Home > 6 Political parties > MOLDOVA - Joint Opinion on the Legal Framework of Governing the Funding of Political Parties and Electoral Campaigns
 
 
 
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Paragraph 57
 

In the 2013 Joint Opinion, the Venice Commission and the OSCE/ODIHR recommended to remove from the draft amendments to Article 38(3) of the EC the blanket ban on certain third-party donations (namely, ordering of advertising materials by natural or legal persons for/in favour of electoral contestants and paying the corresponding expenses), with reference to Article 10 of the ECHR and related European case-law, and to introduce alternative measures. In response, the ban has been removed and some measures aimed at increasing transparency have been taken: Article 38(1)g) of the EC as amended in 2015 requires electoral contestants (in particular political parties) to include in their financial reports full accounting information with respect to legal entities established by the party concerned or otherwise under its control. Those steps are to be welcomed but do not appear sufficient to ensure adequate transparency in third party support. Information gathered by the Venice Commission and OSCE/ODIHR delegation during the interviews clearly suggests that this is a grey zone which needs to be further addressed. Possible additional measures to regulate contributions by third parties to electoral campaigns were mentioned in the 2013 Joint Opinion, such as “establishing a reasonable spending limit [or] requiring third parties (meaning individuals or organisations that are not standing or fielding candidates at an election) to register as taking part in the campaign”. The introduction of such or similar measures is still recommended.