Evropski načrt akcijskih kampanj

Člen 21 uredbe se uporablja zgolj za evropske politične stranke in evropske politične fundacije.

Prepoved neposrednega ali posrednega financiranja drugih političnih strank ali kandidatov v skladu s členom 22 uredbe ostane v veljavi skupaj s členom 21 uredbe. Organ opozarja na merila za oceno skladnosti s členom 22, kot je navedeno zgoraj.

Hkrati se v členu 21 uredbe evropske politične stranke spodbuja, naj izvajajo lastne kampanje za evropske volitve, ki morajo biti v skladu z vrednotami Unije in dopolnjevati kampanje njihovih strank članic, vendar morajo biti od njih ločene.

To velja tudi, kadar je vodilni kandidat evropske politične stranke hkrati kandidat na volitvah v Evropski parlament v določeni državi članici. Evropske politične stranke imajo torej pravico finančno prispevati v kampanje v okviru volitev v Evropski parlament, tudi kadar je vodilni kandidat evropske politične stranke hkrati na volilni listi države članice, če so pri tem skladne s členom 22(1) uredbe, kot je natančneje obrazloženo zgoraj.

Glede na navedeno Organ opozarja na pet vodilnih načel za kampanje evropskih političnih strank v okviru evropskih volitev (ki jih je pripravil skupaj z generalnim direktoratom Evropskega parlamenta za finance leta 2018):

• obseg - nadnacionalen (tj. vključuje več držav članic),
• vsebina - osredotočena predvsem na evropske teme,
• odgovornost - za kampanjo odgovarja evropska politična stranka,
• avtorstvo - vidnost evropske politične stranke in
• skladnost z nacionalno zakonodajo.

Za lažje izvajanje teh vodilnih načel v praksi in vnaprejšnje zagotavljanje skladnosti je Organ pripravil akcijski načrt za evropske kampanje („E-CAP"), orodje, ki evropskim političnim strankam pomaga pri pripravi kampanj v skladu z veljavnimi pravili in načeli. Za zmanjševanje tveganja na področju skladnosti sta na primer pomembna sodelovanje pri dejavnostih vodilnega kandidata („Spitzenkandidat/-in") in očitna prepoznavnost evropske politične stranke.

Čeprav morda pride do izmenjave informacij z nacionalnimi organi v zvezi z dejavnostmi v evropski kampanji, ocena nacionalnih organov v zvezi z nacionalnimi strankami ali kandidati (npr. ko bi lahko financiranje skupnih dejavnosti s strani evropskih političnih strank v skladu z zakonodajo o nacionalnih političnih strankah štelo kot dohodek zadevne stranke ali kandidata), ne vpliva na oceno Organa iz člena 22(1) uredbe. Organ po potrebi komunicira z državo članico, da bi olajšal usklajeno izvajanje uredbe in nacionalne zakonodaje kot dveh dopolnjujočih se ravni regulativnega okvira.

• The designation by a European political party of a lead candidate for the European elections ('Spitzenkandidat/-in'), as well as their participation in activities of the European political party concerned, are a key driver of the European nature of the campaign of the European political party concerned. 'Spitzenkandidaten' therefore mitigate compliance risks for the campaign of the European political party overall, as well as for individual activities in their presence, provided they are presented as European lead candidate and carrying a political project for the entire European Union.

• More particularly, 'Spitzenkandidaten' designated and presented as such by a European political party for its campaign to the European elections are reducing compliance risks in light of Article 22(1) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014. Due to the transnational nature of the European elections campaigns of European political parties, this compliance risk reduction effect applies also in the Member State where 'Spitzenkandidaten' are simultaneously on a national or regional ballot for election to the European Parliament, provided they are presented as European lead candidate and carrying a political project for the entire European Union.

• In light of Article 21(1) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014, 'Spitzenkandidaten' can only be those designated by a European political party. The above risk mitigation effects only apply as of the time of such designation, and only in relation to the designating European political party.

Z vidika Uredbe (EU, Euratom) št. 1141/2014 skupne evropske kampanje različnih evropskih političnih strank sicer niso prepovedane, vendar sodelujoče stranke ne smejo združiti financiranja, identitete in postopkov odločanja. Konkretneje, za skupne kampanje evropskih političnih strank veljajo naslednje omejitve:

Financiranje dejavnosti v zvezi s tem se analizira v skladu s členom 22(1), kot upravičeno domnevate.

Organ bo nato v zvezi s skupnimi dejavnostmi s strankami na nacionalni ravni ocenil, ali je katera evropska politična stranka drugi zagotovila neposredno ali posredno financiranje. Posredno financiranje se oceni glede na naslednja merila, ki so podrobneje pojasnjena zgoraj:

• dosledna prepoznavnost vsake sodelujoče evropske politične stranke,
  
• delež vključenosti vsake sodelujoče evropske politične stranke,
  
• delež sofinanciranja mora imeti realistično povezavo s splošno vključenostjo vsake sodelujoče evropske politične stranke.
  

Evropske volilne kampanje v smislu člena 21(1) Uredbe (EU, Euratom) št. 1141/2014 kot oblika udeležbe na evropskih volitvah v skladu s členom 3(1)(d) Uredbe (EU, Euratom) št. 1141/2014 izvajajo evropske politične stranke, in ne platforme za sodelovanje, ki stranke prikrivajo ali nadzirajo. To pomeni tudi, da se upravljavski organi nobene evropske politične stranke ne morejo zavezati, da jih za namene strategije kampanje ali pri izvajanju kampanje usmerjajo vodstveni organi druge evropske politične stranke ali strukture odločanja zunaj katere od evropskih političnih strank. Zakonsko določeni postopki odločanja morajo ostati ločeni in ne sme biti splošnega prenosa odločanja (o kampanji) z ene stranke na drugo ali na zunanjo platformo.

Zato se smernice organa (glej zgoraj) za izvajanje akcijskega načrta za evropske kampanje („E-CAP") in preverjanje udeležbe na evropskih volitvah še naprej uporabljajo ločeno in morajo izkazovati zadostno avtonomijo odločanja za vsako od evropskih političnih strank, vključenih v skupno kampanjo.

Te informacije ne posegajo v oceno odredbodajalca Evropskega parlamenta v okviru njegovih pristojnosti.

Having recourse to 'influencers' is not as such a prohibited campaigning tool from the perspective of the Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1141/2014 (the "Regulation"). The Authority nonetheless would like to draw attention to the general principle that outsourcing activities of European political parties must not circumvent the rules applicable to European political parties themselves. More particularly, the conduct of 'influencers' or other service providers acting within the framework of their contractual relations with a European political party is attributable to the European political party itself.

This means in particular that the European political party should draw the 'influencers' attention to:

• The requirement to comply throughout the campaign with the values of the Union and applicable, including national, rules (see E-CAP letter of 25 May 2023, as published above). This means in particular that national medial law and - until the new Regulation on political advertisement enters into force - national rules on political advertisement are to be observed.

• The requirement to abstain from personal data protection rules infringements throughout the campaign, including in light of Article 10a of the Regulation. This means in particular that deep fakes or other forms of stolen personal data must not be displayed or referred to.

• Where relevant, the prohibitions of funding according to Article 22(1) of the Regulation and risk reduction principles for joint activities apply (see E-CAP letter, and general guidance, as published above). This means in particular that contractors can only be funded by a European political party for 'influencing' activity if and to the extent this does not amount to indirect funding of another party, in particular a national party.

• The prohibitions and obligations regarding donations as per Article 20 of the Regulation apply as well, notably in cases where services are provided for free or, depending on the circumstances, below market price (see guidance on 'discounted rates' here https://www.appf.europa.eu/appf/en/guidance/donations-and-contributions).

• Subject to the above-mentioned constraints, and without prejudice to the assessment of concrete E-CAP, the Authority points out the following risk mitigating factors in relation to logos:
  
  
  • Logo of European political parties prominently visible
  
  
  • Topics of cross-border relevance, which would remain the same in campaigning activities across multiple Member States.

• The risk mitigator "lead candidate" ("Spitzenkandidat/-in") recalled above can only be relied on in relation to a candidate that is nominated as such by the European political party itself, not merely by a member party, and campaigns for the European political party across Member States.

• Compliance risks are high as regards a national candidate display alongside the European political parties and national party logos, if national logo and national candidate combined would take substantially more space on the display than the presence of the European political party and its logo on the same display (and consequently, national parties and candidates might appear as the main driver of this form of campaigning, thus casting doubt over compliance with the campaign ownership criterion).