Money in politics is a double-edged sword. It is a necessary component of the democratic process, enabling the expression of political views and interests. Yet if the financing of political parties and election campaigns are not adequately regulated and monitored, money may also be a means for powerful special interests to exercise undue influence, and capture the policy process. This report provides practical advice to policymakers and officials responsible for implementing political finance systems, and then examines the specific case of Greece with reference to international standards and practices.

Until now, interest in political finance has largely focused on legislative frameworks and high-level international standards. As a result, there is a well-developed set of components that form the foundation for any political finance regulatory system as well as its key principles and international standards. These main components include funding supply, expenditures, transparency and how the rules are enforced. Together with their explanation, the first chapters of this report

present practical insights on how to develop a sound regulatory framework for party and election campaigning. It needs to provide clear guidance to those who ultimately will have to interpret and apply the law, be it political parties, the oversight body or the judiciary. Therefore, during the drafting phase its enforceability and potential shortcomings should be assessed. To achieve this, factors to consider include, for example, clarity of purpose. Articulating the purpose of the law helps lawmakers choose between conflicting objectives. Enforceablity considerations include whether there are legal loopholes that will make it easy to circumvent the legislation and/or undermine its purpose; whether the legislative framework provides the necessary means to detect breaches of the law; and whether the oversight body has adequate statutory powers to detect/investigate allegations of non-compliance properly.

Although most countries already have laws and regulations on political financing, the implementation of these laws has received less attention, and there is limited empirical research on the strengths and weaknesses of various operational approaches. Besides good legislation that accords with international standards is vital for any robust political finance system, effective implementation is equally crucial. Chapter 4 of the report describes the prerequisites for implementing a political finance regulatory system. These include the creation of strong oversight institutions with sufficient independence and authority as well as well-articulated policies and objectives that help set expectations amongst internal and external stakeholders.

In order to contribute further to the anti-corruption debate and suggest ways to improve the regulation of funding of political parties and election campaigns in Greece, last chapter of this report reviews the existing legal framework in this country, especially in relation to the provisions of information disclosure, oversight and enforcement with reference to the OECD Framework on Financing Democracy: Supporting Better Public Policies and Averting Policy Capture.

Political party funding in Greece has come under scrutiny as there have been several corruption allegations concerning the misuse of political funding by senior politicians and political parties. In order to improve regulation of political finance, Greece has made efforts in recent years by strengthening its legal framework. However, implementation remains a challenge, particularly to ensure the transparency of donors and contributions, compliance and oversight of political party campaigning and spending, and timely sanctions. To this end, this report presents a number of practical recommendations for strengthening the integrity of political financing in Greece. In particular, a public database needs to be further developed to enable wider information disclosure in a user-friendly way, and for subsequent public scrutiny. The Audit Committee, which is the main supervisory body in Greece, may consider investing in online technologies to facilitate effective reviewing and auditing of the political financial reports. Finally, additional outreach to support political parties’ internal capacity building and awareness-raising activities across the government and society would complement the holistic approach to fostering integrity in the political finance system.