Only seven EU countries require parties to reveal identity of all private donors

Spain and France are among the most opaque when it comes to declaring who party funders are, analysis shows

Only seven out of 27 EU countries require political parties to reveal the identity of all their private donors, with Spain and France among the most opaque when it comes to the influence of money over politics.

As the European parliament prepares for crucial elections next week, with polls predicting a surge in the number of hard-right MEPs, the Guardian and another 25 European media partners, coordinated by the investigative platform Follow the Money, are publishing Transparency Gap, the most extensive analysis yet of party financing in bloc.

The annual reports of more than 200 parties, most of which are fielding candidates in next week’s elections, have been gathered and analysed for the project.

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The research shows only Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Poland and Croatia – a quarter of member states – require the source of all donations to be identified.