Ethics Standards in the EU Administration

The EU institutions have a series of ethics rules designed to protect the integrity of the administration and ensure that citizens are served by independent and accountable civil servants.

The European Ombudsman helps monitor how these rules are implemented and where there is need for improvement. Over the years, the Ombudsman’s work has led to more robust ethics standards in the EU administration.

Conflicts of interest

Preventing and managing conflicts of interest is essential for ensuring an impartial EU administration and maintaining public trust in the EU institutions. Even a perceived conflict of interest can damage public trust and raise questions about whether decisions have been taken to further a special interest.

Bidding on EU tenders

The EU law governing public procurement procedures financed by its budget has been updated to exclude bidders with professional conflicts of interest. The European Commission also updated its internal procurement guidelines to clarify to its staff that they should exclude these bidders.

The changes follow an Ombudsman inquiry into the Commission’s decision to award an investment management company a contract for a study in an area of business interest to it.

Experts advising the Commission

The conflict of interest policy for experts advising the Commission includes rules for processing experts’ declarations of interests and managing conflicts of interests. The Commission also publishes experts’ declarations of interests in its expert groups register.

The Commission implemented this policy following a suggestion from the Ombudsman. The Ombudsman took a renewed look at the accountability of expert groups in a strategic inquiry opened in 2024.

Business trips of EU staff

To help prevent potential conflicts of interests, the Commission forbid governments from outside the EU as well as corporate interests from paying for business trips taken by Commission staff.

The Commission presented the changes after the Ombudsman asked how it deals with the payment of travel expenses and hospitality by third parties.

Revolving doors

EU officials moving to a related job in the private sector, known as revolving doors, has the potential to undermine public trust in the EU if not properly managed. Several Ombudsman inquiries in this area have raised awareness about the importance of ensuring that former officials cannot lobby their past colleagues. The Ombudsman continues to monitor this issue by looking into how institutions handle revolving doors in general and in specific cases.

Changes to how the Commission handles revolving doors

The European Commission no longer allows staff on temporary leave to take up employment in areas where there is a conflict of interest risk. The Commission also said it would publish its annual overview of senior staff moves to the private sector faster than it used to, allowing more effective public scrutiny of its decisions.

The Commission implemented these changes during and after a broad Ombudsman inquiry into how it handles revolving door cases.

Improvements at the European Banking Authority and the European Defence Agency

The European Banking Authority and the European Defence Agency have improved their rules around revolving doors and said that they would forbid senior staff from taking up certain positions in the private sector.

The Ombudsman had conducted inquiries into how both bodies dealt with moves by senior staff to related private sector jobs.

Code of Conduct for Commissioners

The European Commission strengthened the ethics and transparency rules governing commissioners’ activities, during and after their time in office.

The updated Code of Conduct requires more detailed financial interest declarations and longer cooling off periods for former commissioners (two years) and former commission presidents (three years). The Independent Ethical Committee’s opinions on commissioners’ post-mandate jobs are also now published.

The changes were welcomed by the Ombudsman and reflected suggestions she made in a series of inquiries.

Guidelines for taking part in elections

The European Commission drew up guidelines for commissioners wanting to participate in national elections.

The Ombudsman wrote to the Commission on this issue following a complaint concerning the presence of the Commission President and a Vice-President in a video supporting a national political party’s election campaign.

Stronger ethics rules in the European Parliament

The Ombudsman, whose mandate covers the administrative actions of the European Parliament, provided input to the Parliament’s reform plans in the wake of allegations that non-EU countries had tried to buy influence in the Parliament.

The Ombudsman praised the improved ethics rules but noted that they need to be properly implemented and enforced. The new rules include the obligation on Members of the European Parliament to publish all meetings organised with registered lobbyists and diplomatic representatives from non-EU countries.

Dos and Don’ts for dealing with lobbyists

To help ensure public officials do not inadvertently breach ethical norms, the Ombudsman published a list of practical recommendations for interactions with interest representatives. The list of ‘Dos and Don’ts’ assists civil servants in distinguishing between lobbying that makes a genuine contribution to effective policy making and the exercise of undue influence.

Ethics standards in the EU administration