23

(1) The executive committee of the party shall render public account, truthfully and to the best of its knowledge and belief, of the origin and use of funds and of the party's assets at the end of the calendar year (accounting year) in a statement of account. Before the statement of account is forwarded to the President of the German Bundestag, it shall be discussed by the executive committee of the party. The party's national executive committee, the executive committees of the Land branches, and the executive committees of regional branches comparable to Land branches shall each be responsible for their rendering of account.
Their statements of account shall be signed by the chairperson and by an executive committee member who has been elected by the party convention and is responsible for financial affairs, or by an executive committee member elected by the body which, under the statutes, is responsible for financial affairs. These executive committee members responsible for financial affairs shall affirm by their signature that the information contained in their statements of account is given truthfully and to the best of their knowledge and belief. The statement of account for the whole party shall be compiled and signed by a member of the national executive committee who has been elected by the party convention and is responsible for financial affairs, or by a member of the national executive committee who has been elected by the body which, under the statutes, is responsible for financial affairs.
(2) The statement of account must be scrutinized by a certified auditor or auditing company in accordance with Articles 29 to 31. In the case of parties which do not meet the requirements of Article 18 (4), sentence 1, first half of the sentence, the statement of account may be scrutinized by a sworn public accountant or a certified auditing company. It must be submitted to the President of the German Bundestag within the time period fixed in Article 19a (3), sentence 1, first half of the sentence, and circulated by him as a Bundestag printed paper. If a party does not meet the requirements of Article 18 (4), sentence 1, first half of the sentence, and neither earns any income nor owns assets in excess of 5,000 euros in the accounting year, it may submit an unaudited statement of account to the President of the German Bundestag. The President of the German Bundestag may publish statements of account that have been submitted in unaudited form. The party statement of account shall be submitted to the next national party convention after its publication for discussion.
(3) The President of the German Bundestag shall examine pursuant to Article 23a whether the statement of account has been prepared in accordance with the regulations of Section V. The result of the examination shall be recorded in the report specified in Paragraph 4.
(4) The President of the German Bundestag shall report to the German Bundestag every two years on the trend in the financial situation of the parties and on the parties' statements of account. In addition, he shall prepare annual comparative abstracts of the parties' income and expenditure and their assets. The reports shall be circulated as Bundestag printed papers.