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Resolution 2125 (2016)
Transparency and openness in European institutions
1. The Parliamentary Assembly recalls
its Resolution 1744 (2010) on
extra-institutional actors in the democratic system, Recommendation 1908 (2010) “Lobbying
in a democratic society (European code of good conduct of lobbying)”
and its Resolution 1943
(2013) and Recommendation
2019 (2013) on corruption as a threat to the rule of
law.
2. The Assembly recalls that extra-institutional actors, including
interest and pressure groups, trade unions and consumer organisations,
are part of democratic societies. Their lobbying activities are
not illegitimate per se and can even be beneficial for the functioning
of a democratic political system. However, unregulated and non-transparent
lobbying may undermine democratic principles and good governance.
Citizens should know which actors influence the making of political
decisions.
3. The Assembly recalls the Council of Europe’s acquis in the area of promoting
good governance and transparency of democratic institutions, in
particular the Convention on Access to Official Documents (CETS No. 205),
and welcomes the work of the European Commission for Democracy through
Law (Venice Commission) and of the Group of States against Corruption
(GRECO) in this field. Moreover, principles of good conduct on lobbying
are included in paragraph 11 of Assembly Recommendation 1908 (2010) and may
serve as guidelines for elaborating regulations on lobbying.
4. The Assembly notes that the European Union and its institutions
– the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and
the European Commission – are particularly targeted by various lobbying
groups, in view of their legislative and decision-making functions
in implementing the European Union internal market. This has an
impact on European Union citizens and on consumers in Europe and
worldwide.
5. The Assembly notes with concern cases of secret and unbalanced
lobbying, reports on conflicts of interest and the practice of limited
access to official documents within some of the European Union institutions. Some
of these cases have been investigated by the European Ombudsman,
who has found “maladministration” and has subsequently made specific
recommendations to those institutions.
6. The Assembly welcomes the measures recently taken by the European
Union institutions to improve its transparency and avoid conflicts
of interest among its officials, in particular the revamped Joint
Transparency Register set up in the European Parliament and the
European Commission and the adoption, in 2011, of the Code of Conduct
for Commissioners. It stresses that the values of democracy and
good governance, enshrined in European Union law and on which the
European Union is grounded, inspire many nations, citizens and democratic
movements in Europe and worldwide. It notes, however, that additional
measures need to be introduced in order to ensure fair and balanced
access to the European Union institutions by all interested parties,
including non-economic interest groups, as well as full and unimpeded
access to their documents.
7. The Assembly also notes that very few Council of Europe member
States have a regulatory framework on lobbying activities, including
a transparency register. It therefore calls on national parliaments
to ensure that such frameworks are set up and to reinforce legal
and institutional guarantees for civil society and the media as
far as the monitoring of lobbyist activities is concerned, including
the possibility of verifying the accuracy of data contained in a
register.
8. The Assembly calls on member States to do their utmost to
promote the principles of transparency, accountability, integrity
and primacy of the public interest and to implement the existing
international instruments in this field, including the relevant
Council of Europe conventions and recommendations which include
the recommendations of GRECO.
9. The Assembly also calls on the European Union and on those
member States of the Council of Europe which have not yet done so
to sign and/or ratify the Convention on Access to Official Documents
and to take into account Assembly Recommendation 1908 (2010).
10. The Assembly calls on the European Union to step up its co-operation
with the Council of Europe in the fight against corruption, in particular
by speeding up the negotiations on European Union participation
in GRECO. It also calls on the European Union institutions to take
their decisions as openly as possible. For this purpose, the Assembly
recommends that the European Union institutions:
10.1. implement the European Ombudsman’s
recommendations on transparency, on avoiding conflicts of interest
and on ensuring access to documents;
10.2. further improve the Joint Transparency Register, by expanding
it to all institutions of the European Union, making registration
of lobbyists obligatory and introducing sanctions for non-registration
and for providing inaccurate data;
10.3. publish legislative footprints in order to track any input
received from third parties aimed at influencing European Union
legislation and policies;
10.4. amend the European Parliament’s Code of Conduct by introducing
“cooling-off” periods for departing members in order to avoid conflicts
of interest;
10.5. revise Regulation (EC) No. 1049/2001 regarding public
access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents
in order to expand it to other European Union institutions, bodies,
offices and agencies.
11. The Assembly values the relevant contributions by (I)NGOs
((international) non-governmental organisations) to its own work,
as well as to the work of standard-setting and monitoring bodies.
(I)NGOs bring expertise, identify new issues to be addressed, share
information and advocate Council of Europe standards, at European
and national level. The Assembly welcomes the decision of the Secretary
General of the Council of Europe to revise, in consultation with
the Conference of INGOs, the guidelines on the participatory status
for INGOs within the Council of Europe. In the framework of the
forthcoming revision, the Assembly invites the Secretary General
to ensure that (I)NGOs involved in the Council of Europe’s work
are the most varied, representative and relevant possible and ensure
a fair geographical representation. Special steps should also be
taken to ensure that the relevant secretariats have enough time
and resources to reach out to new relevant (I)NGOs, including youth
organisations, and to create new partnerships.
12. The Assembly welcomes the gradual consolidation of the Council
of Europe integrity system for staff and the one set up by the Parliamentary
Assembly for its members. The Assembly undertakes to take further
steps to improve its own efficiency and effectiveness in dealing
with conflict of interest situations through, notably, organising
information seminars for both members of the Assembly and Council
of Europe staff in order to deal effectively with situations relating
to allegations of conflicts of interest, and reflecting on the need
to widen the definition of conflict of interest. The Assembly invites
its Bureau to continue reflecting on the best possible ways to ensure
transparency of the interactions between interest group representatives
and Assembly members.