The foundational Treaties outline the role of European political parties (Europarties) in Article 10(4) TEU and Article 12(2) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU. According to these provisions, political parties at the EU level contribute to forming European political awareness and expressing the will of citizens of the Union. Article 224 TFEU further prescribes that the ordinary legislative procedure should be used to regulate them and particularly their funding. The European political parties and foundations are governed by Regulation 1141/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the statute and funding of European political parties and European political foundations of 22 October 2014 ('Regulation 1141/2014').

Following Parliament's calls and delivering on the commitments made in its European democracy action plan (2020), the European Commission announced the revision of Regulation 1141/2014 as one of the key initiatives in 2021.

The Commission's proposal is part of a broader initiative on democratic life and electoral processes in the EU. It seeks to facilitate interactions of the European political parties with their national counterparts, increase transparency (especially regarding political advertisement and donations), cut excessive administrative burden and enhance the financial viability of European political parties and foundations. Furthermore, the proposal introduces lowering the cofinancing rate for Europarties from 10 % to 5 %. It allows the Europarties and foundations to collect contributions from members located in countries outside the EU. Finally, the proposal authorises the European parties to use the funds from the EU budget in EU-focused national referendum campaigns. The goal is to adopt the new rules before the European Parliament elections in 2024.

The European Parliament referred the proposal to the Constitutional Affairs Committee (AFCO). The AFCO Committee rapporteurs WIELAND Rainer (EPP, Germany) and GOERENS Charles (Renew, Luxembourg), presented the draft report on 22 March 2022. On 15 September 2022, the Parliament endorsed the position of the AFCO Committee. The proposal was referred back to the AFCO Committee responsible for inter-institutional negotiations.

The Parliament's negotiating mandate aimed to streamline communication between European parties and their national counterparts, bolster transparency and financial stability within political parties, and ensure that non-EU members adhere to values equivalent to those in the EU. Additionally, it included provisions on promoting gender equality, maintaining gender balance in the governing bodies of European political parties, and the requirement for implementation of protocols to combat sexual and gender-based harassment.

On the side of the Council, on 22 March 2022, the General Affairs Council reached a political agreement (i.e., its mandate) on the proposal. It inter alia restricted the participation and contributions of European political parties and European political foundations to members from EU countries. It upheld the co-financing model, requiring European political parties to contribute 10% and political foundations 5% to qualify for European subsidies. Additionally, it mandated that these entities annually declare their adherence to EU values. Furthermore, it capped self-generated resources at 2% of the European political party's annual budget and delineated permissible joint activities with member parties, excluding referendum campaigns. In addition, it aims to promote gender equality within parties and on candidate lists for European Parliament elections.

To agree on the final legislative text, inter-institutional trilogues occurred on several occasions in late 2022. The representatives of the co-legislators did not reach an agreement. Consequently, the Council adopted its revised mandate on 17 March 2023. While the Council's original political agreement prohibited political parties from outside the EU from participating in a European political party, the renewed mandate extended the scope of the text to parties from EFTA countries, EU candidate countries and Kosovo, countries using the euro as their official currency, and former EU Member States.

In October 2024, Loránt Vincze (EPP, Romania) and Charles Goerens (Renew, Luxembourg) were appointed rapporteurs for the 10th parliamentary term.

On 17 June 2025, the negotiators of the Council and the Parliament reached a provisional agreement on changes to the statute and funding of European political parties and European political foundations.

The negotiators declared that the new EU rules for political parties and foundations will enhance transparency, cut red tape, and equip them to fight foreign interference more effectively. These rules should reinforce European values by mandating alignment with EU principles, gender balance, anti-harassment policies, and annual reporting on representation gaps. Associated parties from non-EU countries can collaborate but cannot sway decisions or pay fees. Financial stability is boosted via a 95% EU co-financing rate (up from 90%) and limited self-generated income (3% for parties, 5% for foundations). The rules clarify support for member parties while banning foreign funding of national candidates and establishing a future review of foundation financing to address challenges.

On 16 July 2025, the AFCO Committee and subsequently, on 21 October, the Parliament in the plenary session approved the provisional agreement. On 17 November, the Council approved the wording of the new Regulation on the statute and funding of the European political parties and European political foundations.

On 26 November 2025, the new legislation was signed by the President of the Parliament and by the President of the Council. It was officially published in the EU’s official journal on 8 December. It entered into force on the twentieth day after this publication.

References:

• EP Legislative Observatory, Statute and funding of European political parties and foundations, 2021/0375(COD), 25 November 2021
• European Commission, Commission work programme 2025, February 2025
• Regulation 1114/2014 on the statute and funding of European political parties and European political foundations
• Regulation 2018/673 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 3 May 2018
• Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2019/493 of the European Parliament and the Council of 25 March 2019
• EP Legislative Observatory, European political parties – report 2021, 2021/2018(INI)  
• European Commission, Communication from the Commission on the European democracy action plan, 2020
• European Parliament, Resolution of 11 November 2021 on the application of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014 on the statute and funding of European political parties and European political foundations, 2021
• European Court of Auditors, Opinion 01/2022 (pursuant to Article 287(4), TFEU) concerning the Commission’s proposal for a Regulation on the statute and funding of European political parties and European political foundations, 2022

Further Reading:

• European Parliament, EPRS, Recasting the rules applicable to European political parties and foundations, At a glance, 2022
• European Parliament, EPRS, Amending the rules governing the statute and funding of European political parties (recast), Briefing, March, 2022
• European Parliament, IPOL, Towards a revision of the Regulation on the statute and funding of European political parties and foundations, Study, March 2022
• European Parliament, EPRS, European political parties: Statute and funding, At a glance, November 2021
• European Parliament, EPRS, Statute and funding of European political parties under Regulation 1141/2014 : ex-post evaluation, Study, June 2021

Related legislative train files:

• Revision of Regulation on statute and funding of European political parties and European political foundations, 2019
• Regulation amending Regulation (EU, Euratom) no 1141/2014 as regards a verification procedure related to infringements of personal data in the context of the European Parliament elections, 2019
• European democracy action plan, 2020

Author: Kamil Baraník, Members' Research Service, legislative-train@europarl.europa.eu