to which sanctions cannot be imposed twice for the same offence. The Authority should also ensure that the principle of legal certainty is respected and that the European political party or European political foundation concerned has been given the opportunity to be heard.

(25) Since the verification procedure is triggered by a decision of a competent national data protection supervisory authority, it should be possible for the European political party or European political foundation concerned to request that the financial sanction be reviewed if the decision of the national supervisory authority is repealed, or a remedy against that decision has been granted, once all national remedies have been exhausted.

(26) The European legal status granted to European political parties and their affiliated European political foundations should provide them with legal capacity and legal recognition in all the Member States. Such legal capacity and legal recognition do not entitle them to nominate candidates in national elections or elections to the European Parliament or to participate in referendum campaigns. That, and any similar entitlement, remains within the competence of Member States.

(27) The activities of European political parties and European political foundations should be governed by this Regulation. For other matters outside the scope of this Regulation, the relevant provisions of national law apply. The legal status of a European political party or of a European political foundation should be governed by this Regulation and by the applicable provisions of national law in the Member State where it has its seat (‘Member State of the seat’). The Member State of the seat should be able to define ex ante the applicable law or to leave optionality for European political parties and European political foundations. The Member State of the seat should also be able to impose requirements other than, or additional to, those laid down in this Regulation, including provisions on the registration and integration of European political parties and foundations as such into national administrative and control systems and on their organisation and statutes, including on liability, provided that such provisions are not inconsistent with this Regulation.

(28) As a key element of possessing European legal status, European political parties and European political foundations should have European legal personality. The acquisition of European legal personality should be subject to requirements and procedures to protect the interests of the Member State of the seat, of the applicant for European legal status (the ‘applicant’) and of any third parties concerned. In particular, any pre-existing national legal personality should be converted into European legal personality and any individual rights and obligations that have accrued to the former national legal entity should be transferred to the new European legal entity. Moreover, in order to facilitate the continuity of activity, safeguards should be put in place to prevent the Member State concerned from applying prohibitive conditions to such conversions. The Member State of the seat should be able to specify which types of national legal persons may be converted into European legal persons, and to withhold its agreement to the acquisition of European legal personality under this Regulation until adequate guarantees are provided, and in particular, adequate guarantees of the legality of the applicant’s statutes under the laws of that Member State or for the protection of creditors or holders of other rights in respect of any pre-existing national legal personality.

(29) The termination of European legal personality should be subject to requirements and procedures to protect the interests of the Union, of the Member State of the seat, of the European political party or European political foundation and of any third parties concerned. In particular, if the European political party or European political foundation acquires legal personality under the law of the Member State of its seat, this should be considered to operate as a conversion of its European legal personality and any individual rights and obligations that the former European legal entity has acquired or incurred should be transferred to the national legal entity. Moreover, in order to facilitate continuity of activity, safeguards should be put in place to prevent the Member State concerned from applying prohibitive conditions to such conversions. If the European political party or European political foundation does not acquire legal personality in the Member State of its seat, it should be wound up in accordance with the law of that Member State and in accordance with the condition requiring it not to pursue a profit goal. The Authority and the Authorising Officer of the European Parliament should be able to agree detailed arrangements with the Member State concerned regarding the termination of the European legal personality, in particular in order to ensure the recovery of funds received from the general budget of the Union and any financial sanctions.

(30) If a European political party or a European political foundation seriously fails to comply with relevant national law and if the matter relates to elements affecting respect for the values on which the Union is founded, set out in Article 2 TEU, the Authority should decide, upon request by the Member State concerned, to apply the procedures laid down by this Regulation. Moreover, the Authority should decide, upon request from the Member State of the seat, to remove from the Register a European political party or European political foundation which has seriously failed to comply with relevant national law on any other matter.

(31) Eligibility for funding from the general budget of the Union should be limited to European political parties and their affiliated European political foundations that have been recognised as such and that have obtained European legal status. While it is crucial to ensure that the eligibility conditions for becoming a European political party are not excessive and can readily be met by organised and serious transnational alliances of political parties or natural persons or both, it is also necessary to lay down proportionate criteria in order to allocate limited resources from the general budget of the Union. Those criteria should objectively reflect the European ambition and genuine electoral support of a European political party. Such criteria are best based on the outcome of elections to the European Parliament, in which the European political parties or their members are required to participate under this Regulation, providing a precise indication of the electoral recognition of a European political party. The criteria should reflect the European Parliament’s role of directly representing the citizens of the Union, assigned to it by Article 10(2) TEU, as well as the objective for European political parties to participate fully in the democratic life of the Union and to become actors in Europe’s representative democracy, in order effectively to express the views, opinions and political will of the citizens of the Union. Eligibility for funding from the general budget of the Union should therefore be limited to European political parties that are represented in the European Parliament by at least one of their members and to European political foundations which apply for such funding through a European political party that is represented in the European Parliament by at least one of its members.

(32) For reasons of transparency and in order to strengthen the scrutiny and the democratic accountability of European political parties, access to funding from the general budget of the Union should be made conditional on the provision of certain information. In particular, European political parties should ensure that their member parties publish, in a clearly visible and user-friendly manner, the political programme and display the logo of the European political party concerned. The logo should be located in the top section of the homepage of the member party’s website.

(33) European political parties and European political foundations should lead by example in closing the gender gap in the political domain. Their governing bodies should therefore be gender balanced. European political parties and European political foundations should have internal rules in place promoting gender balance, encouraging active participation of women in all their activities, and should invite their member parties to do the same. In addition, European political parties should be transparent about the gender representation of their member parties and should provide evidence on their member parties’ gender representation as regards candidates to and members of the European Parliament. The European political parties are encouraged to provide information in relation to their member parties’ on inclusiveness and representation of minorities.