Конституційно-правові засади фінансування політичних партій в Україні та країнах ЄС: порівняльний аналіз

Abstract

Дисертація присвячена комплексному порівняльно-правовому дослідженню фінансування політичних партій в Україні та країнах ЄС. З’ясовано й охарактеризовано основні історичні етапи становлення та розвитку фінансування політичних партій в Україні. Досліджено основні моделі фінансування політичних партій і проаналізовано принципи такого фінансування. Сформульовано визначення понять фінансування політичних партій», «державний контроль у сфері фінансування політичних партій» та «обмеження у фінансуванні політичних партій». Висвітлено основні проблеми й особливості нормативного регулювання приватного та державного фінансування політичних партій в Україні та в окремих країнах ЄС. Визначено й досліджено основні елементи державного контролю за фінансуванням політичних партій. Окреслено та проаналізовано основні види обмежень у фінансуванні партій. За результатами дослідження сформульовані пропозиції щодо вдосконалення чинного законодавства України, яке регулює фінансування політичних партій.

The dissertation is a comprehensive comparative law study on funding political parties in Ukraine and in the EU countries. It places special emphasis on the analysis of the legislation as well as some theoretical aspects of funding political parties in such countries as Ukraine, Poland, Latvia and the Federal Republic of Germany. As part of the study, it also considers some aspects of financing political parties in Lithuania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Spain. The dissertation offers the definitions of the notions “funding political parties”, “government control in the sphere of funding political parties” and “constraints on funding political parties”. The findings of the research serve as a basis for identifying and outlining the major historical periods of the development of the financing of political parties in Ukraine. The thesis emphasizes that such sources of funding political parties as their own resources as well as state and private financing which are typical for most EU countries were introduced in Ukraine in 2016. It looks into the main models of funding political parties and studies the principles of such financing. The dissertation pays special attention to such self-benefiting types as membership dues and income gained from the business activities of political parties. The author ascertains that in comparison with other funding sources the legislation regulating self-financing of political parties is inadequate and superficial in Ukraine as well as in the EU countries. The dissertation emphasizes that in spite of its evident advantages private financing poses a number of risks since uncontrolled private donations can result in the loss of the independence by parties. Therefore, one of the major tasks of the legislation regulating funding political parties is ensuring a balance between state and private financing. The author proves that defining sponsorship as an independent method of funding political parties in the law of Ukraine “On Political Parties in Ukraine” is inexpedient; moreover, the legislative formulation of the term “contribution to support a political party” is controversial and ambiguous. The dissertation studies different methods of state financing of political parties. It reconciles home and foreign scholars’ opinions on advantages and disadvantages of state financing of political parties. It is stated that among all sources of funding political parties it is state financing that causes the most heated discussions and achieves the greatest public impact. The dissertation emphasizes the need to improve the legislative regulation of state financing of political parties in Ukraine. It identifies the following main elements of government control in the sphere of funding political parties: the subject of control; the objects of control; the control procedure; financial crimes and the responsibility for their commitment. The findings of the comparative study on the legislation of different countries regulating the responsibility for the violation of the established procedure of funding political parties show that fines for such offences are too small in Ukraine especially when compared to the maximum possible contributions to support political parties. The findings of the research into judicial practice show that taking into consideration the complexity of such cases the time-limit for them is too small, especially in relation to administrative offences. The dissertation identifies and outlines the major types of constraints on funding political parties. On the basis of the undertaken comparative study a number of proposals dealing with the improvement of the legislation of Ukraine which regulates funding political parties are made.