Ethics body: European Committee of the Regions joins agreement of EU Institutions and Bodies

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​The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) has endorsed an interinstitutional agreement for a new Body for Ethical Standards signalling a crucial step towards cultivating a shared culture of integrity and ethics within the European Union.​​

The agreement of eight EU institutions and bodies, namely the European Parliament, the Council of the EU, the European Commission, the European Committee of the Regions, the Court of Justice, the European Central Bank, the Court of Auditors and the European Economic and Social Committee, provides for the joint creation of a new Body for Ethical Standards.

The CoR adopted the new EU Ethics body agreement to strengthen integrity, transparency, and accountability in European decision-making process in its plenary session on 17 April. CoR members highlighted that this is a significant first step towards fostering a common culture of integrity and ethics.

The Body will develop, update, and interpret common minimum standards for ethical conduct, and publish reports on how these standards have been reflected in each signatory's internal rules. The institutions participating in the Body will be represented by one senior member. The position of Chair of the Body will rotate every year between the institutions. Five independent experts will support the work of the Body. They can be consulted by a party to the agreement on declarations of interest or other standardised written declarations.

Quote:

Vasco Alves Cordeiro (PT/PES), President of the European Committee of the Regions: "Today, the European Union takes an important step that contributes to the trust in our democracy with the provisional agreement on the EU Ethics Body. For many years, the European Committee of the Regions has been an active stakeholder in the interinstitutional discussions on how to better promote good governance. We firmly believe that our Union needs to continue its work towards stronger ethical rules, as this represents an essential pillar in safeguarding the values consecrated in the Treaties."

Luca Menesini (IT/PES), Vice-President of the European Committee of the Regions,President of the Province of Lucca, and the CoR's representative in the negotiation process: "The Interinstitutional Agreement on the Establishment of an Ethical Body paves the way for the future development of common ethical standards. In the case of the European Committee of the Regions, these standards will apply to the activities of its members in their European mandate and will be added to the standards to which they are already subject under their mandates and functions at local or regional level in their respective Member States. The European Committee of the Regions is therefore prepared to support the most ambitious approach to ethics as it is about the credibility and legitimacy of the European institutions in the eyes of European voters. We are ready to dare more European ethics and more European democracy!"

Next steps:

The provisional agreement needs to be approved by each signatory before it can be signed and come into force. The different signatories' validation processes are ongoing and are expected to be concluded by May.

The agreement on establishing an EU Interinstitutional Ethics Body can be found here.