Changes to party financing law could undermine Germany's eurosceptics

Berlin (dpa) - The German government has put forward changes to the country‘s party financing laws that would undermine the finances of right-wing populist party Alternative for Germany (AfD), mass circulation newspaper Bild reported on Friday.The AfD, which has made a comeback in recent weeks by campaigning for stringent immigration controls in the wake of Islamist terrorist attacks in Paris, finances itself to a large extent by selling gold online.Political parties in Germany are eligible for a maximum of 2 million euros (2.2 million dollars) in state aid each year if they generate the same amount in revenues - usually in the form of grassroots donations.Set up last year, the AfD‘s controversial online platform sought to circumvent the law by creating revenues from gold sales. Its income surpassed the 2-million-euro mark in 2014, and as a result it received the same amount from state coffers.If the changes go through, political parties will no longer receive state aid on the basis of "artificial revenues" as opposed to the grassroots donations envisioned by lawmakers, according to the draft law seen by Bild.The legislative changes also include an increase in state aid for political parties according to the number of votes they receive, with each party to receive 1 euro per vote for the first 4 million votes instead of the 85 cents the existing law stipulates.