Debate: Need for immediate reform of the internal rules of the Commission to ensure transparency and accountability in light of alleged conflicts of interests
Date: WEDNESDAY, 15 MARCH 2023
Speaker: Mairead McGuinness
Language: EN

These high standards apply both to missions and to any gifts or hospitality offered. The Commission has an effective internal control system for ethics management. This was recognised by the Court of Auditors in its 2019 report and by the European Ombudsman in the 2021 report on the subject of outside activities. Staff have to declare any actual or potential conflict of interest. Each declaration is assessed thoroughly by the line manager and, where necessary, based on the guidance by the Commission’s central ethics service. Strict mitigating measures may be imposed. For example, the person concerned may be relieved of their duty to take a decision on a specific matter. Furthermore, above a certain threshold, authorisation is needed in order to accept gifts or hospitality. Mission costs are almost always covered entirely by the EU budget. In only 1.6% of all missions from 2019 to 2022 were there contributions by outside organisers. Acceptance of such contributions is mainly for diplomatic or courtesy purposes. When staff are requested to carry out a mission, any planned contribution by the organisers has to be declared. Any actual or potential conflict of interest has to be assessed by the staff member concerned, as well as by their hierarchy, in full transparency, through a dedicated IT tool under the four eyes principle. If any conflict is detected, the mission is fully covered by the Commission budget. Directors-general are heads of service and responsible for their service budget. They are authorising officers delegated to do so by the College and they sign off on their own missions. In case of any potential conflict of interest, they are expected to seek the opinion of the political level or the Commission’s central ethics service. All members of the Commission and staff are well informed of their ethics obligations through numerous and regular trainings, from their entry into service until retirement, throughout their entire career. Last year, almost 9 000 staff participated in ethics training. In addition, Commissioners, members of their cabinet and directors-general can only meet interested representatives who are registered in the transparency register, and they must publish information on all such meetings. This applies to meetings with lobbyists in line with the interinstitutional rules on the transparency register. It does not apply to meetings with representatives of public authorities or the Commission’s contractual partners. Questions have been raised about missions to Qatar by the Commission’s Director-General in charge of transport, mainly during the Commission’s previous mandate. The Commission has, in full transparency, disclosed all information related to travel with Qatar. The purpose of these missions was to take forward the mobility and transport aspects of EU-Qatar and Gulf Cooperation Council relations, following up on the visit by former Commissioner Bulc to the Gulf region. The Director-General in charge of transport, as head of service and responsible for the mission budget of his service, signed off on his missions and he declared that there was no conflict of interest as regards certain mission costs being covered by third parties. This was based on his own assessment of the situation. The competent Commission services are currently looking at this and all other related elements in order to establish the facts. We note that there were also missions by the Director-General for transport to Qatar that were paid entirely by the EU budget. Looking at the broader picture, since last year, the Commission has been revisiting its guide on missions. The main reason for this is to implement the Commission’s ambitious greening targets and to take account of the increased use of online meetings during the pandemic. We are also using this opportunity to streamline our authorisation procedures for missions and to tackle the issue of perception for contributions made by third parties. We decided on 7 March, with immediate effect, that we will apply the following. Directors-general will need to seek formal approval of the head of cabinet of their Commissioner for all missions with a third-party contribution. Now, the only contributions that could be accepted for any mission by a staff member would be from Member States, EEA or EFTA countries, international organisations like the UN or international forums like the G7 or G20, and universities. We are confident that this approach will rule out even the slightest perception of conflicts of interest and that it will uphold the highest ethical standards the Commission operates under in the interests of European citizens. The Commission will cooperate fully and transparently with the European Ombudsman on her strategic initiative on missions of senior staff members with a third-party contribution. And we look forward to continuing the dialogue with the European Parliament. I look forward to the debate.