Commissioners to agree code for outside interests

Date: 02/11/1995

By Rory Watson

EUROPEAN Commissioners will agree and publish a new code of conduct within the next two weeks laying down clear rules for the first time on their outside activities.

The decision, taken at this week's meeting of the full Commission, is designed to deflect growing criticism both within and outside the institution over the payments received by some Commissioners for books, newspaper articles and speeches.

“It is very straightforward. Commissioners will have the same rules as for officials, but they will be a little stricter so that Commissioners will not receive any payments for speeches or books,” said one senior official.

The move also follows pressure from the European Parliament, which is planning to tighten up rules on MEPs' own outside interests. Last week MEPs threatened to block the Commissioners' travel and subsistence funds for next year unless they receive, by mid-December, details of any payments and expenses Commissioners received in 1995 for attending, in their official capacity, any events held by outside bodies or organisations.

The twin attack prompted Commission President Jacques Santer to write to his colleagues last Thursday (26 October), suggesting that they clear up any ambiguities surrounding Article 157 of the Treaty of Rome, which states that Commissioners' independence must be “beyond doubt”.

Among the various requirements for the post, the article states that Commissioners must be “completely independent in the performance of their duties”, must “refrain from any action incompatible with their duties” and shall not “during their term of office, engage in any other occupation, whether gainful or not”.

Despite the furore caused by Environment Commissioner Ritt Bjerregaard's planned Brussels diaries which pass comment on her colleagues, the discussion among Commissioners on Tuesday (31 October) was a frank and cordial affair, according to one official who insisted: “There were no differences of view during the discussion on the code of conduct in the Commission.”

Taking clarity, transparency and responsibility as their guiding principles, the Commissioners are expected to agree on a code which will rule out ongoing paid occupations - such as a series of articles - on the grounds that these create financial dependency.

Any gifts received for a lecture or an article will have to be returned or given to a charitable organisation and while a Commissioner's travel and hotel expenses may be paid by a conference organiser, payment may not be accepted for the conference or lecture itself.

The situation concerning books remains unclear. In future, the contents of manuscripts will be vetted by Santer. Commissioners will still be able to publish their works, but they will have to find a system for handling the income generated.

“There is a conceptual problem, for instance, for Commissioners who have already published books and royalties are still coming in. We will probably have to agree to set up trust funds into which money is paid and any income left after tax would be given to a charity,” explained one senior official.

The Commission will also have to decide whether to publish its register of members' interests - as many MEPs would like - when it tables its new code of conduct later this month.

At the moment the register is only available to Santer and Commission Secretary-General David Williamson.

As Commissioners prepare to bring some new clarity and discipline into their outside activities, Bernard Connolly, the senior official suspended after the unauthorised publication of his book The Rotten Heart of Europe is challenging the disciplinary proceedings against him.

Suspended on his return to work after a brief sabbatical, Connolly is being supported by the Union of European Civil Servants. He has taken his fight to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg seeking damages and annulment of the disciplinary proceedings against him.

The European Union's internal staff regulations lay down clear rules for officials. These state that officials must exercise the greatest discretion, must receive specific approval for any outside activity, whether paid or not, and should not publish any text dealing with the activities of the Union without proper authorisation.