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 Authority’s decision to remove a European political party or European political foundation from the Register shall be addressed, and notified, to the European political party or a European political foundation concerned. The decision shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

If the European political party or European political foundation concerned acquires legal personality under the law of the Member State of its seat, such acquisition shall be regarded by that Member State as a conversion of the European legal personality into a national legal personality that fully maintains the pre-existing rights and obligations of the former European legal entity. The Member State concerned shall not apply prohibitive conditions to such conversions.

If the European political party or European political foundation does not acquire legal personality under the law of the Member State of its seat, it shall be wound up in accordance with the applicable law of that Member State. The Member State concerned may require that such winding-up be preceded by the acquisition by the party or foundation concerned of national legal personality in accordance with paragraph 4.

In all situations referred to in paragraphs 4 and 5 of this Article, the Member State concerned shall ensure that the not-for-profit condition laid down in Article 3 is fully respected. The Authority and the Authorising Officer of the European Parliament may agree with the Member State concerned the detailed arrangements for termination of the European legal personality, in particular in order to ensure the recovery of any funds received from the general budget of the Union and the payment of any financial sanctions imposed in accordance with Article 32.

A European political party which is registered in accordance with the conditions and procedures laid down in this Regulation, which is represented in the European Parliament by at least one of its members, and which is not in one of the situations of exclusion referred to in Article 138(1) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509 may apply for funding from the general budget of the Union, in accordance with the terms and conditions published by the Authorising Officer of the European Parliament in a call for contributions from the general budget of the Union.

A European political foundation which is affiliated with a European political party eligible to apply for funding under paragraph 1 of this Article, which is registered in accordance with the conditions and procedures laid down in this Regulation, and which is not in one of the situations of exclusion referred to in Article 138(1) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509 may apply for funding from the general budget of the Union, in accordance with the terms and conditions published by the Authorising Officer of the European Parliament in a call for proposals.

For the purposes of determining eligibility for funding from the general budget of the Union in accordance with paragraph 1 of this Article and Article 3(1), point (b), and for the application of Article 24(1), a member of the European Parliament shall be considered as a member of only one European political party, which shall, where relevant, be the one to which their national or regional political party is affiliated on the final date for the submission of applications for funding.

Financial contributions or grants from the general budget of the Union shall not exceed 95 % of the annual reimbursable expenditure indicated in the budget of a European political party and 95 % of the eligible costs incurred by a European political foundation. European political parties may use any unused part of the Union contribution awarded to cover reimbursable expenditure within the financial year following its award. Amounts unused after that financial year shall be recovered in accordance with Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509.

Within the limits set out in Articles 26 and 27, the expenditure reimbursable through a financial contribution from the general budget of the Union shall include administrative expenditure and expenditure linked to technical assistance, meetings, research, cross-border events, studies, information and publications, as well as expenditure linked to campaigns.

In order to receive funding from the general budget of the Union, a European political party or European political foundation which satisfies the conditions of Article 22(1) or (2) shall file an application with the European Parliament following a call for contributions from the general budget of the Union or a call for proposals.

The European political party and the European political foundation shall, at the time of its application, comply with the obligations listed in Article 28. From the date of its application until the end of the financial year or of the action covered by the contribution or grant from the general budget of the Union, it shall remain registered in the Register and shall not be the subject of any of the sanctions provided for in Article 32(1), points (a)(vii) to (ix).

A European political foundation shall include in its application its annual work programme or action plan.

The Authorising Officer of the European Parliament shall adopt a decision within three months after closure of the call for contributions from the general budget of the Union or the call for proposals, and shall authorise and manage the corresponding appropriations in accordance with Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509.

A European political foundation may apply for funding from the general budget of the Union only through the European political party with which it is affiliated.

The respective appropriations available to those European political parties and European political foundations which have been awarded contributions or grants in accordance with Article 23 shall be distributed annually on the basis of the following distribution key:

The distribution referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall be based on the number of elected members of the European Parliament who are members of the applicant European political party on the final date for the submission of applications for funding, taking into account Article 22(3).

European political parties and European political foundations may accept donations from natural or legal persons of up to a value of EUR 18 000 per year and per donor.

European political parties and European political foundations shall, at the time of the submission of their annual financial statements in accordance with Article 28, also transmit a list of all donors with their corresponding donations, indicating both the nature and the value of the individual donations. This paragraph shall also apply to contributions from member parties from the Union and member organisations from the Union, to contributions exceeding EUR 1 500 made by individual members of European political parties and European political foundations and to self-generated resources of European political parties and European political foundations.

Donations received by European political parties and European political foundations within six months prior to elections to the European Parliament shall be reported on a weekly basis to the Authority in writing and in accordance with paragraph 2.

Single donations the value of which exceeds EUR 12 000 that have been accepted by European political parties and European political foundations shall be immediately reported to the Authority in writing and in accordance with paragraph 2.

For all donations the value of which exceeds EUR 3 000 per year and per donor, European political parties and European political foundations shall request that such donors provide the necessary information so that they can be properly identified. European political parties and European political foundations shall transmit the information received to the Authority upon its request.

European political parties and European political foundations shall not accept any of the following:

Any donation that is not permitted under this Regulation shall within 30 days following the date of its receipt by a European political party or a European political foundation be returned to the donor or to any person acting on the donor’s behalf. Where it is not possible to return the donation, it shall be reported to the Authority and the European Parliament.

The Authority shall carry out checks where it has grounds to believe that any donation has been accepted in breach of this Regulation. It may for that purpose request additional information from the European political party or European political foundation and its donors and cooperate with the relevant authorities of the Member States.

Contributions to a European political party from its members, whether member parties from the Union or citizens of the Union, shall be permitted. The value of such contributions shall not exceed 40 % of the annual budget of that European political party.

Contributions to a European political foundation from its members, whether member organisations from the Union or citizens of the Union, and from the European political party with which it is affiliated, shall be permitted. The value of such contributions shall not exceed 40 % of the annual budget of that European political foundation, and they may not derive from funds received by a European political party pursuant to this Regulation from the general budget of the Union.

Without prejudice to paragraphs 9 and 10, European political parties and European political foundations may accept from citizens who are their members contributions up to a value of EUR 18 000 per year and per member, where such contributions are made by the member concerned on his or her own behalf.

Any contribution that is not permitted under this Regulation shall be returned in accordance with paragraph 7.

The value of the self-generated resources of a European political party or of a European political foundation shall not exceed 3 % of the annual budget of that European political party and 5 % of the annual budget of that European political foundation.

Subject to the second subparagraph of this paragraph, the funding of European political parties from the general budget of the Union or from any other source may be used to finance campaigns conducted by the European political parties in the context of elections to the European Parliament in which they or their members participate as required by Article 3(1), point (g), including joint European political activities.

Expenditure linked to the campaigns referred to in paragraph 1 shall be clearly identified as such by the European political parties in their annual financial statements.

Notwithstanding Article 26(1), the funding of European political parties from the general budget of the Union or from any other source shall not be used for the direct or indirect funding of other political parties, and in particular national parties or candidates. Those national political parties and candidates shall continue to be governed by national rules.

The funding of European political foundations from the general budget of the Union or from any other source shall not be used for any other purpose than for financing their tasks as listed in Article 2, point (6), and to meet expenditure directly linked to the objectives set out in their statutes in accordance with Article 6. It shall in particular not be used for the direct or indirect funding of elections, political parties, or candidates or other foundations.

The funding of European political parties and European political foundations from the general budget of the Union or from any other source shall not be used to finance referendum campaigns.

At the latest within six months following the end of the financial year, European political parties and European political foundations shall submit to the Authorising Officer of the European Parliament, in an open, machine readable format, the following:

Where expenditure is implemented by European political parties jointly with national political parties or by European political foundations jointly with national political foundations, or with other organisations, evidence of the expenditure incurred by the European political parties or by the European political foundations directly or through those third parties shall be included in the annual financial statements referred to in paragraph 1.

The independent external bodies or experts referred to in paragraph 1, point (b), shall be selected, mandated and paid by the European Parliament. They shall be duly authorised to audit accounts under the law applicable in the Member State in which they have their seat or establishment.

European political parties and European political foundations shall provide any information requested by the independent bodies or experts for the purpose of their audit.

The independent bodies or experts shall inform the Authority and the Authorising Officer of the European Parliament of any suspected illegal activity, fraud or corruption which may harm the financial interests of the Union. The Authority and the Authorising Officer of the European Parliament shall inform the National Contact Points concerned thereof.

Control of compliance by European political parties and European political foundations with their obligations under this Regulation shall be exercised, in cooperation, by the Authority, by the Authorising Officer of the European Parliament and by the competent Member States.

The Authority shall control compliance by European political parties and European political foundations with their obligations under this Regulation, in particular in relation to Article 3, Article 4(1), points (a), (b), (d), (e) and (f), Article 4(3), Article 5, Article 6(1), points (a) to (e), (g) and (k), Article 11(5) and (6), and Articles 25, 26 and 27.

The control by the Authority and by the Authorising Officer of the European Parliament referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article shall not extend to compliance by European political parties and European political foundations with their obligations under applicable national law as referred to in Article 19.

European political parties and European political foundations shall provide any information requested by the Authority, the Authorising Officer of the European Parliament, the Court of Auditors, the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) or Member States which is necessary for the purpose of carrying out the controls for which they are responsible under this Regulation.

Appropriations for the funding of European political parties and European political foundations shall be determined under the annual budgetary procedure and shall be implemented in accordance with this Regulation and Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509.

Control of funding received from the general budget of the Union and its use shall be exercised in accordance with Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509.

The Court of Auditors shall exercise its audit powers in accordance with Article 287 TFEU.

Any document or information required by the Court of Auditors in order to enable it to carry out its task shall be supplied to it at its request by the European political parties and the European political foundations that receive funding in accordance with this Regulation.

The contribution and grant decision or agreement shall expressly provide for auditing by the European Parliament and the Court of Auditors, on the basis of records and on the spot, of the European political party which has received a contribution or the European political foundation which has received a grant from the general budget of the Union.

The Court of Auditors and the Authorising Officer of the European Parliament, or any other external body authorised by the Authorising Officer of the European Parliament, may carry out the necessary checks and verifications on the spot in order to verify the legality of expenditure and the proper implementation of the provisions of the contribution and grant decision or agreement, and, in the case of European political foundations, the proper implementation of the work programme or action. The European political party or European political foundation concerned shall supply any document or information needed to carry out this task.

OLAF may carry out investigations, including on-the-spot checks and inspections, in accordance with the provisions and procedures laid down in Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 883/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (17) and Council Regulation (Euratom, EC) No 2185/96 (18), with a view to establishing whether there has been fraud, corruption or any other illegal activity affecting the financial interests of the Union in connection with contributions or grants under this Regulation. If appropriate, its findings may give rise to recovery decisions by the Authorising Officer of the European Parliament.

The Authority shall impose financial sanctions in the following situations:

The Authorising Officer of the European Parliament may exclude a European political party or a European political foundation from future Union funding for up to five years, or up to 10 years in cases of an infringement repeated within a five-year period, when it has been found guilty of any of the infringements listed in paragraph 1, points (a)(vii) and (viii) of this Article. This is without prejudice to the powers of the Authorising Officer of the European Parliament as set out in Article 235 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509.

For the purposes of paragraphs 1 and 2, the following financial sanctions shall be imposed on a European political party or a European political foundation:

Whenever a European political party or a European political foundation has committed an infringement justifying the imposition of a financial sanction and the same behaviour justifies the removal from the Register of that European political party or European political foundation, the Authority shall only proceed to the removal from the Register of the European political party or European political foundation concerned.

The Authority shall recover the corresponding amounts from the European political party or European political foundation in respect of which the financial sanctions have been imposed.

The sanctions laid down in this Regulation shall be subject to a limitation period of 10 years from the date of commission of the infringement concerned or, in the case of continuing or repeated infringements, from the date on which those infringements ceased.

Where a decision of the national supervisory authority as referred to in Article 15 has been repealed, or where a remedy against such decision has been granted, provided that all national remedies have been exhausted, the Authority shall review any sanction imposed pursuant to paragraph 1, point (a)(ix), of this Article at the request of the European political party or European political foundation concerned.

The Authority, the Authorising Officer of the European Parliament and the Member States via the National Contact Points shall share information and keep each other regularly informed of matters related to funding provisions, controls and sanctions.

The Authority and the Authorising Officer of the European Parliament shall regularly exchange views and information on the interpretation and implementation of this Regulation.

The Authorising Officer of the European Parliament shall inform the Authority of any findings which might give rise to the imposition of sanctions under Article 32(1) to (3), with a view to enabling the Authority to take appropriate measures. The Authority shall make a decision on the imposition of sanctions within six months.

The Authority shall inform the Authorising Officer of the European Parliament of any decision it has taken in relation to sanctions, in order to enable him or her to draw the appropriate consequences under Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509.

With a view to fully comply with the obligations referred to in Article 41, before the Authority’s final decision relating to any of the sanctions referred to in Article 32(1), points (a)(i) to (vi), the Authority or the Authorising Officer of the European Parliament shall give the European political party or the European political foundation concerned an opportunity to introduce the measures required to remedy the situation within a reasonable period of time, which shall not normally exceed one month. In particular, the Authority or the Authorising Officer of the European Parliament shall allow the possibility of correcting clerical and arithmetical errors, providing additional documents or information where necessary or correcting minor mistakes.

Where a European political party or a European political foundation has failed to take corrective measures within the period of time referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, the appropriate sanctions referred to in Article 32 shall be decided.

The Authorising Officer of the European Parliament shall terminate a funding decision addressed to a European political party or a European political foundation with future effect on the following grounds:

A decision to terminate the funding decision with future effect shall take effect on the date specified in it or, if no date is specified therein, on the date on which it is notified to the European political party or European political foundation.

The termination of the funding decision with future effect shall have the following consequences:

On the basis of a decision taken by the Authority removing a European political party or European political foundation from the Register, based on the ground for removal from the Register laid down in Article 21(1), point (a)(iv), the Authorising Officer of the European Parliament shall withdraw funding decisions addressed to the European political party or European political foundation concerned with retroactive effect from the date of adoption of that decision.

The withdrawal of a funding decision with retroactive effect shall have the following consequences:

The European Parliament, or the Authority, in accordance with the distribution of their responsibilities under this Regulation, shall make public in an open, machine readable format on a website created for that purpose, the following:

The Authority shall make public the list of member parties of a European political party, as annexed to the party statutes in accordance with Article 4(2) and updated in accordance with Article 11(6), as well as the total number of individual members.

Personal data shall be excluded from publication on the website referred to in paragraph 1 unless those personal data are published pursuant to paragraph 1, points (a), (e), or (i).

European political parties and European political foundations shall, in a publicly available privacy statement, provide potential members and donors with the information required by Article 13 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679, and shall inform them that their personal data will be processed for auditing and control purposes by the European Parliament, the Authority, OLAF, the Court of Auditors, Member States, or external bodies or experts authorised thereby, and that their personal data will be made public on the website referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article under the conditions set out in this Article. The Authorising Officer of the European Parliament, in application of Article 15 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725, shall include the same information in calls for contributions or proposals as referred to in Article 23(1) of this Regulation.

In processing personal data pursuant to this Regulation, the Authority, the European Parliament and the committee of independent eminent persons referred to in Article 16 shall comply with Regulation (EU) 2018/1725. For the purposes of the processing of personal data, they shall be considered data controllers in accordance with Article 3, point (8), of that Regulation.

In processing personal data pursuant to this Regulation, European political parties and European political foundations, Member States when exercising control over aspects relating to the financing of European political parties and European political foundations in accordance with Article 29, and the independent bodies or experts authorised to audit accounts in accordance with Article 28(1) shall comply with Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and with the national provisions adopted pursuant thereto. For the purposes of the processing of personal data, they shall be considered data controllers in accordance with Article 4, point (7), of that Regulation.

The Authority, the European Parliament and the committee of independent eminent persons referred to in Article 16 shall ensure that personal data collected by them pursuant to this Regulation are not used for any purpose other than to ensure the legality, regularity and transparency of the funding of European political parties and European political foundations and the membership of European political parties. They shall erase all personal data collected for that purpose at the latest 24 months after the publication of the relevant parts in accordance with Article 39.

The Member States and independent bodies or experts authorised to audit accounts shall use the personal data they receive only in order to exercise control over the financing of European political parties and European political foundations. They shall erase those personal data in accordance with applicable national law after transmission pursuant to Article 34.

Personal data may be retained beyond the time limits laid down in paragraph 3 or provided for by the applicable national law as referred to in paragraph 4 where such retention is necessary for the purposes of legal or administrative proceedings relating to the funding of a European political party or a European political foundation or the membership of a European political party. All such personal data shall be erased at the latest one week after the date of conclusion of the said proceedings by a final decision, or after any audits, appeals, litigation or claims have been disposed of.

The data controllers referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 shall implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against accidental or unlawful destruction, accidental loss, alteration or unauthorised disclosure or access, in particular where the processing of such data involves their transmission over a network, and against all other unlawful forms of processing.

The European Data Protection Supervisor shall be responsible for monitoring and ensuring that the Authority, the European Parliament and the committee of independent eminent persons referred to in Article 16 respect and protect the fundamental rights and freedoms of natural persons in the processing of personal data pursuant to this Regulation. Without prejudice to any judicial remedy, any data subject may lodge a complaint with the European Data Protection Supervisor if they consider that their right to the protection of their personal data has been infringed as a result of the processing thereof by the Authority, the European Parliament or that committee.

European political parties and European political foundations, the Member States and the independent bodies or experts authorised to audit accounts under this Regulation shall be liable in accordance with applicable national law for any damage they cause in the processing of personal data pursuant to this Regulation. The Member States shall, without prejudice to Regulation (EU) 2016/679, ensure that effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions are applied for infringements of this Regulation.

The power to adopt delegated acts is conferred on the Commission subject to the conditions laid down in this Article.

The power to adopt delegated acts referred to in Article 9(2) and Article 10(3) shall be conferred on the Commission for an indeterminate period of time from 28 December 2025.

The delegation of power referred to in Article 9(2) and Article 10(3) may be revoked at any time by the European Parliament or by the Council. A decision to revoke shall put an end to the delegation of the power specified in that decision. It shall take effect the day following the publication of the decision in the Official Journal of the European Union or at a later date specified therein. It shall not affect the validity of any delegated acts already in force.

Before adopting a delegated act, the Commission shall consult experts designated by each Member State in accordance with the principles laid down in the Interinstitutional Agreement of 13 April 2016 on Better Law-Making.

As soon as it adopts a delegated act, the Commission shall notify it simultaneously to the European Parliament and to the Council.

A delegated act adopted pursuant to Article 9(2) or Article 10(3) shall enter into force only if no objection has been expressed either by the European Parliament or the Council within a period of two months of notification of that act to the European Parliament and the Council or if, before the expiry of that period, the European Parliament and the Council have both informed the Commission that they will not object. That period shall be extended by two months at the initiative of the European Parliament or of the Council.

The Commission shall be assisted by a committee. That committee shall be a committee within the meaning of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011.

Where reference is made to this paragraph, Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 shall apply.

Procedural steps taken under Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014 shall continue to have effect for the purposes of applying this Regulation.

By way of derogation from the first paragraph of Article 45, regarding the elections to the European Parliament in 2024, the European Parliament shall publish the report referred to therein by 29 June 2026.