Criteria, Conditions, and Procedures for Establishing a Political Party in the Member States of the European Union

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Criteria, Conditions, and Procedures for Establishing a Political Party in the Member States of the European Union DIRECTORATE GENERAL FOR INTERNAL POLICIES POLICY DEPARTMENT C - CITIZENS’ RIGHTS AND CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS Criteria, conditions, and procedures for establishing a political party in the Member States of the European Union STUDY Abstract This study has been prepared by the Centre d’étude de la vie politique (Cevipol), part of the Institute for European Studies (IEE) and the Faculté des sciences sociales et politiques (FSP) of the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB). It covers four aspects: 1) An overview of the existing criteria, conditions, and procedures for establishing a political party applying in the 27 Member States of the European Union. 2) An examination of how to amend current party statutes, notably at the European level, in order to create a more lively internal party democracy. 3) The development of suggestions towards a legal base of a future European party statute under EU law. 4) The development of proposals on how to involve the European Electoral Authority in the management and supervision of European political parties. PE 462.512 EN This document was requested by the European Parliament’s Committee on Constitutional Affairs. AUTHORS Jean-Benoit PILET, Emilie VAN HAUTE, Centre d’étude de la vie politique (Cevipol), Institute for European Studies (IEE) and the Faculté des sciences sociales et politiques (FSP) of the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB) RESPONSIBLE ADMINISTRATOR Petr NOVAK Policy Department C: Citizens' Rights and Constitutional Affairs European Parliament B-1047 Brussels E-mail: [email protected] LINGUISTIC VERSIONS Original: EN Translation: FR, DE ABOUT THE EDITOR To contact the Policy Department or to subscribe to its monthly newsletter please write to: [email protected] European Parliament, manuscript completed in October 2012. © European Union, 2012. This document is available on the Internet at: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/studies DISCLAIMER The opinions expressed in this document are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position of the European Parliament. Reproduction and translation for non-commercial purposes are authorised, provided the source is acknowledged and the publisher is given prior notice and sent a copy. Criteria, conditions, and procedures for establishing a political party in the Member States of the EU ___________________________________________________________________________________________ CONTENTS LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 5 LIST OF TABLES 6 LIST OF FIGURES 6 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 7 RESUME (FRANCAIS) 10 INTRODUCTION / GENERAL INFORMATION 13 1. CRITERIA, CONDITIONS, AND PROCEDURES FOR ESTABLISHING A POLITICAL PARTY IN THE MEMBER STATES 15 1.1. Introduction 15 1.2. Longitudinal perspective 18 1.3. Regulations in the 27 Member States 19 1.3.1. Belgium 20 1.3.2. Bulgaria (1990; 2006) 20 1.3.3. Czech Republic (1993; 2006) 21 1.3.4. Denmark 23 1.3.5. Germany (1967-2004) 24 1.3.6. Estonia (1994-2010) 25 1.3.7. Ireland (1992-1997) 26 1.3.8. Spain (1978; 2002) 27 1.3.9. France 28 1.3.10. Italy 28 1.3.11. Cyprus (2011) 28 1.3.12. Latvia (2006) 29 1.3.13. Lithuania (1990; 2004) 30 1.3.14. Hungary (1989-2003) 32 1.3.15. Netherlands (2011) 33 1.3.16. Austria (1975-2003) 33 1.3.17. Poland (1990; 2008) 33 1.3.18. Portugal (1974; 2003) 34 1.3.19. Romania (1996; 2003) 35 1.3.20. Slovenia (1994-2007) 36 1.3.21. Slovakia (1993; 2005) 37 1.3.22. Finland (1969; 1992) 40 1.3.23. Sweden 41 1.3.24. United Kingdom (1998) 42 1.4. Comparative perspective and discussion 43 2. PARTY STATUTES AND INTERNAL PARTY DEMOCRACY 46 2.1. Introduction 46 2.2. Party statutes and the selection of party leaders 48 2.3. Party statutes and the selection of candidates for elections 52 3 Policy Department C: Citizens' Rights and Constitutional Affairs _________________________________________________________________________________ 2.4. Consequences of internal reforms 54 3. LEGAL BASE OF A FUTURE EUROPEAN PARTY STATUTE UNDER EU LAW 56 3.1. Introduction 56 3.2. The functions of party laws in contemporary democracies 56 3.3. The current legal basis for European Parties under EU law 58 3.4. Elements for a future European party statute 61 4. THE ROLE OF AN INDEPENDENT ‘EUROPEAN ELECTORAL AUTHORITY’ IN THE MANAGEMENT AND SUPERVISION OF EUROPEAN POLITICAL PARTIES 68 4.1. Introduction 68 4.2. The functions of Electoral Authorities in modern democracies 69 4.3. The current specifications in EU law 70 4.4. Elements for a future role of an independent European Electoral Authority 70 5. CONCLUSION 73 REFERENCES 75 ANNEX 78 4 Criteria, conditions, and procedures for establishing a political party in the Member States of the EU ___________________________________________________________________________________________ LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS EL Electoral Law PL Party Law ERC European Research Council ESCE Electoral System Changes in Europe since 1945 FRS-FNRS Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique - Belgium MP Member of Parliament EEA European Electoral Authority 5 Policy Department C: Citizens' Rights and Constitutional Affairs _________________________________________________________________________________ LIST OF TABLES TABLE 1 Conditions and procedures for party registration, Member States of the European Union 43 TABLE 2 Selectorate used for the selection of party leaders, 1965 49 TABLE 3 Selectorate used for the selection of party leaders, 2011 50 TABLE 4 Selectorates used for candidate selection 53 TABLE 5 Summary of the recommendations for a legal base of a future European party statute under EU law 66 TABLE 6 Summary of the recommendations regarding the role of an independent European Electoral Authority 71 LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE 1 The Adoption of Party Laws in Post-War Europe 18 FIGURE 2 Inclusiveness – Exclusiveness continuum of the selectorate for leadership selection 48 6 Criteria, conditions, and procedures for establishing a political party in the Member States of the EU ___________________________________________________________________________________________ EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Aim This study aims at providing guidance on how to continue the evolution of present European political parties towards autonomous organizations having a legal base in EU law. Key Findings 1. The regulation of political parties across Europe is increasing over time in the post­ war period; The requirements included in these regulations tend also to increase over time; The regulation takes the form of Party Laws (PL) or Electoral Laws (EL), and specifies the conditions, criteria, and procedures for establishing a political party; The content analysis of these laws allows to have an overview of the regulation of parties in the 27 Member States of the European Union; The conditions for establishing a political party typically include a minimum number of signatures or founding members, the payment of a deposit or fee, the publication of the information in the official gazette, and the requirement for specific documents (party statutes, charter, programme, logo, etc.); The procedures for registration are roughly similar across countries, with the most important distinction lying in the type of authority in charge of the registration and supervision of parties (Ministries, Courts, or Electoral Authority); In a pragmatic view, the increasing regulation of parties has a direct effect on the emergence of parties and the development of the electoral market (control of political fragmentation but infringing upon democratic freedom of association and organizational autonomy); In a normative view, the increasing regulation illustrates a shift from a pluralist definition of democracy to a definition of democracy here the state has to provide contested elections, requiring political parties. 2. Political parties have faced three main evolutions in the last twenty years: a gradual decline of trust in political parties among citizens, a growing personalization of politics, and a shift in attitudes towards growing citizens’ demands for more participation; In reaction, parties have embarked in a dual process: the expansion of direct democratic procedures at the system level, and the transformation of their internal organization to renew intra-party democracy; 7 Policy Department C: Citizens' Rights and Constitutional Affairs _________________________________________________________________________________ The most notable transformation of intra-party functioning is the trend towards more inclusive selectorates in the selection of party leaders, in the form of the empowerment of rank-and-file members, or even voters via a system of primaries; Conversely, there is little evidence of a trend towards more inclusive candidate selection methods; there is a great diversity in methods used across parties, and little transparency in the process in most parties; However, the reforms at the system and the party levels did not stop party membership decline or the declining trust towards political parties; The effects of these reforms on the dynamics of party life are debated; one has to investigate their effects on four dimensions of democracy (participation, representation, competition, and responsiveness); The relationship between inclusiveness and these four dimensions is not linear and positive; Therefore, more inclusiveness does not always equal more internal democracy: it depends on which conception of democracy is applied (which of the four dimension is considered dominant), and on the conception of the articulation between democracy at
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