With the law n. 3/2019 which amended the art. 5, paragraph 4, of the Legislative Decree no. 149/2013 it was envisaged that associations, foundations and committees will be required to adopt all the transparency obligations envisaged so far for political parties for anti-corruption purposes.
A provision addressed to all foundations and associations whose governing council includes subjects (even just one member) who in the last ten years have carried out political administration and government activities at a national or local level or who have been part of the bodies of a party or a political movement. Furthermore, these obligations of transparency must also be adopted by all foundations and associations that disburse sums by way of donation or contribute an amount equal to or greater than 5,000 euros a year to the financing of initiatives or services free of charge in favor of political parties, political movements or their internal articulations, of members of bodies of political parties or movements or of people who hold institutional positions.
In particular, according to the provisions of the new regulatory provisions, the entities that present the above characteristics are required to bear the costs of an annual balance sheet certification. After a specific Transparency Commission has carried out the preventive control of compliance and regularity, these entities will in fact be called upon to publish the articles of association and the financial statements (with the relevant approval report) on their website, accompanied by the management report, the explanatory note and, where applicable, the auditor's report. These publications must also be communicated to the presidents of the Chambers and highlighted on the official website of the Parliament.
This is a provision that up to now has been the subject of harsh criticism as, in addition to burdening all entities, even those of smaller dimensions, with the duty of performing numerous, as well as onerous, bureaucratic and administrative obligations, according to a large part of critics would present profiles of constitutional illegitimacy which is why, in the face of numerous requests from the Third Sector, corrective proposals of law have already been filed. We are therefore awaiting the regulatory intervention of the Ministry of Justice.
