ASOCIACIÓN ESPAÑOLA DE FUNDACIONES
AEF
La Asociación Española de Fundaciones es una asociación privada e independiente de ámbito nacional.
ID: 790442022755-38
Lobbying Activity
Response to Proposal for a Directive on cross-border activities of associations
28 Oct 2022
ASOCIACIÓN ESPAÑOLA DE FUNDACIONES (AEF) is pleased to contribute to this consultation, in line with the contribution of Philea and other umbrella and individual organisations of the philanthropy sector. This consultation give us the opportunity to stress our key ask to work towards a European Single Market for Public Good and an enabling environment for foundations as well as associations, according to our European Philanthropy Manifesto The philanthropy sector is part of civil society and a key contributor to a more equitable and sustainable world. Societal challenges do not stop at borders and require cross-border public benefit actions and solidarity. However, the public benefit sector still faces barriers with regard to cross-border activities. Unfortunately, we also see civil society space under attack in some European countries. The current restrictions result in high transaction costs and it prevents the sector from unleashing its full potential and from benefiting from the freedom of association and free flow of capital. We ask the legislative initiative to cover public-benefit foundations and associations as was recommended by the JURI report. Associations and foundations work towards the public good and face similar barriers when operating across borders (around the recognition of the legal personality, moving the seat across border, merging across border etc). Recent trends around shrinking space have been focusing on the civil society sector as a whole, not referring to distinct legal forms. There should hence be the ambition to protect and recognise the public-benefit sector and to overcome barriers to cross-border public-benefit work. We understand that the European Commission has issued studies to analyse barriers of associations and Phileas 2021 Comparative Highlights of Foundation Laws, confirms that barriers to philanthropy and foundations work exist. We consider that creating European supranational legal forms for the public-benefit sector would enable the setting up of truly European public-benefit organisations mainly governed by EU law and recognised in all Member States, which would help overcome barriers and stimulate more European public-benefit initiatives. We also support the proposal to create new national public-benefit legal forms via EU law, based on common public-benefit criteria, that would enable these new national entities to be recognised in other Member States jurisdictions by mutual recognition. However, ideally the proposal could contain mutual recognition of existing legal entities fulfilling criteria of public-benefit defined at the European level. Since the space for public-benefit and civil society action has been shrinking also inside the EU and we would welcome the creation of common framing of minimum standards to ensure that national laws are in line with the freedom of association, which is applicable to foundations and associations. The context of cross-border philanthropy taxation and application of the principle of non-discrimination to donors and public-benefit organisations is very important. We are pleased to see that guidance to Member States with regard to cross-border philanthropy taxation is in the pipeline and announced as one of the measures in the Social Economy Action Plan. Finally, we suggest that the new instrument would also open up opportunities for collaboration with public benefit organisations seen as equivalent from non-EU countries (and would ease collaboration and facilitate cross-border giving in general). We are confident that the European Commission will develop a legislative policy proposal towards achieving an inclusive and diverse well-functioning Union in close dialogue with civil society including philanthropy.
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