Donations to political parties
Donations to political parties are permitted. However, if they exceed 50,000 euros, they must be
reported to the President of the Bundestag. Donations of 10,000 euros or more must be included
in the party’s annual accountability report to the President of the Bundestag. Transparency
International would like political parties to commit more strongly to the fight against corruption
and to make their financing and recruitment of political personal more transparent.
State prosecutors generally are responsible for investigating corruption cases, but not all state
governments have prosecutors specialized in corruption. Germany has successfully prosecuted
hundreds of domestic corruption cases over the years including large scale ones against major
companies. An OECD monitoring report released in 2010 noted that the country’s enforcement
efforts have increased steadily and resulted in a significant number of prosecutions and sanctions
imposed in foreign bribery-related cases against individuals.
However, the report highlighted
that sentences for corruption were generally within the lower range of available penalties and
that most prison sentences were suspended, raising concerns that punishment was not always
fully effective, proportionate, or dissuasive. Transparency International criticized the number of
plea bargains and the statutory limitation periods.
EU Forecast
euf:ba18a:200/nws-01