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May 16, 2009

European Foundation Centre
Legal Barriers Present Significant Hurdles for European Foundations

More than $100-million worth of grants probably don’t get made each year because of legal barriers that make it hard for foundations in one European country to award money in another one, according to a study released at the meeting.

Some 110,000 foundations operate in Europe, according to the study conducted by Helmut Anheier, academic director of the Centre for Social Investment, in Germany, who presented the findings, and others.

To make it easier for those foundations to make grants across borders, the European Foundation Centre, and other philanthropy advocates, have been pushing for a law that would remove most of the legal difficulties.

The process of drafting and adopting such a law has been fraught with concerns as to how it would be carried out, exactly how it would be phrased, and whether it would even be relevant. Of particular concern is how the differences in tax treatment of foundations in various countries would work.

Marjut Leskinen, a policy officer at the European Commission, noted in a panel discussion here that the statute would have to be approved by the commission’s 27 member states.

Said Ms. Leskinen: “We can’t twist their arm to make them accept it.”

Saturday May 16, 2009 | Permalink

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