Minister Uitermark: “Political parties are an important part of our democracy. People must trust that the political party they vote for has its internal affairs in order. This means they must be open and transparent about their organization, for example, regarding the donations they receive and how they are organized. We are establishing these kinds of rules in this law. There will also be rules for parties in municipalities, provinces, and water boards. They will also have access to funding. This strengthens our democracy, both nationally and locally.”
Subsidy for Local and Regional Parties
New in the law is the specific attention for decentralized political parties and decentralized branches of national political parties. The goal is for them to be able to do their work even better, which is important due to the growing responsibilities they have. There is structurally 8.15 million euros available for them, and the law regulates the distribution of that funding. Parties can use this for professionalizing their organization or organizing party meetings. This makes them less dependent on donations. Associated with this, there will also be rules for them; they must be transparent about their finances, their debts, and the donations they receive. They must publish this information on their own website.
Rules on Transparency and Financing
The law further states that parties must provide clarity on how they compile candidate lists and how the party board is elected. Additionally, the rules on financing of parties – currently laid down in the Political Parties Financing Act – will be incorporated into the new law. These rules will largely remain the same. However, the prohibition on donations from non-Dutch nationals will be changed to a prohibition on donations from non-residents. Only individuals who possess Dutch nationality or reside in the Netherlands may make a donation. Furthermore, parties will have more time to report donations above 10,000 euros (10 days), but less time during election periods (1 day). The option to donate anonymously will also be eliminated. A new, independent supervisor, the Dutch Authority for Political Parties (Napp), will oversee the rules. This strengthens the independent position of political parties.
Specific Prohibition on Political Parties
The new law also specifies the possibility of banning parties. Currently, a judge can ban a political party if it acts contrary to public order – a broad definition that does not specifically apply to political parties, but to any association or foundation. Instead, the new law makes it possible for a party to be banned if it seriously threatens the democratic constitutional state. This may be the case, for example, if a party seeks to undermine the independence of the judiciary or frustrates elections.