Article 20 — Acquisition of European legal personality

1. A European political party or a European political foundation shall acquire European legal personality on the date of publication in the Official Journal of the European Union of the decision of the Authority to register it pursuant to Article 11. 2. If the Member State in which an applicant for registration as a European political party or a European political foundation has its seat so requires, the application submitted pursuant to Article 10 shall be accompanied by a statement issued by that Member State, certifying that the applicant has complied with all relevant national requirements for application, and that its statutes are in conformity with the applicable law referred to in Article 19(2), first subparagraph. 3. Where the applicant enjoys legal personality under the law of a Member State, the acquisition of European legal personality shall be regarded by that Member State as a conversion of the national legal personality into a successor European legal personality. The latter shall fully maintain any pre-existing rights and obligations of the former national legal entity, which shall cease to exist as such. The Member States concerned shall not apply prohibitive conditions to such conversions. The applicant shall maintain its seat in the Member State concerned until a decision in accordance with Article 11 has been published. 4. If the Member State in which the applicant has its seat so requires, the Authority shall fix the date of the publication referred to in paragraph 1 only after consultation with that Member State.