(This article is about political foundations affiliated to Europarties. For the Europarties themselves, see political party at European level.) A European political foundation, formally a political foundation at European level, informally a Eurofoundation, is a research and advocacy organization close to, but independent from a Europarty. They are funded by the European Parliament. Their purpose is to act as platforms aiming at developing forward-looking ideas and concepts for their respective political family and providing a forum where those ideas can be widely debated. There are nine Eurofoundations as of 16 March 2009.