REPORT on Commissioners’ declarations of interests – guidelines

28.10.2016 - (2016/2080(INI))

Committee on Legal Affairs
Rapporteur: Pascal Durand

Amendments

Procedure : 2016/2080(INI)

Document stages in plenary

Document selected :

A8-0315/2016

Texts tabled :

A8-0315/2016

Debates :

PV 30/11/2016 - 17
CRE 30/11/2016 - 17

Votes :

PV 01/12/2016 - 6.22
Explanations of votes

Texts adopted :

P8_TA(2016)0477

MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION
EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
OPINION of the Committee on Budgetary Control
RESULT OF FINAL VOTE IN COMMITTEE RESPONSIBLE

MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT RESOLUTION

on Commissioners’ declarations of interests – guidelines

(2016/2080(INI))

The European Parliament,

– having regard to the Treaty on European Union (TEU), and in particular Article 17(3) thereof,

– having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), and in particular Article 245 thereof,

– having regard to Annex XVI of its Rules of Procedure (Guidelines for the approval of the Commission), and in particular paragraph 1(a), third sub-paragraph thereof,

– having regard to its decision of 28 April 2015 concerning the scrutiny of the declarations of financial interests of Commissioners-designate and the interpretation of paragraph 1(a) of Annex XVI to its Rules of Procedure[1],

– having regard to the Framework Agreement on relations between the European Parliament and the European Commission[2], in particular the points corresponding to Section II –Political Responsibility,

– having regard to its resolution of 8 September 2015 on procedures and practices regarding Commissioner hearings, lessons to be taken from the 2014 process[3],

– having regard to the Code of Conduct for European Commissioners of 20 April 2011[4], and in particular Articles 1.3, 1.4, 1.5 and 1.6 thereof,

– having regard to Rule 52 of its Rules of Procedure,

– having regard to the report of the Committee on Legal Affairs and the opinion of the Committee on Budgetary Control (A8-0315/2016),

A. whereas, pursuant to paragraph 1(a) of Annex XVI to its Rules of Procedure (Guidelines for the approval of the Commission), Parliament may express its opinion on the allocation of portfolios by the President-elect of the Commission and seek any information relevant to its reaching a decision on the aptitude of the Commissioners-designate; whereas Parliament expects to be sent all information relating to the financial interests of the Commissioners-designate and their declarations of interests to be sent for scrutiny to the committee responsible for legal affairs;

B. whereas, pursuant to point 3 under Section II (Political Responsibility) of the Framework Agreement on relations between the European Parliament and the European Commission, the designated Members of the Commission shall ensure full disclosure of all relevant information, in conformity with the obligation of independence to which they are subject under the Treaties; whereas this information shall be disclosed in line with procedures designed to ensure an open, fair and consistent assessment of the entire Commission-designate;

C. whereas, in accordance with its Decision of 28 April 2015 concerning the scrutiny of the declarations of financial interests of Commissioners-designate (interpretation of paragraph 1(a) of Annex XVI to the Rules of Procedure), scrutiny of the declaration of financial interests of a Commissioner-designate by the committee responsible for legal affairs consists not only of verifying that the declaration has been duly completed but also of assessing whether the content of the declaration is accurate and if a conflict of interests may be inferred;

D. whereas, pursuant to paragraph 1(a) of Annex XVI to its Rules of Procedure, Parliament shall evaluate Commissioners-designate on the basis of their personal independence, among other things, particularly in the light of the special role of guarantor of the Union interest assigned to the European Commission in the Treaties;

E. whereas, in its above-mentioned resolution of 8 September 2015, Parliament stated that confirmation by the Committee on Legal Affairs of the absence of any conflict of interests is an indispensable precondition for the commissioner hearings, particularly given that the Commission’s political mandate was strengthened in the Treaty of Lisbon;

F. whereas, in its above-mentioned resolution of 8 September 2015, Parliament deemed it important for the Committee on Legal Affairs to issue guidelines in the form of recommendations or an own-initiative report, with a view to facilitating reform of the procedures relating to Commissioners’ declarations of interests, while calling on the Commission to revise its rules relating to Commissioners’ declarations of interests;

G. whereas, pursuant to point 1.3 of the Code of Conduct for Commissioners on selflessness, integrity, transparency, honesty, responsibility and respect for the dignity of Parliament, Commissioners must declare any financial interest or asset which might create a conflict of interests in the performance of their duties, and whereas this also applies to any holdings of the Commissioner’s spouse or partner – as defined by the rules in force [5] – which might result in a conflict of interests;

H. whereas the financial interests for which a declaration is required include any kind of specific financial participation in the capital of a company;

I. whereas, pursuant to point 1.4 of the Code of Conduct for Commissioners, to obviate any risk of a conflict of interests, Commissioners are required to declare the professional activities of their spouses or partners, and whereas this declaration must state the nature of the activity, the title of the position held and, where applicable, the name of the employer;

J. whereas, pursuant to point 1.5 of the Code of Conduct for Commissioners, the declaration of financial interests must be made using a form attached to the code of conduct, and whereas the form must be completed and made available before the hearing of the Commissioner-designate by Parliament and revised during his or her term of office if the information changes, and at least once a year;

K. whereas the information on the form is limited and inadequate, does not include a detailed definition of what constitutes a conflict of interests and therefore does not enable Parliament to properly evaluate fairly and consistently the existence of actual or potential conflicts of interests on the part of Commissioners-designate, or their ability to carry out their mandate in line with the Code of Conduct for Commissioners;

L. whereas, pursuant to point 1.6 of the Code of Conduct for Commissioners, a Commissioner shall not deal with any matter that involves her/his portfolio when she/he has any personal interest, in particular a family or financial interest which could impair her/his independence;

M. whereas the Commission is ultimately responsible for the nature and scope of the information to be included in the declarations of interests of its members; whereas the Commission must therefore accurately provide the degree of transparency necessary for the proper functioning of the procedure to appoint Commissioners-designate;

N. whereas, pursuant to point 5 of the Framework Agreement on relations between the European Parliament and the European Commission, Parliament may ask the President of the Commission to withdraw confidence in an individual Member of the Commission; whereas, pursuant to point 7 of the same, the President of the Commission must inform Parliament if she/he intends to reshuffle the allocation of responsibilities amongst the Members of the Commission so as to enable parliamentary consultation on the matter;

O. whereas overall the current Commission Members’ declarations of financial interests can be considered an improvement on the handling of declarations in 2008-2009, but whereas there has been no shortage of episodes which have necessitated a subsequent clarification of certain declarations of interests;P. whereas it is to be deplored that the Code of Conduct for Commissioners adopted in 2011 fails to address sufficiently several of Parliament’s recommendations for improvements, in particular as regards the declarations of financial interests of Members of the Commission, the post-office employment restrictions and the strengthening of the Ad Hoc Ethical Committee responsible for the assessment of conflicts of interest; whereas, in this context, the positions adopted by Parliament regarding the changes and improvements to the procedure for hearing Commissioners‑designate should also be borne in mind;Q. whereas one of the pillars of European governance is the strengthening of ethics and transparency within the EU institutions in order to improve European citizens’ trust in them, particularly in the light of the more ample political mandate entrusted to the Commission since the Lisbon Treaty;

General observations

1. Notes that the aim of scrutinising Commissioners' declarations of financial interests is to ensure that the Commissioners-designate are able to fulfil their mandates completely independently and to ensure maximum transparency and accountability on the part of the Commission, in accordance with Article 17(3) TEU, with Article 245 TFEU and with the Code of Conduct for Commissioners; notes, accordingly, that this should not be restricted to the appointment of the new Commission, but should also take place in the event of a vacancy resulting from the resignation, compulsory retirement or death of a Commissioner, the accession of a new Member State or substantial modification of a Commissioner’s portfolio or financial interests;

2. Takes the view that evaluating a possible conflict of interests must be based on conclusive, objective and relevant factors and take into account the portfolio of the Commissioner-designate;

3. Points out that a conflict of interests is defined as ‘any interference situation between a public interest and public and private interests that is likely to affect or that appears likely to affect the independent, impartial and objective exercise of a duty’;

4. Confirms that the Committee on Legal Affairs is competent and responsible for carrying out a substantive analysis of the declarations of financial interests by means of an in-depth examination aimed at assessing whether the content of the declaration made by a Commissioner-designate is accurate and conforms to the criteria and principles laid down in the Treaties and the code of conduct, or whether a conflict of interests may be inferred, and that it must be able to propose to the President of the Commission the replacement of that Commissioner; calls, therefore, on the Commission to provide all factual tools and information to enable the Committee on Legal Affairs to perform a complete and objective analysis;

5. Considers it essential that the Committee on Legal Affairs has enough time to ensure that this detailed assessment is effective.

6. Notes that the Committee on Legal Affairs observes the strictest confidentiality when examining questions relating to the declarations of interests of the Commissioners-designate, but also ensures, in accordance with the principle of transparency, that its conclusions are published as soon as they are available;

7. Considers that beyond the time allocated for questions that the Committee on Legal Affairs wishes to put to the Commissioner-designate, should it note a possible conflict of interests, it should be granted the right to continue with the hearing and obtain the required clarifications;

Procedure for scrutinising declarations of financial interests before the hearings of the Commissioners-designate

8. Considers that confirmation by the Committee on Legal Affairs of the absence of any conflict of interests, based on a substantive analysis of the declaration of financial interests, is an essential precondition for the holding of the hearing by the committee responsible[6];

9. Takes the view, therefore, that in the absence of such confirmation or if the Committee on Legal Affairs identifies a conflict of interests, the procedure for appointing the Commissioner-designate shall be suspended;

10. Considers that the following guidelines should be applied when the declarations of financial interests are scrutinised by the Committee on Legal Affairs:

a) if, when scrutinising a declaration of financial interests, the Committee of Legal Affairs deems, on the basis of the documents presented, the declaration to be accurate, complete and to contain nothing indicating an actual or potential conflict of interests in connection with the portfolio of the Commissioner-designate, its Chair shall send a letter confirming this fact to the committees responsible for the hearing or to the committees involved in the event of a procedure taking place during a Commissioner's term of office;

b) if the Committee on Legal Affairs deems the declaration of interests of a Commissioner-designate to contain information which is incomplete or contradictory, or if there is a need for further information, it shall request, pursuant to the Rules of Procedure[7] and the Framework Agreement on relations between the European Parliament and the Commission[8], the Commissioner-designate to provide this information without undue delay and shall consider and properly analyse this before making its decision; the Committee responsible for Legal Affairs can decide, where appropriate, to invite the Commissioner-designate for a hearing;

c) if the Committee on Legal Affairs identifies a conflict of interests based on the declaration of financial interests or the supplementary information supplied by the Commissioner-designate, it shall draw up recommendations aimed at resolving the conflict of interests; the recommendations may include renouncing the financial interests in question, changes being made to the portfolio of the Commissioner-designate by the President of the Commission; in more serious cases, if no other recommendation is able to provide for a solution to the conflict of interests, as the last resort, the committee responsible for legal affairs can conclude on the inability of Commissioner-designate to exercise his/her function according to the Treaty and to the Code of Conduct; the President of Parliament shall ask the President of the Commission what further steps the latter intends to take;

Procedure for scrutinising declarations of financial interests during a Commissioner's term of office

11. Underlines the obligation for all Members of the Commission to ensure that their declarations of interests are immediately updated whenever there is a change in their financial interests, and calls on the Commission to inform Parliament immediately of any changes or of anything causing a conflict of interests or a potential conflict of interests to arise;

12. Considers, therefore, that the declaration of financial interests must include present or past interests or activities from the last two years that are of a property, professional, personal or family nature in line with the offered portfolio; it must also take account of the fact that the interest may pertain to an advantage for the person involved or for a third party, and that it may also be of a moral, material or financial nature;

13. Considers that any change in the financial interests of a Commissioner during her/his term of office or any reshuffling of the allocation of responsibilities between Members of the Commission constitutes a new situation in terms of the possible existence of a conflict of interests; believes, therefore, that this situation should be subject to scrutiny by Parliament in accordance with paragraph 10 of this resolution and with point (2) of Annex XVI (Guidelines for the approval of the Commission) to the Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament;

14. Notes that, pursuant to the second sub-paragraph of Article 246 TFEU, Parliament shall be consulted in the event of a Commissioner being replaced during her/his term of office; considers that this must include verification of the absence of a conflict of interests, among other things, in line with paragraph 10 of this resolution, and with the provisions set out in Annex XVI (Guidelines for the approval of the Commission) to its Rules of Procedure[9] regarding the competences of the European Parliament in the event of a change in composition of the College of Commissioners or a substantial portfolio change during its terms of office;

15. Considers that, in the event of a conflict of interests being identified during a Commissioner's term of office and of the President of the Commission not following Parliament's recommendations for resolving the conflict of interests as set out in paragraph 10 of this resolution, the Committee on Legal Affairs may recommend that Parliament ask the President of the Commission to withdraw confidence in that Commissioner, in accordance with Article 17(6) TEU and, where appropriate, that Parliament calls on the President of the Commission to act in accordance with the second subparagraph of Article 245 TFEU with a view to depriving the Commissioner in question of his right to a pension or other benefits in its stead;

Code of conduct for Commissioners

16. Notes that the Code of Conduct for Commissioners adopted on 20 April 2011 regarding impartiality, integrity, transparency, diligence, probity, responsibility and discretion presents improvements over the preceding code adopted in 2004 as regards the declaration of financial interests in that disclosure requirements are extended to Commissioners’ partners and the declaration of interests has to be revised when information changes or, at the least, every year;

17. Points out that the credibility of the declaration of financial interests depends on the accuracy of the form presented to the Commissioner-designate; considers that the current scope of Commissioners’ declarations of interests is too limited and their explanatory content ambiguous; calls, therefore, on the Commission to revise the code of conduct as soon as possible in order to ensure that the declarations of interests provide the Committee on Legal Affairs with accurate information with which it can substantiate its decision unequivocally;

18. Considers that, in order to gain a more complete picture of the financial situation of the declaring Commissioner, the declarations of financial interests referred to in points 1.3 to 1.5 of the Code of Conduct for Commissioners should include all financial interests and activities of the Commissioner-designate and his/her spouse/partner, and should on no account be limited to those “likely to constitute a conflict of interest”;

19. Considers that the family interests referred to in point 1.6 of the Code of Conduct for Commissioners should be included in the declarations of financial interests; calls, in this regard, on the Commission to establish a fair means of identifying family interests that are liable to create a conflict of interest;

20. Takes the view that, in order to extend and improve the rules on conflicts of interest, the declarations of interests should also include the details of any contractual relation of the Commissioners-designate which might create a conflict of interests in the performance of their duties;

21. Deplores the fact that the code of conduct fails to codify adequately the requirement under Article 245 TFEU that ‘both during and after their term of office, Commissioners will respect the obligations, in particular their duty to behave with integrity and discretion as regards the acceptance, after they have ceased to hold office, of certain appointments or benefits’;

22. Deplores the failure of the code of conduct to lay down any divestment requirements, despite the fact that such requirements must be standard in any ethics regime; regards it as a priority to regulate this aspect with the utmost despatch;

23. Notes that the code of conduct does not stipulate any concrete time frame for submission of the declaration prior to Parliament’s hearing of the Commissioners‑designate; regards this requirement as a fundamental aspect of the revision of the procedure for hearing Commissioners-designate;

24. Deplores the fact that the Commission does not report regularly on the implementation of the Code of Conduct for Commissioners, in particular as regards their declarations of interests, and considers that the code of conduct should be amended so as to provide for complaints or sanctions with regard to infringements, with the exception of serious misconduct as referred to in Articles 245 and 247 TFEU;

25. Deplores, in particular, the negative response by the President of the Commission to the request of the European Ombudsman to proactively publish its decisions on the authorisation of post-term-of-office activities of former Commissioners, as well as the opinions of the Ad Hoc Ethical Committee; emphasises that the mere publishing of the minutes of Commission meetings is insufficient to offer the Parliament and civil society an insight into the interpretation in practice of ‘potential conflicts of interest’ and the integrity policies developed in this connection by the Ad Hoc Ethical Committee;

26. Points out that all ex-Commissioners are banned for 18 months from lobbying ‘members of the European Commission and their staff for his/her business, client, or employer on matters for which they have been responsible’, but are entitled to a very generous transitional allowance after they leave the Commission of between 40 and 65 per cent of their final basic salary for three years;

27. Welcomes the fact that the code of conduct has introduced a provision concerning the reallocation of files between Members of the Commission in the event of potential conflicts of interest, but deplores the fact that:

(a) there is no detailed definition of what constitutes a conflict of interest;

(b) the provision is limited to matters within the relevant Commissioner’s portfolio and thus ignores the Commissioner’s duties as a member of a college;

(c) there are no criteria for the President to decide on reallocation, nor any binding framework for informing Parliament, nor any procedure in place in the event of a Commissioner failing to notify a conflict of interest or engaging in any activity incompatible with the nature of his or her duties;

28. Calls on the Commission to revise, as a matter of urgency, the 2011 Code of Conduct for Commissioners to take account of the recommendations made by Parliament in its recent resolutions and of the development of the general ethics and transparency standards that apply to all EU institutions; recommends that the Commission modify its Code of Conduct for Commissioners with a view to ensuring:

(a) that Commissioners declare all their financial interests, including assets and liabilities over EUR 10 000;

(b) that Commissioners declare all their interests (as shareholders, company board members, advisors and consultants, members of associated foundations, etc.) as regards all the companies in which they have been involved, including close family interests, as well as the changes that took place at the time their candidacy was made known;

(d) that Commissioners clarify fully the objectives of organisations with which they and/or their spouse and/or their dependent children are involved, in order to establish whether any conflict of interest exists;

(e) that Commissioners disclose their membership of any non-governmental organisations, secret societies or associations which conceal their existence that carry out activities intended to interfere with the exercise of the functions of public bodies;

(f) that Commissioners and their dependent family members disclose their membership of any non-governmental organisations and any donations to NGOs of more than EUR 500;

(g) that the code of conduct be amended, in line with Article 245 TFEU, to extend Commissioners’ post-office employment restriction to two years;

(h) that the code of conduct include specific divestment requirements;

(i) that Commissioners-designate submit their declarations within a specific time frame and sufficiently well in advance, so that the Ad Hoc Ethical Committee can submit to Parliament its views on potential conflicts of interests well in time for the hearings in Parliament;

(j) that Commissioners meet only representatives of lobby groups that are included in the Transparency Register, which contains information on persons seeking to influence policymaking at the EU institutions;

(k) that Commissioners submit, when nominated, a signed declaration confirming that they will appear before any of Parliament’s committees in relation to the activities involved in their mandate;

(l) that the declaration is published in a format which is compatible with open data so that it can be easily processed via databases;

(m) that the procedure for reallocating files in the event of a conflict of interest is improved in terms of taking into account the Commissioner’s duties as a member of the College, of introducing criteria regarding integrity and discretion for the President as regards the decision to reallocate files, of implementing a binding procedure and sanctions for cases in which a Commissioner fails to provide information about a possible conflict of interest, and of introducing a binding procedure for informing Parliament about the aforementioned cases;

(n) that the Commission reports on an annual basis on the implementation of the Code of Conduct for Commissioners and provides for complaint procedures and sanctions in the event not only of serious misconduct but also of infringements of requirements, especially as regards the declaration of financial interests;

(o) that criteria are defined for compliance with Article 245 TFEU, which imposes on Commissioners a ‘duty to behave with honesty and discretion as regards the acceptance, after they have ceased to hold office, of certain appointments or benefits’;

(p) that decisions on the authorisation of post-term-of-office activities of former Commissioners, as well as the opinions of the Ad Hoc Ethical Committee, are proactively published;

(q) that the Ad Hoc Ethical Committee is composed of independent experts who have not themselves held the position of Commissioner;

(r) that the Ad Hoc Ethical Committee draws up and publishes an annual report on its activities, which may include any recommendations on the improvement of the Code of Conduct or of its implementation as the ad hoc committee sees fit.

29. Calls on the Commission to begin negotiations with Parliament aimed at making any necessary changes to the Framework Agreement on relations between the European Parliament and the European Commission;

30. Calls on the Committee on Constitutional Affairs to make any necessary changes to Parliament's Rules of Procedure, and in particular Annex XVI thereof, in order to implement this resolution;

31. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission.

[1] Texts adopted, P8_TA(2015)0096.
[2] OJ L 304, 20.11.2010, p. 47.
[3] Texts adopted, P8_TA(2015)0287.
[4] C(2011)2904.
[5] Stable non-marital partner, as defined in Regulation No 2278/69 (OJ L 289, 17.11.1969) and in Article 1(2)(c) of Annex VII to the Staff Regulations.
[6] See the European Parliament resolution of 8 September 2015 on procedures and practices regarding Commissioner hearings, lessons to be taken from the 2014 process.
[7] See point 1a of Annex XVI to the Rules of Procedure.
[8] See Section (II)(3) of the Framework Agreement on relations between the European Parliament and the Commission.
[9] See point 2 of Annex XVI to the Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament.

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

Background

Annex XVI to the European Parliament's Rules of Procedure on guidelines for the approval of the Commission states that 'Parliament may seek any information relevant to its reaching a decision on the aptitude of the Commissioners-designate. It shall expect full disclosure of information relating to their financial interests. The declarations of interests of the Commissioners-designate shall be sent for scrutiny to the committee responsible for legal affairs'.

This provision does not, however, dwell on the precise scope of the scrutiny by the Committee on Legal Affairs and particularly on whether this should be restricted to a formal analysis of the information supplied or, conversely, should constitute a substantive analysis. As a result of the practical difficulties caused by such a poorly-detailed provision – which were considerable during the procedure for appointing the last Commission – the coordinators in the Committee on Legal Affairs decided to request clarification from the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, which is the committee responsible, among other things, for interpreting Parliament's Rules of Procedure;

The interpretation recommended by the Committee on Constitutional Affairs was adopted in plenary on 28 April 2015. It reads as follows:

'Scrutiny of the declaration of financial interests of a Commissioner-designate by the committee responsible for legal affairs consists not only in verifying that the declaration has been duly completed but also in assessing whether a conflict of interests may be inferred from the content of the declaration. It is then for the committee responsible for the hearing to decide whether or not it requires further information from the Commissioner-designate.'

This interpretation confirms that the analysis must be substantive but places the burden of asking additional questions on the committee responsible for the hearing.

However, in its resolution of 8 September 2015 on procedures and practices regarding Commissioner hearings, lessons to be taken from the 2014 process, Parliament emphasises the role of the Committee on Legal Affairs in so far as it 'Considers that checks on declarations of the financial interests of Commissioners designated by the Committee on Legal Affairs should be improved; [...]; considers that confirmation by the Committee on Legal Affairs of the absence of any conflict of interests, based on a substantive analysis of the declarations of financial interests, constitutes an essential precondition for the holding of the hearing by the committee responsible' (paragraph 4).

Parliament therefore 'considers it important [...] that the Committee on Legal Affairs should, in the coming months, issue guidelines in the form of a recommendation or own-initiative report, with a view to facilitating reform of the procedures relating to Commissioners’ declarations of interests; ' (paragraph 13).

In response to this invitation from plenary, the Committee on Legal Affairs asked to be able to adopt an own-initiative report on this matter.

The rapporteur’s position

The rapporteur proposes defining the scope of the scrutiny of the declarations of financial interests by the Committee on Legal Affairs. This would involve firstly tackling Parliament's internal procedures for the appointment of the new Commission and during its term of office and the transparency obligations incumbent on the Members of the Commission.

In general the rapporteur confirms Parliament's view that verifying the absence of a conflict of interests cannot be placed on the same level as evaluating a candidate's abilities and that it must therefore be an indispensable prerequisite for the hearing. He also believes that the concept of 'conflict of interests' must be strictly limited to factors which are objective and verifiable and can only be considered in relation to a given portfolio.

He therefore concludes that the role of the Committee on Legal Affairs is both to evaluate the existence of a possible conflict of interests and, where necessary, draw up recommendations for its resolution. These might include renouncing certain financial interests or changing the portfolio. For the scrutiny to be effective, he believes that the Committee on Legal Affairs should request further information in the event of a declaration which is dubious, incomplete or contradictory.

He also believes that monitoring the declarations of financial interests and, more generally, possible conflicts of interests on the part of the Members of the Commission should extend beyond the procedure to appoint the Commission. He therefore believes that any substantial change in the financial interests of a Commissioner during her/his term of office and any reshuffling of the allocation of responsibilities between Members of the Commission constitutes a new situation in terms of the possible existence of a conflict of interests and should therefore be scrutinised by Parliament.

The rapporteur also addresses the Commission. The Commission is ultimately responsible for selecting the information to be included in the declarations of interests of its members. The rapporteur therefore proposes a number of changes to the Commission's code of conduct and to the declarations of interests with the aim of ensuring that the declarations contain sufficient information to enable Commissioners' financial interests to be evaluated and that Parliament is informed of all changes made.

He also believes that the Committee on Constitutional Affairs should be asked to make any necessary changes to Parliament's Rules of Procedure, and in particular Annex XVI thereof, in order to implement the guidelines which appear in the report.

OPINION of the Committee on Budgetary Control (28.9.2016)

for the Committee on Legal Affairs

on Commissioners’ declarations of interests - Guidelines
(2016/2080(INI))

Rapporteur: Ingeborg Gräßle

SUGGESTIONS

The Committee on Budgetary Control calls on the Committee on Legal Affairs, as the committee responsible, to incorporate the following suggestions into its motion for a resolution:

– having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 245 thereof;

A. whereas overall the current Commission Members’ declarations of financial interests can be considered an improvement on the handling of declarations in 2008-2009, but whereas there has been no shortage of episodes which have necessitated a subsequent clarification of certain declarations of interests;

B. whereas it is to be deplored that the Code of Conduct for Commissioners adopted in 2011 fails to address sufficiently several of Parliament’s recommendations for improvements, in particular as regards the declarations of financial interests of Members of the Commission, the post-office employment restrictions and the strengthening of the Ad Hoc Ethical Committee responsible for the assessment of conflicts of interest; whereas in this context the positions adopted by Parliament regarding the changes and improvements to the procedure for hearing Commissioners‑designate should also be borne in mind;

C. whereas one of the pillars of European governance is the strengthening of ethics and transparency within the EU institutions in order to improve European citizens’ trust in them, particularly in the light of the more ample political mandate entrusted to the Commission since the Lisbon Treaty;

Improvements under the 2011 code of conduct

1. Notes that the Code of Conduct for Commissioners adopted on 20 April 2011 (C(2011)2904) regarding impartiality, integrity, transparency, diligence, probity, responsibility and discretion presents improvements over the preceding code adopted in 2004 as regards the declaration of financial interests in that disclosure requirements are extended to Commissioners’ partners and the declaration of interests has to be revised when information changes or, at the least, every year;

Follow-up to CONT recommendations

2. Denounces the fact that the 2011 code of conduct failed to address all the recommendations issued by Parliament’s Committee on Budgetary Control on 2 March 2011[1], and points out, in particular, that Commissioners should be required to declare all their financial interests or assets and not only those interests or assets ‘which might create a conflict of interest in the performance of their duties’, that there is no requirement to declare debts and liabilities and that dependent children are not required to produce the same information as spouses;

3. Stresses in particular that Commissioners are expected to make their own judgement as to what might create a conflict of interest in the absence of a clear definition or regulatory framework to guide them, particularly in the light of the Commission’s role as Guardian of the Treaties;

European Commission implementation

4. Expresses concern regarding the updated study on ‘The Code of conduct for Commissioners – Improving effectiveness and efficiency’ (IP/D/CONT/IC/2014-053), which detected a number of deficiencies in the declarations of interests of the current Members of the Commission, mainly:

(a) with regard to the description of posts held over the last ten years in foundations or similar bodies, as the purpose of the organisation is not sufficiently clear for an assessment to be made of the existence of a possible conflict of interest;

(b) with regard to the description of the nature of ‘other professional activities’;

(c) with regard to the declaration of possession of company shares, stock or other property or rights representing assets and other intangible assets;

(d) with regard to real estate, given that Commissioners declare items of real estate that are homes for the exclusive use of the owner despite this type of real estate being exempted from the declaration requirement;

Stresses that no hasty conclusions should be drawn that cannot be substantiated by facts based on a comprehensive analysis of the data sets gathered to date;

5. Regrets that the code of conduct fails to codify adequately the requirement under Article 245 TFEU that ‘both during and after their term of office, Commissioners will respect the obligations...in particular their duty to behave with integrity and discretion as regards the acceptance, after they have ceased to hold office, of certain appointments or benefits’;

6. Deplores the failure of the code of conduct to lay down any divestment requirements, despite the fact that such requirements must be standard in any ethics regime; regards it as a priority to regulate this aspect with the utmost despatch;

7. Notes that the code of conduct does not stipulate any concrete time frame for submission of the declaration prior to Parliament’s hearing of the Commissioners‑designate; regards this requirement as a fundamental aspect of the revision of the procedure for hearing Commissioners-designate;

8. Regrets that the declaration is only published in PDF format, which is difficult to put into an electronic database;

9. Regrets that the Commission does not report regularly on the implementation of the Code of Conduct for Commissioners, in particular as regards their declarations of interests, and considers that the code of conduct should be amended so as to provide for complaints or sanctions with regard to infringements, with the exception of serious misconduct as referred to in Articles 245 and 247 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union;

10. Regrets, in particular, the negative response by the President of the Commission to the request of the European Ombudsman to proactively publish its decisions on the authorisation of post-term-of-office activities of former Commissioners, as well as the opinions of the Ad Hoc Ethical Committee; emphasises that the mere publishing of the minutes of Commission meetings is insufficient to offer the Parliament and civil society an insight into the interpretation in practice of ‘potential conflicts of interest’ and the integrity policies developed in this connection by the Ad Hoc Ethical Committee;

11. Points out that all ex-Commissioners are banned for 18 months from lobbying ‘members of the European Commission and their staff for his/her business, client, or employer on matters for which they have been responsible’ but are entitled to a very generous transitional allowance after they leave the Commission of between 40 and 65 per cent of their final basic salary for three years;

12. Welcomes the fact that the code of conduct has introduced a provision concerning the reallocation of files between Members of the Commission in the event of potential conflicts of interest, but regrets that:

(a) there is no detailed definition of what constitutes a conflict of interest;

(b) the provision is limited to matters within the relevant Commissioner’s portfolio and thus ignores the Commissioner’s duties as a member of a college;

(c) there are no criteria for the President to decide on reallocation, nor any binding framework for informing Parliament nor any procedure in place in the event of a Commissioner failing to notify a conflict of interest or engaging in any activity incompatible with the nature of his or her duties;

Recommendations

13. Points out that the absence of any conflict of interest must be an essential precondition to be met before the Commissioners’ hearings, and that the financial interest declaration forms must therefore be completed and made available before a Commissioner is heard by the relevant European Parliament committee, and that they should be reviewed at least once a year and each time there is a change to the information concerned;

14. Calls on the Commission, as it is ultimately responsible for ensuring the degree of transparency necessary for the proper functioning of the procedure to appoint Commissioners, to make substantial improvements to the Commissioners’ financial interest declaration forms so as to enable Parliament to make an accurate assessment, firstly, of whether or not Commissioners have actual or potential conflicts of interest and, secondly, of the Commissioners’ ability to carry out their mandate;

15. Calls on the Commission to revise the 2011 Code of Conduct for Commissioners as a matter of urgency to take account of the recommendations made by Parliament in its recent resolutions and of the development of the general ethics and transparency standards that apply to all EU institutions; recommends that the Commission modify its Code of Conduct for Commissioners with a view to ensuring:

(a) that Commissioners declare all their financial interests, including assets and liabilities over EUR 10 000;

(f) that Commissioners and their dependent family members disclose their membership of any non-governmental organisations and any donations to NGOs of more than EUR 500;

(g) that the Code of Conduct be amended, in line with Article 245 TFEU, to extend Commissioners’ post-office employment restriction to two years;

(h) that the code of conduct include specific divestment requirements;

(k) that Commissioners submit, when nominated, a signed declaration confirming that they will appear before any of Parliament’s committees in relation to the activities involved in their mandate;

(l) that the declaration is published in a format which is compatible with open data so that it can be easily processed via databases;

(m) that the Commission revises section 1.3 of the code of conduct, which stipulates that Commissioners must declare any financial interest or asset that might create a conflict of interest in the performance of their duties, and in particular the definition of conflicts of interest in order to make sure that all financial interests and related rules are clearly defined and to guide both Commissioners-designate and Commissioners in office on how to implement section 1.3 of the code of conduct fully and comprehensively;

(n) that the procedure for reallocating files in the event of a conflict of interest is improved in terms of taking into account the Commissioner’s duties as a member of the College, of introducing criteria regarding integrity and discretion for the President as regards the decision to reallocate files, of implementing a binding procedure and sanctions for cases in which a Commissioner fails to provide information about a possible conflict of interest and of introducing a binding procedure for informing Parliament about the aforementioned cases;

(o) that the Commission reports on an annual basis on the implementation of the Code of Conduct for Commissioners and provides for complaint procedures and sanctions in the event not only of serious misconduct but also of infringements of requirements, especially as regards the declaration of financial interests;

(p) that criteria are defined for compliance with Article 245 TFEU, which imposes on Commissioners a ‘duty to behave with honesty and discretion as regards the acceptance, after they have ceased to hold office, of certain appointments or benefits’;

(q) that decisions on the authorisation of post-term-of-office activities of former Commissioners, as well as the opinions of the Ad Hoc Ethical Committee, are proactively published;

(r) that the Ad Hoc Ethical Committee is composed of independent experts who have not themselves held the position of Commissioner;

(s) that the Ad Hoc Ethical Committee draws up and publishes an annual report on its activities, which may include any recommendations on the improvement of the Code of Conduct or of its implementation as the ad hoc committee sees fit.

RESULT OF FINAL VOTE IN COMMITTEE ASKED FOR OPINION

Date adopted	26.9.2016
Result of final vote	+: –: 0:	23 0 0
Members present for the final vote	Nedzhmi Ali, Inés Ayala Sender, Ryszard Czarnecki, Dennis de Jong, Martina Dlabajová, Luke Ming Flanagan, Jens Geier, Ingeborg Gräßle, Verónica Lope Fontagné, Georgi Pirinski, Petri Sarvamaa, Claudia Schmidt, Bart Staes, Marco Valli, Derek Vaughan, Tomáš Zdechovský, Joachim Zeller
Substitutes present for the final vote	Cătălin Sorin Ivan, Andrey Novakov, Julia Pitera, Richard Sulík
Substitutes under Rule 200(2) present for the final vote	John Stuart Agnew, Edouard Ferrand

[1] Letter from Mr De Magistris, chair of the Committee on Budgetary Control, to Mr Lehne, Chair of the Conference of Committee Chairs.

RESULT OF FINAL VOTE IN COMMITTEE RESPONSIBLE

Date adopted	13.10.2016
Result of final vote	+: –: 0:	20 0 0
Members present for the final vote	Max Andersson, Joëlle Bergeron, Marie-Christine Boutonnet, Jean-Marie Cavada, Kostas Chrysogonos, Therese Comodini Cachia, Mady Delvaux, Rosa Estaràs Ferragut, Enrico Gasbarra, Gilles Lebreton, António Marinho e Pinto, Julia Reda, Evelyn Regner, Pavel Svoboda, József Szájer, Tadeusz Zwiefka
Substitutes present for the final vote	Sergio Gaetano Cofferati, Pascal Durand, Evelyne Gebhardt, Constance Le Grip, Virginie Rozière

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