Andrew Rosindell – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andrew Rosindell on 2016-01-18.

To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker’s Committee on the Electoral Commission, pursuant to the Answer of 13 January 2016 to Question 21704, whether spending by the EU on campaigning during the referendum campaign will be subject to those spending limit rules.

Mr Gary Streeter

As international governmental bodies, the spending limits set out in the European Union Referendum Act 2015 do not apply to EU institutions.

The Electoral Commission has made clear its view that all EU institutions should nevertheless adhere to the same restrictions on the publication of promotional material that apply to governments and publicly funded bodies across the UK in the 28 days before polling day for the referendum. In addition, EU institutions should not, for example, undertake any paid-for advertising activity during the whole referendum period.

The Minister for Europe has deposited in the library of the House of Commons a copy of correspondence with the Director General of the European Commission which says that the European Commission will not take an active part in the referendum and the related campaigns.

Once the rules for the EU referendum have been commenced, referendum campaigners are only able to lawfully accept donations over £500 from certain ‘permissible’ sources. The permissibility rules provide that funding can only be accepted by referendum campaigners from certain sources connected to the UK, and, in the case of the EU referendum, Gibraltar. There are also rules and offences related to using permissible donors as agents to circumvent the rules.