Home > 2 Organising the elections > KOSOVO - Kosovo - Opinion on the “draft law on amending and supplementing the Law no. 03/l-174 on the Financing of Political Entities (Amended and Supplemented by the Law no. 04/l-058 and the Law no. 04/l-122) and the Law no. 003/l-073 on General Elections
 
 
 
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Paragraph 27
 

In this connection, the rapporteurs were informed that the question of which body should in the future be competent for financial oversight has been discussed in depth in the consultation process. The Government’s Concept document of October 2017 elaborated on a number of alternative options, including the Auditor General, the Anti-Corruption Agency and the Election Complaints and Appeals Panel (ECAP). It would appear that further proposals have been made by various stakeholders, such as joined responsibility of different bodies. It seems that in each scenario, certain adaptations of the legal framework would be necessary: none of the aforementioned bodies has at the moment both the legal competences and the know-how and resources necessary to ensure professional auditing of political entities’ financial reports. International reference texts recognise that monitoring of political finances “can be undertaken by a variety of different bodies”. In line with previous pronouncements on this matter, the Venice Commission acknowledges that it is up to Kosovo to decide which body should be entrusted with such functions. That said, this body should be granted a satisfactory degree of independence and adequate financial and personnel resources. These caveats will be further developed below in section B.