Il finanziamento pubblico ai partiti e lo sviluppo dei Partiti Europei

The aim of this paper is to investigate the effects on European political party organisations (PPELs), and on their party system, of Reg. 2004/2003’s implementation. Regulation (EC) 2004/2003 defines the role of PPELs and the requirements needed for party eligibility to receive funding from the European Union. The provisions of the Regulation may well be able to consolidate more effectively the various party components operating at European level. However, while the literature on the funding of party organisations suggests that rules and regulations have a tendency to promote organisational convergence, the EU regulation set only a generic organisational pre-requisite for PPELs. In addition, the generally positive picture provided by the Statute is counter-balanced by two provisions, one contained directly in the Statute, and the other in its implementation rules, which keep the federations in a subordinate position with respect to their national components and the parliamentary groups. Our investigation follows two main trajectories: 1) an in-depth comparative analysis of PPEL statutes and internal regulations, by focusing on three different aspects of party organisations, i.e., party membership, party deliberative/executive organs, financial rules; 2) a critic review of Regulation 2004/2003 provisions and its impacts on the balance of powers between PPELs and national political parties. The goal of this contribution is to shed some light over the state of the art of the building process of a more effective and autonomous transnational party system.