Political financing regulation is a body of principles, rules and procedures through which parties attempt to limit the undue influence of money in politics. In most countries state bodies such as governmental departments, national electoral commissions, specialised financing monitoring bodies were entrusted or created to monitor and enforce political and financial regulations.

The list of corrupt practices experienced in Asia and Europe associated to party and election financing is widely known to decision-makers and the public at large: favouritism and malpractice in public procurement, distortion of privatisation processes, selective licensing, abuse of public resources for campaigning, creation of slush funds in state-owned enterprises and public bodies etc.

The 2-day workshop looked at what can be learned about a self-regulating body by comparatively analysing the different regulatory experiences that have evolved across countries in Asia and Europe.

Drawing from different regulatory experiences and multi-disciplinary perspectives in both Asia and Europe, the workshop's aims were to:

1. Examine existing bodies and mechanisms overseeing political financing.
2. Discuss the challenges and trends facing political financing today, particularly in Asian and European democratising countries.
3. Promote a professional network to discuss and exchange knowledge-based, innovative and integrated methods of strategies and activities regarding political financing.
4. Contribute to closer and informal relationship between different national actors in Asia and Europe.

18 Asian and European experts from relevant bodies in ASEM ministries, practitioners in the field of political financing and representatives from international and regional institutions (such as relevant bodies in the Council of Europe, the ASEAN Secretariat, the EC) national and international NGOs, the academe, think tanks, research institutes and the media, participated in the event

This workshop was organised in partnership with Instituto de Ciencias Sociais, Unversity of Lisbon and supported by GRECO, Council of Europe, the Assembleia da República Portuguesa, Transparency International and the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia.