EN Official Journal of the European Union C 286/4

COMMISSION DECISION

of 28 September 2011

setting up the Group of Experts on Corruption

2011/C 286/03

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Whereas:

(1) Article 67(3) of the Treaty assigned the European Union the task of ensuring a high level of security within the area of freedom, security and justice. To achieve that objective it is necessary to prevent and combat crime, organised and other, including corruption.

(2) The Stockholm programme — An open and secure Europe serving and protecting the citizens (1), adopted by the European Council on 10 and 11 December 2009, invites the Commission to develop indicators, on the basis of existing systems and common criteria, to measure efforts in the fight against corruption, in particular in the areas of the acquis (public procurement, financial control, etc.).

(3) The Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council of 22 November 2010 on the EU Internal Security Strategy in Action: Five steps towards a more secure Europe (2) stresses that sustaining political will to combat corruption is of key importance and that action at Union level and sharing of best practices is necessary. It announces a Commission proposal in 2011 on how to monitor and assist Member States' anti-corruption efforts.

(4) The Commission Decision of 6 June 2011 establishing an EU anti-corruption reporting mechanism for periodic assessment (‘EU Anti-Corruption Report’) (3) lays down the objectives and the necessary elements for the implementation of the EU Anti-Corruption Report. In accordance with that Decision, that report is to be published every two years, starting in 2013. The Report is to be managed by the Commission, assisted by an expert group appointed by the Commission following an open call procedure. The members of the expert group must have undisputed expertise, a high level of integrity and a reputation in the field of fighting corruption.

(5) The Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council and the European Economic and Social Committee of 6 June 2011 on fighting corruption in the EU (4) provides that the experts who are to assist the Commission in the work on the EU Anti-Corruption Report may come from a wide range of backgrounds, such as law enforcement, prevention, civil society, and must undertake to act in their personal professional capacity.

(6) It is therefore necessary to set up a group of experts in the field of anti-corruption and to define its tasks and its structure.

(7) The group should support the Commission's work on the EU Anti-Corruption Report and on any future Union policies deriving from it. In particular, the group should advise on matters such as: identifying cross-cutting and country-specific issues to be covered by each report, developing indicators, assessing the Member States' performance, identifying best practices, identifying EU trends, making recommendations and proposing EU measures where appropriate.

(8) The group should be composed of 17 members and ensure a balanced representation in terms of institutional and professional background and geographic regions.

(9) Rules should be laid down on disclosure of information by members of the group.

(10) Personal data relating to members of the group should be processed in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2000 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data (5).

(11) The term of office of the members should be four years and should be renewable,

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

Subject matter

The Group of Experts on Corruption, hereinafter referred to as ‘the group’, is hereby set up.

Article 2

Tasks

The group's tasks shall be:

(a) to advise the Commission on matters related to the EU Anti-Corruption Report, including the working methodology, as well as on matters related to EU anti-corruption policy, by means of oral and written contributions, as appropriate and agreed with the Commission;

(b) to help the Commission assess the evolution of anti-corruption policies at national, European and international levels and to assist the Commission in identifying EU trends in corruption;

(c) to assist the Commission in identifying relevant standards for the fight against corruption, as well as measurable indicators against which the assessments of the EU Anti-Corruption Report may be carried out;

(d) to assist the Commission in identifying ways of streamlining relevant information on the nature, extent and causes of corruption in the Member States, as well as on the effectiveness of efforts against corruption;

(e) to assist the Commission in identifying cross-cutting and country-specific anti-corruption issues, of relevance for the Union and for the Member States, as well as possible recommendations to be made in the EU Anti-Corruption Report;

(f) to advise the Commission on developing methodologies for assessing anti-corruption efforts in the EU-27;

(g) to assist the Commission in identifying and defining possible relevant measures and actions at Union and national level across the range of anti-corruption policies;

(h) to assist the Commission in identifying best practices and ways of experience sharing and peer learning which can be further developed at Union level.

Article 3

Consultation

The Commission may consult the group on any matter relating to the EU Anti-Corruption Report and EU anti-corruption policy.

Article 4

Membership — Appointment

1. The group shall be composed of 17 members.

2. Members shall be individuals of proven expertise and experience in the prevention and fight against public and private sector corruption, and in the monitoring and/or evaluation of anti-corruption policies and practices.

3. The composition of the group shall reflect the required balance of expertise required on anti-corruption matters, and the various aspects involved, such as, but not limited to, law enforcement, the judiciary, prevention, policy-making, monitoring and/or supervision, research into trends, policies and/or indicators, the public and private sector, criminal law, and economic and social aspects/impacts.

4. Members shall be nationals of a Member State of the European Union.

5. Members shall be appointed by the Director-General of the Commission's Directorate-General for Home Affairs from among those who have responded to the call for applications (see Annex to the present Decision).

6. On the basis of the call for applications, applicants who were deemed suitable candidates for group membership but were not appointed shall be placed on reserve list, with their consent. The Commission shall use this list for the appointment of replacements for members, if needed. If the Commission considers the reserve list insufficient, it may re-publish the call for applications in order to constitute a new list.

7. Members shall be appointed in a personal capacity for a period of four years. They shall act independently and in the public interest. They shall remain in office until replaced or until their term of office ends. Their term of office may be renewed.

8. Members who are no longer capable of contributing effectively to the group's deliberations, who resign or who do not comply with the conditions set out in this Article, or Article 339 of the Treaty, may be replaced for the remainder of their term of office.

9. The names of the group's members shall be published in the Register of Commission expert groups and other similar entities (‘the Register’) (6) and on the Internet site of the Directorate-General for Home Affairs.

10. Personal data shall be collected, processed and published in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council (7).

Article 5

Operation

1. The group shall be chaired by a representative of the Commission.

2. In agreement with the Commission, the group may set up sub-groups to examine specific questions on the basis of terms of reference defined by the group. Such groups shall be dissolved as soon as their mandate is completed.

3. The Commission's representative may invite experts from outside the group with specific competence in a subject on the agenda to participate in the work of the group or sub-group on an ad-hoc basis.

4. The Commission may grant observer status to representatives of international, inter-governmental and non-governmental organisations.

5. The working priorities of the group shall reflect the need for a coordinated, multi-disciplinary and coherent policy response to all aspects of corruption.

6. Members of the group, as well as invited experts and observers, shall comply with the obligations of professional secrecy laid down by the Treaties and their implementing rules, as well as with the Commission's rules on security regarding the protection of EU classified information, laid down in the Annex to Commission Decision 2001/844/EC, ECSC, Euratom (8). Should they fail to respect these obligations, the Commission may take appropriate measures.

7. The Commission shall provide secretarial services.

8. The group shall submit its opinions and reports to the Commission. The Commission may fix a deadline by which an opinion or a report is to be delivered.

9. The group may adopt its rules of procedure on the basis of the standard rules of procedure for expert groups.

10. The Commission publishes relevant information on the activities carried out by the group either by including it in the Register or via a link from the Register to the Internet site of the Directorate-General for Home Affairs.

Article 6

Meeting expenses

1. Participants in the activities of the group shall not be remunerated for the services they render.

2. Travel and subsistence expenses incurred by participants in the activities of the group shall be reimbursed by the Commission in accordance with the provisions in force within the Commission.

3. Those expenses shall be reimbursed within the limits of the available appropriations allocated under the annual procedure for the allocation of resources.

Article 7

Entry into force and applicability

This Decision shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union and shall apply for eight years.

Done at Brussels, 28 September 2011. For the Commission The President José Manuel BARROSO

(1) OJ C 115, 4.5.2010, p. 1.

(2) COM(2010) 673 final.

(3) C(2011) 3673 final.

(4) COM(2011) 308 final, not published. See Council document 11580/11.

(5) OJ L 8, 12.1.2001, p. 1.

(6) Members who do not wish to have their names disclosed may apply for exemption from this rule. A request not to disclose the name of a member of an expert group shall be considered justified whenever publication could endanger his or her security or integrity or unduly prejudice his or her privacy.

(7) Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2000 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data. See footnote 5.

(8) Commission Decision 2001/844/EC, ECSC, Euratom of 29 November 2001 amending its internal Rules of Procedure (OJ L 317, 3.12.2001, p. 1).