169.Paragraph 8 of Schedule 9 determines the campaign expenditure limits in circumstances where the relevant period for a European Parliamentary election overlaps with the relevant period for an election to the Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly or Northern Ireland Assembly. If the elections to the European Parliament and the devolved legislature are held according to the fixed timetables provided for in the relevant statutes, such overlapping of relevant periods will happen only once every twenty years. The next occurrence will be in 2019 when the elections to the three devolved legislatures would be held on Thursday 2 May followed, five weeks later, with the elections to the European Parliament on Thursday 6 June.
170.Paragraph 8(3) provides that where the relevant period (as defined in paragraphs 4 to 7) for these elections overlap the limits that would have applied to the European election and to the election to a devolved legislature are to be aggregated. Where a party contested all the constituencies and/or regions in both elections, the maximum amount of campaign expenditure that could be incurred would be as set out in the table below:
171.Paragraph 8(4) defines the relevant period in respect of which the aggregate campaign expenditure limits are to apply. Were the European Parliamentary elections and the elections to the devolved legislatures to overlap, as scheduled, in 2019 the relevant period in that instance would begin on 3 January 2019 (four months before the date of the ordinary elections to the devolved legislatures) and end on 9 June 2019 (the date of the election to the European Parliament).
Commentary on Sections Part V: Control of campaign expenditure Combination of elections to European Parliament and to devolved legislature