Abstract

The issue of transparency of fiancing of political parties in the Republic of Cyprus has recently caused more debate. This topic is on the agenda of international organizations with the aim to combat corruption, of the Cyprus Parliament discussing Political Parties Law. The aim of this study is to determine the features of formation of the fiancing political parties’ system in the Republic of Cyprus, to allocate the stages towards transparency of this system. Considering the evolution of the party fiance regulating system in the Republic of Cyprus author identifis three stages: 1960 – 1991, 1991 - 2011, 2011 – till nowadays. These stages he divided according to the degree of state control over political fiancing. In this context, special attention was paid to the Law on registration, fiancing of political parties and similar issues in 2011 and 2012, which for the fist time regulate public and private fiancing, anonymous donations, as well as reporting and control. Along with this recommendations of the public and international non-governmental organizations for the adoption of amendments to current legislation to promote reform in the existing system are considered. Particular attention is paid to the Group of States against Corruption / GRECO and to the Third Evaluation Report on Cyprus on transparency of party funding. The author concludes that the adoption of these two documents was the result of the GRECO recommendations. Separating features towards to transparency in political party funding in the Republic of Cyprus, the author points out not only the important role of international organizations. He fids out that this issue should be considered in the context of Europeanization of political parties. Comparing stages of European integration of the island with the stages mentioned above, he points to the Europeanization of party funding regulation in Cyprus. In summary, the author provides forecasts about the prospects for reforming of the Cypriot party funding regulatory system, the need to discuss the issue of legalization lobby in Cyprus.