European parties to campaign at national level

EU parties – such as the centre-right, socialists, liberals and greens – will be able to campaign at national level during European elections, next taking place in mid-2009.

At the moment EU parties are banned from entering the national political fray at European election time, meaning that although the vote is about electing over 700 MEPs to the Brussels assembly, it tends to be fought as 27 national election campaigns with candidates made or broken on domestic issues.
The new rules will also allow parties to have a financial surplus at the end of the year and build up small financial reserves, they also foresee over €1 million to establish political foundations – providing an extra forum for political debate and research.
According to Margot Wallstrom, the commissioner tasked with bringing Brussels closer to citizens, it needs to be made clear that citizens’ “political choice matters and that their active involvement on European issues has a direct bearing on their everyday lives.”
The plans have been generally welcomed in the European Parliament, where MEPs experience first hand the political vacuum between national and European level politics.
UK liberal MEP Andrew Duff says “party political foundations at the EU level are going to be a key element in developing political thought and sharpening debate with a European dimension.”
“I think the European parties have to be more present to create a trans-national debate,” says German socialist MEP Jo Leinen, in charge of this dossier in the parliament.

Read more in the EU Observer