2000/633/EC, ECSC, Euratom: Commission Decision of 17 October 2000 amending its Rules of Procedure
Date: 2000-10-17
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: European Commission, administrative structures, rules of procedure

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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COMMISSION DECISION

of 17 October 2000

amending its Rules of Procedure

(2000/633/EC, ECSC, Euratom)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 218(2) thereof,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Coal and
Steel Community, and in particular Article 16 thereof,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Atomic
Energy Community, and in particular Article 131 thereof,

Having regard to the Treaty on the European Union, and in
particular Articles 28(1) and 41(1) thereof,

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

The rules of Procedure of the Commission are hereby amended
as follows:

1. In Article 23, the following paragraph is added:

‘The Commission may adopt
supplementary measures
relating to the functioning of the Commission and of its

departments, which shall be annexed to these Rules of
Procedure.’

2. The Code of Good Administrative Behaviour contained in

the Annex to this Decision is annexed.

Article 2

This Decision shall enter into force on 1 November 2000.

Article 3

This Decision shall be published in the Official Journal of the
European Communities.

Done at Brussels, 17 October 2000.

For the Commission

The President

Romano PRODI

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ANNEX

‘ANNEX

CODE OF GOOD ADMINISTRATIVE BEHAVIOUR FOR STAFF OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION IN THEIR
RELATIONS WITH THE PUBLIC

Quality service

The Commission and its staff have a duty to serve the Community interest and,

in so doing, the public interest.

The public legitimately expects quality service and an administration that is open, accessible and properly run.

Quality service calls for the Commission and its staff to be courteous, objective and impartial.

In order to enable the Commission to meet its obligations of good administrative behaviour and in particular in the
dealings that the Commission has with the public, the Commission undertakes to observe the standards of good
administrative behaviour set out in this Code and to be guided by these in its daily work.

Purpose

Scope

The Code is binding on all staff covered by the Staff Regulations of officials of the European Communities and the
Conditions of employment of other servants of the European Communities (hereinafter referred to as the “Staff
Regulations”) and the other provisions on relations between the Commission and its staff that are applicable to officials
and other servants of the European Communities. However, persons employed under private law contracts, experts on
secondment from national civil services and trainees, etc. working for the Commission should also be guided by it in their
daily work.

Relations between the Commission and its staff are governed exclusively by the Staff Regulations.

1. GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF GOOD ADMINISTRATION

The Commission respects the following general principles in its relations with the public.

Lawfulness

The Commission acts in accordance with the law and applies the Rules and Procedures laid down in Community
legislation.

Non-discrimination and equal treatment

The Commission respects the principle of non-discrimination and in particular, guarantees equal treatment for
members of the public irrespective of nationality, gender, racial or ethnic origin, religion or beliefs, disability, age or
sexual orientation. Thus, differences in treatment of similar cases must be specifically warranted by the relevant
features of the particular case in hand.

Proportionality

The Commission ensures that the measures taken are proportional to the aim pursued.

In particular, the Commission will ensure that the applications of this Code never leads to the imposition of
administrative or budgetary burdens out of proportion to the benefit expected.

Consistency

The Commission shall be consistent in its administrative behaviour and shall follow its normal practice. Any
exceptions to this principle must be duly justified.

2. GUIDELINES FOR GOOD ADMINISTRATIVE BEHAVIOUR

Objectivity and impartiality

Staff shall always act objectively and impartially, in the Community interest and for the public good. They shall act
independently within the framework of the policy fixed by the Commission and their conduct shall never be guided by
personal or national

interest or political pressure.

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Information on administrative procedures

Where a member of the public requires information relating to a Commission administrative procedure, staff shall
ensure that this information is provided within the deadline fixed for the relevant procedure.

3. INFORMATION ON THE RIGHTS OF INTERESTED PARTIES

Listening to all parties with a direct interest

Where Community law provides that interested parties should be heard, staff shall ensure that an opportunity is given
to them to make their views known.

Duty of justify decisions

A Commission decision should clearly state the reasons on which it is based and should be communicated to the
persons and parties concerned.

As a general rule, full justification for decisions should be given. However, where it may not be possible, for example
because of the large number of persons concerned by similar decisions, to communicate in detail the grounds of
individual decisions, standard replies may be given. These standard replies should include the principal reasons
justifying the decision taken. Furthermore, an interested party who expressly requests a detailed justification shall be
provided with it.

Duty to state arrangements for appeals

Where Community law so provides, decisions notified shall clearly state that an appeal is possible and describe how to
submit it, (the name and office address of the person or department with whom the appeal must be lodged and the
deadline for lodging it).

Where appropriate, decisions should refer to the possibility of starting judicial proceedings and/or of lodging a
complaint with the European Ombudsman in accordance with Article 230 or 195 of the Treaty establishing the
European Community.

4. DEALING WITH ENQUIRIES

The Commission undertakes to answer enquiries in the most appropriate manner and as quickly as possible.

Requests for documents

If a document has already been published, the person making the enquiry should be directed to the sales agents of the
Office for Official Publications of the European Communities or to the documentation or information centres which
provide free access to documents, such as Info-Points, European documentation centres, etc. Many documents are also
easily accessible in electronic form.

The rules on access to documents are laid down in a specific measure.

Correspondence

In accordance with Article 21 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, the Commission shall reply to
letters in the language of the initial
languages of the
Community.

letter, provided that it was written in one of the official

A reply to a letter addressed to the Commission shall be sent within 15 working days from the date of receipt of the
letter by the responsible Commission department. The reply should identify the person responsible for the matter and
state how he or she may be contacted.

If a reply cannot be sent within 15 working days, and in all cases where the reply requires other work on it, such as
interdepartmental consultation or translation, the member of staff responsible should send a holding reply, indicating a
date by which the addressee may expect to be sent a reply in the light of this additional work, taking into account the
relative urgency and complexity of the matter.

If the reply is to be drawn up by a department other than the one to which the initial correspondence is addressed, the
person making the enquiry should be informed of the name and office address of the person to whom the letter has
been passed.

These rules do not apply to correspondence which can reasonably be regarded as improper, for example, because it is
repetitive, abusive and/or pointless. Then the Commission reserves the right to discontinue any such exchanges of
correspondence.

Telephone communication

When answering the telephone, staff shall identify themselves or their department. They shall return telephone calls as
promptly as possible.

Staff replying to enquiries shall provide information on subjects for which they have direct responsibility and should
direct the caller to the specific appropriate source in other cases. If necessary, they should refer callers to their superior
or consult him or her before giving the information.

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Where enquiries concern areas for which staff are directly responsible, they shall establish the identity of the caller and
check whether the information has already been made public before giving it out. If this is not the case, the member of
staff may consider that it is not in the Community interest for the information to be disclosed. In this case he or she
should explain why they are unable to disclose it and refer in appropriate cases to the obligation to exercise discretion
as laid down in Article 17 of the Staff Regulations.

When appropriate, staff should request confirmation in writing of the enquiries made by telephone.

Electronic mail

Staff shall reply to e-mail messages promptly following the guidelines described in the section on telephone
communication.

However, where the e-mail message is, by its nature, the equivalent of a letter, it shall be handled according to the
guidelines for handling correspondence and shall be subject to the same deadlines.

Requests from the media

The Press and Communication Service is responsible for contacts with the media. However, when requests for
information concern technical subjects falling within their specific areas of responsibility, staff may answer them.

5. PROTECTION OF PERSONAL DATA AND CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION

The Commission and its staff shall respect,

in particular:

— the rules on the protection of personal privacy and personal data,

— the obligations set out in Article 287 of the Treaty establishing the European Community and in particular those

which relate to professional secrecy,

— the rules on secrecy in criminal

investigations,

— the confidentiality of matters falling within the ambit of the various committees and bodies provided for in Article

9 of and Annexes II and III to the Staff Regulations.

6. COMPLAINTS

The European Commission

Complaints may be lodged concerning a possible breach of the principles set out in this Code directly with the
Secretariat-General of the European Commission, which shall forward it to the relevant department.

The Director-General or head of Department shall reply to the complainant in writing, within two months. The
complainant then has one month in which to apply to the Secretary-General of the European Commission to review
the outcome of the complaint. The Secretary-General shall reply to the request for a review within one month.

The European Ombudsman

Complaints may also be lodged with the European Ombudsman in accordance with Article 195 of the Treaty
establishing the European Community and the Statute of the European Ombudsman.’