Also, the requirement of a national coverage for political parties might represent a serious restriction incompatible with the right to free association. According to the Venice Commission, thus, geographic distribution of party members should not be a requirement for political party formation. Nor should a political party based only on a regional or local level be prohibited (CDL-AD(2010)024, para 81). However, in some CoE member states (e.g. Republic of Moldova, Russian Federation) territorial requirements exist together with minimal membership requirements. According to the Federal Law on Political Parties of the Russian Federation, for instance, political parties need at least 40,000 members to be registered, whereby, in more than half of the subjects of the Russian Federation, a political party must have a regional branch of at least 400 members. Each other regional branch shall consist of not lesser than 150 members.