For the first time, the Greens risk a fine for a supposedly inadmissible party donation. In particular, these are funds from the Green Parliament Club, which were used by the Green Federal Party after it was expelled from the National Council in 2017. The funds were repaid in 2020 – but without interest. The Court of Auditors now evaluates the interest benefit as a prohibited donation from the club to the party of 11,000 euros. There is also a message against NEOS.
The Court estimates the parliamentary club’s deposits in the “cash pool” used by the Greens at around one million euros. For political scientist Hubert Sickinger, the Green Party’s approach in this case is “obviously a sign of carelessness.” Because an interest-free loan naturally supports the party, he told the APA. However, the expected fine is financially manageable for the Greens.
Donation of citizen list to Greens under investigation
Another report from the Court of Auditors to the Independent Party Transparency Senate (UPTS) in the Chancellery addresses the question of what exactly should be considered a donation and what should not. Specifically, the local group in Bad Fischau-Brunn received from the Lower Austrian Greens in 2020 10,000 euros from the Bad Fischau-Brunn citizen list. It had been disbanded the year before and, according to the Greens, transferred to the new local group. However, the Court of Auditors recognized neither a merger nor a reorganization and therefore assessed this as a gift above the gift limit of EUR 7612.50. The decision now rests with the party senate in the chancery.
Ad for NEOS has exceeded donation limit
The Court of Auditors also reported to the party senate against NEOS on Friday. This is about an advertisement for MEP Claudia Gamon, which the European Parliamentary Group “Renew Europe” placed in the “Vorarlberger Nachrichten” in July 2020. From the Court’s point of view, the NEOS should have shown this as a gift from the European Parliamentary Group in the 2020 annual report. In addition, the Court of Auditors complained that the costs of 8,500 euros had exceeded the donation limit.
In a statement, the NEOS were confident they had correctly applied the rules of party law. “Should the UPTS come to a different conclusion, we will of course approach this differently in the future,” said a party spokesperson. In any case, the advertisement complies with the strict rules of the European Parliament and has been prepared and booked by the Renew Europe group.
If the party senate in the Chancellery confirms the Court’s position, that would be the first penalties under the party law for both the Greens and the NEOS. The fines of more than three million euros imposed by the UPTS have so far only been directed against the larger parties ÖVP, SPÖ and FPÖ and the Stronach team.
Source: Krone
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