Local political parties must receive a subsidy from 2024, if a majority of the House wants to. Ten million euros must be made available for this. Minister Hanke Bruins Slot of the Interior says that there is no money for it, she stated during the debate on the Political Parties Financing Act.
A motion by the CDA to regulate this has been discouraged by the minister. Much to the dismay of the SP, among others. “This is a sour aftertaste for local political parties,” said SP MP Renske Leijten. According to her, that 10 million euros can easily be found before 2024. “What are local political parties being abandoned.”
On Tuesday, the House will vote on the CDA motion, which could count on a majority thanks to the support of the other three coalition parties. The negative advice from the minister may change the minds of the parties.
The financing of local political parties has been discussed for a long time. So far it has not happened. National parties do not want money for local parties to be at the expense of the budget that is available to them. The House wants the 10 million euros to come from another budget.
Law amendment
This unanimity in the House ends with the question in which law financial support for local political parties should be regulated. The coalition wants the minister to record this in a not yet existing Political Parties Act. Bruins Slot must submit a bill to this end to the House this year, the four coalition parties want. That will not work, Bruins Slot said in the debate. That will only be possible “at the earliest” in 2023.
Opposition parties, including SP, PvdA, JA21 and the Omtzigt group, want to regulate the subsidization of local parties in the Political Parties Financing Act, which will be voted on on April 5. To this end, the SP and PvdA have submitted an amendment. Leijten believes that it is not necessary to wait for a new law, which may not be introduced at all.
borders
Voting on both the CDA motion and the SP and PvdA amendments will be held on Tuesday. Just like about the motions submitted today and the almost seventy amendments that have been tabled in recent weeks to the Political Parties Financing Act.
This law sets limits on donations that political parties may receive. There is still no political agreement about the height of that limit, but it will most likely be EUR 100,000.