Regulation (EU, Euratom ) No 1141/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 October 2014 on the statute and funding of European political parties and European political foundations

This Regulation lays down the conditions governing the statute and funding of political parties at European level ('European political parties') and political foundations at European level ('European political foundations').

For the purposes of this Regulation:

1. 'political party' means an association of citizens:

   • which pursues political objectives, and

   • which is either recognised by, or established in accordance with, the legal order of at least one Member State;

2. 'political alliance' means structured cooperation between political parties and/or citizens;

3. 'European political party' means a political alliance which pursues political objectives and is registered with the Authority for European political parties and foundations established in Article 6, in accordance with the conditions and procedures laid down in this Regulation;

4. 'European political foundation' means an entity which is formally affiliated with a European political party, which is registered with the Authority in accordance with the conditions and procedures laid down in this Regulation, and which through its activities, within the aims and fundamental values pursued by the Union, underpins and complements the objectives of the European political party by performing one or more of the following tasks:

   1. observing, analysing and contributing to the debate on European public policy issues and on the process of European integration;

   2. developing activities linked to European public policy issues, such as organising and supporting seminars, training, conferences and studies on such issues between relevant stakeholders, including youth organisations and other representatives of civil society;

   3. developing cooperation in order to promote democracy, including in third countries;

   4. serving as a framework for national political foundations, academics, and other relevant actors to work together at European level;

5. 'regional parliament' or 'regional assembly' means a body whose members either hold a regional electoral mandate or are politically accountable to an elected assembly;

6. 'funding from the general budget of the European Union' means a grant awarded in accordance with Title VI of Part One or a contribution awarded in accordance with Title VIII of Part Two of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council⁽¹⁾ ('the Financial Regulation');

7. 'donation' means any cash offering, any offering in kind, the provision below market value of any goods, services (including loans) or works, and/or any other transaction which constitutes an economic advantage for the European political party or the European political foundation concerned, with the exception of contributions from members and of usual political activities carried out on a voluntary basis by individuals;

8. 'contribution from members' means any payment in cash, including membership fees, or any contribution in kind, or the provision below market value of any goods, services (including loans) or works, and/or any other transaction which constitutes an economic advantage for the European political party or the European political foundation concerned, when provided to that European political party or to that European political foundation by one of its members, with the exception of usual political activities carried out on a voluntary basis by individual members;

9. 'annual budget' for the purposes of Articles 20 and 27 means the total amount of expenditure in a given year as reported in the annual financial statements of the European political party or of the European political foundation concerned;

10. 'National Contact Point' means any person or persons specifically designated by the relevant authorities in the Member States for the purpose of exchanging information in the application of this Regulation;

11. 'seat' means the location where the European political party or the European political foundation has its central administration;

12. 'concurrent infringements' means two or more infringements committed as part of the same unlawful act;

13. 'repeated infringement' means an infringement committed within five years of a sanction having been imposed on its perpetrator for the same type of infringement.