Skip to content
Adopted text

Interinstitutional Body for Ethical Standards

TA-9-2024-0372 · P9_TA(2024)0372 · PE759.998

Official HTML ↗ PDF DOCX
✦ In shortFull text
✦ In short · AI summary of this text, generated 4 Sept 2026

Written by a language model from the full text only; every figure comes from the text. The paragraph links open the paragraph a statement rests on — check the text itself before relying on it.

Parliament approves the Agreement establishing an Interinstitutional Body for Ethical Standards for Members of EU institutions and advisory bodies, with independent experts examining individual cases at the request of a party. It regrets that the European Council did not join and that the Council refused to extend scope to its Presidency representatives, and commits to addressing this in the first review. It calls for transparency, resources, and autonomy for the Body and independent experts, and for making recommendations public.

Key points

  1. Approves the conclusion of the Agreement establishing an Interinstitutional Body for Ethical Standards.
  2. Welcomes the Agreement for developing common ethical standards and allowing independent experts to examine individual cases at the request of a party.
  3. Underlines that final decision-making power remains with relevant authorities; consultations begin with a request from a party; Commissioners-designate declarations should as a rule be examined.
  4. Reiterates commitment to an independent ethics body with own-initiative investigations and sanction recommendations, covering members before, during, and after service and staff.
  5. Regrets the European Council's decision not to join the Agreement.
  6. Regrets the Council's unwillingness to extend scope to its Presidency representatives; commits to addressing the legal gap in the first review and calls on upcoming Presidencies to apply provisions voluntarily.
  7. Takes the view that resources must enable proper functioning of the Body and independent experts; regrets that consultation costs are covered by the requesting party.
  8. Believes independent experts need professional experience in ethics, integrity, and transparency, in addition to requirements in Article 5(2) of the Agreement.
  9. Emphasises the role of independent experts in examining individual cases; suggests each party send a small random sample of cases to them.
  10. Believes the Body should rely on existing powers to ask members for information or agreement of national authorities; independent experts should have access to administrative documents.
  11. Calls for transparency by publishing recommendations, annual reports, decisions, and spending in machine-readable format, with privacy and presumption of innocence protected.
  12. Stresses the need to define the mandate of the Vice-President representing Parliament in the Body and to clarify the alternate representative; Committee on Constitutional Affairs should play a role.

Who is affected

  • Members of the European Parliament, Council, Commission, Court of Justice, European Central Bank, Court of Auditors, and advisory bodies.
  • Commissioners-designate: their declarations of financial interests should as a rule be examined by independent experts.
  • Independent experts assisting the Body: they examine individual cases and need specific professional experience.
  • Council Presidencies: called to voluntarily apply provisions of the Agreement.

Figures and deadlines

  • Three years after entry into force: review of the Agreement to improve and enhance the Body.

Legal basis: Article 13 of the Treaty on European Union and Article 232 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.