Report on the oversight of political party funding 2021

Each year, the National Audit Office of Finland (NAOF) audits political party funding and the government subsidies granted to political parties, i.e. party subsidies. In 2021, the NAOF audited the political party funding of district organisations and women’s organisations receiving government grants. The NAOF conducted a total of 52 audits. The National Audit Office also oversaw party subsidies by examining the agreement and accounting procedures related to the government grants.

As a rule, parties comply well with funding legislation. Contributions totalling approximately EUR 3.6 million were reported during 2021. The overseen entities can also file up-to-date disclosures on financial support received in earlier years, and the total for the previous years increased retroactively by approximately EUR 0.7 million as a result of the disclosures filed in 2021.  A significant part of the information supplementing the disclosures is the result of the National Audit Office’s audits of political party funding.

It is stated in the report that, as a rule, the overseen entities have kept their accounts appropriately and that the audit reports of certified auditors have improved in recent years. However, there is still room for improvement in the accounting of the overseen entities and in the work of certified auditors.

The audits of political party funding will continue in autumn 2022. The NAOF will further shorten the audit interval in order to improve the transparency of funding information and to keep it up to date.

The parliamentary election working group has developed the legislation on elections and political parties. The working group has examined the need to develop the Election Act, the Act on Political Parties, and the Act on a Candidate’s Election Funding.