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; (c) that Commissioners’ dependent and/or direct family members disclose the same information as spouses or partners; (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 a period of at least three years and not shorter than the length of time during which former Commissioners are eligible for a transitional allowance as defined in Regulation No 422/67/EEC; (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;