2000/791/EC: European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions Decision of 11 February 2000 establishing a code of good administrative behaviour
Date: 2000-02-11
Institutions: Eurofound
Subjects: Eurofound, citizen-authority relations, personnel administration

15.12.2000

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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II

(Acts whose publication is not obligatory)

EUROPEAN FOUNDATION FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF
LIVING AND WORKING CONDITIONS

EUROPEAN FOUNDATION FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF

LIVING AND WORKING

CONDITIONS DECISION

of 11 February 2000

establishing a code of good administrative behaviour

(2000/791/EC)

THE EUROPEAN FOUNDATION FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF
LIVING AND WORKING CONDITIONS,

Having regard to the Resolution of the European Parliament of
15 April 1999 on the Annual Report on the activities of the
European Ombudsman in 1998 (C4-0138/99),

Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 1365/75 of 26
May 1975 on the creation of a European Foundation for the
Improvement of Living and Working Conditions and amending
Regulation (EEC) No 1947/93,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 1860/76 of 29
June 1976 laying down the Conditions of Employment of Staff
of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and
Working Conditions and amending Regulations (EEC) No 680/
87, (EEC) No 1238/80 and (EEC) No 510/82,

Having regard to the provisions on openness in the Amsterdam
Treaty, and in particular Article 1 of the Treaty on European
Union and Article 21 of the European Community Treaty,

Having regard to the report of the Committee on Petitions of
the European Parliament on its own activities in 1996 to
1997 (1), in calling for a code of good administrative behav-
iour,

Having regard to the Resolution of the European Parliament of
16 July 1998 on the Annual Report on the activities of the
European Ombudsman in 1997 (C4-0270/98) (2),

Having regard to the own initiative inquiry of the European
Ombudsman into the existence and the public accessibility, in
the different Community institutions and bodies, of a code of
good administrative behaviour for officials in their relations
with the public,

Having regard to the existing Code of conduct concerning
public access to Foundation documents, contained in the
Decision of
the Administrative Board dated 21 November
1997 (3),

Whereas the Amsterdam Treaty has explicitly introduced the
concept of openness into the Treaty on European Union, by
stating that it marks a new stage in the process of creating an
ever closer union in which decisions are taken as openly as
possible and as closely as possible to the citizen,

Whereas,
in order to bring the administration closer to the
citizen and to guarantee a better quality of administration, a
code should be adopted which contains the basic principles of
good administrative behaviour for officials when dealing with
the public,

Whereas such a code is useful for both staff members, as it will
inform them in a detailed manner of the rules they have to
follow when dealing with the public, and the citizen, as it will
provide her/him with information on the standard of conduct
they are entitled to expect in dealings with the Community
administrations,

Whereas such a code can only be efficient if it is a publicly
accessible document for the citizen, and thus published in the
form of a decision like the abovementioned Decision on public
access to Foundation documents,

(1) A4 — 0190/97.
(2) OJ C 292, 21.9.1998, p. 168.

(3) OJ L 296, 17.11.1999, p. 25.

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Whereas, in its Resolutions C4-0270/98 and C4-0138/99, the
Parliament welcomed the initiative for a code of good adminis-
trative behaviour for the European institutions and bodies, and
stressed the urgent need to draw up such a code as soon as
possible,

Whereas the Parliament equally stressed the importance for
such a code to be as identical as possible for all European
institutions and bodies, to be accessible to all European citi-
zens, and to be published in the Official Journal of the European
Communities,

Considering it therefore desirable to establish a Code governing
the principles of good administrative behaviour which staff
members should respect in their relations with the public, and
to make this code publicly available,

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

General provision

Article 4

Lawfulness

The staff member shall act according to law and apply the rules
and procedures laid down in Community legislation. The staff
member shall in particular take care that decisions which affect
the rights or interests of individuals have a basis in law and
that their content complies with the law.

Article 5

Absence of discrimination

In dealing with requests from the public and in taking
1.
decisions, the staff member shall ensure that the principle of
equality of treatment is respected. Members of the public shall
be treated in a similar manner in relation to a similar issue.

2.
If any difference in treatment is made, the staff member
shall ensure that it is justified by the objective relevant features
of the particular case.

The staff member shall in particular avoid any unjustified
3.
discrimination between members of
the public based on
nationality, sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief,
disability, age, or sexual orientation.

In their relations with the public, staff of the European Founda-
tion for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions
shall
the principles which are laid down in this
Decision and which constitute the code of good administrative
behaviour, hereafter referred to as ‘the Code’.

respect

Article 6

Proportionality

Article 2

Personal scope of application

The Code shall apply to all staff members to whom the

1.
Staff Regulations apply,

in their relations with the public.

The Foundation will

2.
take the necessary measures to
ensure that the provisions set out in this Code also apply to
other persons working for it, such as persons employed under
private law contracts, experts on secondment from national
civil services and trainees.

3.
The public refers to natural and legal persons, whether
they reside or have their registered office in a Member State or
not.

1. When taking decisions, the staff member shall ensure that
the measures taken are proportional to the aim pursued. The
staff member shall in particular avoid restricting the rights of
the citizens or imposing charges on them, when those restric-
tions or charges are not in a reasonable relation with the
purpose of the action pursued.

2. When taking decisions, the staff member shall strike a fair
balance between the interests of private persons and the
general public interest.

Article 7

Absence of abuse of power

Powers shall be exercised solely for the purposes for which
they have been conferred by the relevant provisions. The staff
member shall
in particular avoid using those powers for
purposes which have no basis in law or which are not moti-
vated by any public interest.

Article 3

Material scope of application

Article 8

Impartiality and independence

This Code contains

1.
the general principles of good
administrative behaviour which apply to all relations of the
Foundation's staff members with the public, unless they are
governed by specific provisions.

1.
The staff member shall be impartial and independent. The
staff member shall abstain from any arbitrary action adversely
affecting members of the public, as well as from any preferen-
tial treatment on any grounds whatsoever.

2.
The principles set out in this Code do not apply to the
relations between the Foundation and its staff members. Those
relations are governed by the Staff Regulations.

2.
The staff member shall not be guided by any outside
influences of whatever kind, including political influences, or
by personal

interests.

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The staff member shall abstain from being involved in the
3.
taking of a decision on a matter concerning his or her own
interests, or those of his or her family, relatives, friends and
acquaintances.

Article 9

Objectivity

When taking decisions, the staff member shall take into consid-
eration the relevant factors and give each of them its proper
weight in the decision, whilst excluding any irrelevant element
from consideration.

Article 10

Legitimate expectations and consistency

1.
The staff member shall be consistent in his own adminis-
trative behaviour as well as with the administrative action of
the Foundation. The staff member shall follow the Foundation's
normal administrative practices, unless there are legitimate
grounds for departing from those practices in an individual
case.

2.
The staff member shall respect the legitimate and reason-
able expectations that members of the public have in the light
of how the Foundation has acted in the past.

Article 11

Fairness

Article 14

Acknowledgement of

receipt and indication of

the

competent official

Every letter or complaint to the Foundation shall receive
1.
an acknowledgement of receipt within a period of two weeks,
except if a substantive reply can be sent within that period.

The reply or acknowledgement of receipt shall indicate
2.
the name and the telephone number of the staff member who
is dealing with the matter, as well as the service to which he or
she belongs.

No acknowledgement of receipt and no reply need be
3.
sent in cases where letters or complaints are abusive because of
their excessive number or because of their repetitive or point-
less character.

Article 15

Obligation to transfer to the competent service of the
Foundation

1.
If a letter or a complaint to the Foundation is addressed
or transmitted to a service which has no competence to deal
with it,
the file is transferred
without delay to the competent service of the Foundation.

its service shall ensure that

2.
The service which originally received the letter or
complaint shall notify the author of this transfer and shall
indicate the name and the telephone number of
the staff
member to whom the file has been passed.

The staff member shall act fairly and reasonably.

Article 16

Article 12

Courtesy

1.
The staff member shall be service-minded, correct, court-
eous and accessible in relations with the public. When
answering correspondence,
the
staff member shall try as much as possible to be helpful and to
reply to the questions which are asked.

telephone calls and e-mails,

2.
If the staff member is not responsible for the matter
concerned, he or she shall direct the citizen to the appropriate
staff member.

3.
If an error occurs which negatively affects the rights or
interests of a member of the public, the staff member shall
apologise for it.

Article 13

Reply to letters in the language of the citizen

The staff member shall recognise the right of every citizen of
the Union or any member of the public who writes to the
Foundation in one of the Treaty languages to receive an answer
in the same language.

Right to be heard and to make statements

1.
In cases where the rights or interests of individuals are
involved, the staff member shall ensure that, at every stage in
the rights of defence are
the decision-making procedure,
respected.

2.
Every member of the public shall have the right, in cases
where a decision affecting his or her rights or interests has to
be taken, to submit written comments and, when needed, to
present oral observations before the decision is taken.

Article 17

Reasonable time limit for taking decisions

The staff member shall ensure that a decision on every
1.
to the Foundation is taken within a
request or complaint
reasonable time limit, without delay, and in any case no later
than two months from the date of receipt. The same rule shall
apply for answering letters from members of the public.

If a request or a complaint to the Foundation cannot,
2.
because of the complexity of the matters which it raises, be
decided upon within the abovementioned time limit, the staff
member shall inform the author thereof as soon as possible. In
that case, a definitive decision will be notified to the author in
the shortest time.

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Article 18

Duty to state the grounds of decisions

Article 22

Requests for information

1.
Every decision of the Foundation which may adversely
affect the rights or interests of a private person shall state the
grounds on which it is based by indicating clearly the relevant
facts and the legal basis of the decision.

The staff member shall avoid making decisions which are
2.
based on brief or vague grounds or which do not contain
individual reasoning.

3.
If it is not possible, because of the large number of
persons concerned by similar decisions, to communicate in
detail the grounds of the decision and where standard replies
are therefore made, the staff member shall guarantee that he or
she subsequently provides the citizen who expressly requests it
with an individual reasoning.

Article 19

Indication of the possibilities of appeal

1.
A decision of the Foundation which may adversely affect
the rights or interests of a private person shall contain an
indication of the appeal possibilities available for challenging
the decision. It shall in particular indicate the nature of the
remedies, the bodies before which they can be exercised, as
well as the timelimits for exercising them.

Decisions shall

in particular refer to the possibility of
2.
judicial proceedings and complaints to the Ombudsman under
the conditions specified in, respectively, Articles 230 and 195
of the Treaty establishing the European Community.

Article 20

Notification of the decision

1.
The staff member shall ensure that decisions which affect
the rights or interests of individual persons are notified in
writing, as soon as the decision has been taken, to the person
or persons concerned.

The staff member shall abstain from communicating the
the persons or person

2.
decision to other
concerned have been informed.

sources until

Article 21

Data protection

The

1.
staff member who deals with personal data
concerning a citizen shall respect the principles laid down in
Directive 95/46/EC on the protection of individuals with regard
to the processing of personal data and the free movement of
such data.

The staff member shall

2.
in particular avoid processing
personal data for non-legitimate purposes or the transmission
of such data to non-authorised persons.

1.
The staff member shall, when he or she has responsibility
for the matter concerned, provide members of the public with
the information that they request. The staff member shall take
care that the information communicated is clear and under-
standable.

If an oral request for information is too complicated or
2.
too comprehensive to be dealt with, the staff member shall
advise the person concerned to formulate his or her demand in
writing.

If, because of

its confidentiality, an official may not
3.
disclose the information requested, he or she shall, in accord-
ance with Article 18 of this Code,
indicate to the person
concerned the reasons why he cannot communicate the infor-
mation.

4.
Further to requests for information on matters for which
he has no responsibility, the staff member shall direct the
enquirer to the competent person and indicate his or her name
and telephone number. Further to requests for information
concerning another Community institution or body, the staff
member shall direct the enquirer to that institution or body.

5. Where appropriate, the staff member shall, depending on
the subject of the request, direct the person seeking informa-
tion to the service of the Foundation responsible for providing
information to the public.

Article 23

Requests for public access to documents

1.
Further to requests for access to documents of the Foun-
dation, the staff member shall give access to these documents
in accordance with the Decision of the Foundation concerning
public access to Foundation documents (1).

If the staff member cannot comply with an oral request
2.
for access to documents, the citizen shall be advised to formu-
late it in writing.

Article 24

Keeping of adequate records

The Foundation's departments shall keep adequate records of
their incoming and outgoing mail, of the documents they
receive, and of the measures they take.

Article 25

Public access to the Code

1.
The Foundation will take the necessary measures in order
to ensure that this Code enjoys the widest possible publicity
amongst the citizens.

The Foundation will provide a copy of this Code to any

2.
citizen who requests it.

(1) OJ L 296, 17.11.1999, p.25.

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Article 26

Right to complain to the European Ombudsman

Any failure of a staff member to comply with the principles set
out in this Code may be the subject of a complaint to the
European Ombudsman in accordance with Article 195 of the
Treaty establishing the European Community and the Statute of
the European Ombudsman (1).

Article 27

Revision

This Decision shall be reviewed after two years of operation. In
2002, the Director of the Foundation shall submit a report to
this
the Administrative Board on the implementation of

Decision for the period 12 February 2000 to 11 February
2002,

in preparation for that review.

Article 28

Entry into force

This Decision will take effect from 12 February 2000. It will be
published in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

Done at Brussels, 11 February 2000.

For the Bureau

Marc BOSNIEL

Vice President

(1) Decision 94/262/ECSC, EC, Euratom of the European Parliament of
9 March 1994 on the regulations and general conditions governing
the performance of the Ombudsman's duties (OJ L 113, 4.5.1994,
p. 15).