PRESS RELEASE European Commission halts negotiations on the European Foundation Statute – What’s next? 16 December 2014, Brussels Despite substantial support for the European Foundation Statute (EFS), and no fundamental opposition, the new Juncker Commission announced its decision today that the EFS will not be part of its so-called “better” regulation agenda for 2015. Instead the EFS is one of the 80 proposals that the European Commission has decided to withdraw from the EU legislative agenda. “This decision sends a signal that goes completely against the concept of building a citizenled Europe,” said Gerry Salole, EFC Chief Executive. “If EU institutions together cannot uphold a Regulation which aims to facilitate public interest work by and for the citizens, they will have to find other avenues, with the sector, to address the issue. Foundations will continue to hold the European Commission to account in finding solutions to serving the public interest across borders.” The EFC regrets the choice of the incoming Juncker team to withdraw the EFS, and believes the decision has more to do with the mechanics of policy negotiations (unanimity requirement), than with the policy proposal itself, its actual objectives and value. According to the European Commission, the decision to withdraw the EFS text would be based on the lack of progress in getting unanimity among the 28 EU Member States. And since unanimity is necessary, the Commission feels that there are no prospects for reaching an agreement. While a majority of Member States are supportive of the EFS initiative, 8 Member States are said to have rejected the proposal tabled by the Italian EU Presidency in November 2014, i.e. Austria, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia and the UK,. Among them, some wished to see further changes in the EFS text, but given the somewhat secretive character of the negotiations it is difficult to assess what these suggested changes were. Of the 28 EU Member States, 3 said they doubt the value of an EFS per se, as the benefits would not outweigh the potential costs implied in terms of registering, or supervising the new entities. But the EFC sees these not as costs but as investments. The foundation sector in Europe has grown exponentially over the past years within conducive national frameworks in most EU countries. The benefits of enabling this growth, i.e. allowing private donors to set up foundations working for the general interest, has not been doubted. Part of the Commission’s remit is to look for reasonable alternatives to withdrawn proposals and to come forward with policy solutions, building on the comprehensive work and investment its services have made over the past years to document the problems and opportunities that have been identified and to support the negotiation process around the EFS. This is also the view of the members of the European Parliament Committee on Legal Affairs who discussed the Statute at their meeting in Brussels on 1 December. This was the first time that the newly-elected Parliament addressed the matter. Overall EP representatives from the various political groups who took the floor supported the EFS initiative, and wished to ensure its adoption. While some MEPs questioned the “secrecy” of the negotiations at the Council and asked for clarification regarding the reasons put forward by a minority of Member States to reject the proposal, they also believed that there is still room for discussion. The option of proceeding with “the so-called enhanced cooperation procedure” whereby nine Member States can choose to agree a piece of legislation between them was also suggested as another legal avenue to consider going forward. However, as the European Parliament has a consultative role in this specific field, it cannot “co-decide” with the Council, but can give its opinion, and had already done so in 2013 in favour of the initiative. In the absence of a European Statute, new avenues have now to be charted in the short and longer term building on the data, expertise, discussions, contacts and networks that have been created and built up through the work on the EFS to date. “For its part, the EFC stands ready to devise concrete solutions with EU institutions and interested Member States to support the work of foundations to serve the general interest across Europe and beyond,” said Ewa Kulik-Bielińska, Chair of the EFC and Executive Director of the Stefan Batory Foundation. What can be done together with the Commission and other stakeholders is to look at options available and new avenues to enable effective cross-border philanthropy in Europe. This remains a key issue for the sector, and as such will continue to be a priority for the EFC. *** ENDS *** NOTES TO EDITORS About the European Foundation Statute Foundations and their funders are increasingly working across borders. However, a number of legal and administrative barriers are hampering foundations’ current work. The lack of appropriate legal tools means that new European initiatives by foundations are delayed or abandoned. The impetus for a European Foundation Statute was to offer an appropriate legal tool, optional to national-level frameworks, to perform and increase foundations’ public benefit work and operations across Europe. Read more on the European Foundation Statute About the EFC The European Foundation Centre (EFC), founded in 1989, is an association representing more than 200 public-benefit foundations and corporate funders active in philanthropy in Europe and beyond. The EFC develops and pursues activities in line with its objectives: creating an enabling legal and fiscal environment for foundations; documenting the foundation landscape; strengthening the infrastructure of the foundation sector; and promoting collaboration, both among foundations and between foundations and other actors, to advance the public good in Europe and beyond. www.efc.be Contact Emmanuelle Faure | EFC | tel.: +32.2.512.8938 | email: [email protected]