30.12.2015   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 440/17

—

having regard to Article 225 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

—

having regard to Article 298 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

—

having regard to Article 41 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, which provides that the right to good administration is a fundamental right,

—

having regard to Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2000 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the Community institutions and bodies and on the free movement of such data (1),

—

having regard to Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents (2),

—

having regard to the extensive case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union, which has recognised a set of general principles of administrative law based on the constitutional traditions of the Member States,

—

having regard to its resolution of 6 September 2001 on the European Ombudsman's Special Report to the European Parliament following the own-initiative inquiry into the existence and the public accessibility, in the different Community institutions and bodies, of a Code of Good Administrative Behaviour (3),

—

having regard to Commission Decision 2000/633/EC, ECSC, Euratom of 17 October 2000 amending its Rules of Procedure by annexing a Code of Good Administrative behaviour for staff of the European Commission in their relations with the Public (4),

—

having regard to the Decision of the Secretary-General of the Council/High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy of 25 June 2001 on a code of good administrative behaviour for the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union and its staff in their professional relations with the public (5),

—

having regard to the Council of Europe's Recommendation CM/Rec(2007)7 of the Committee of Ministers to member states on good administration, dated 20 June 2007,

—

having regard to the ‘Public service principles for the EU civil service’ published by the European Ombudsman on 19 June 2012,

—

having regard to the survey commissioned by the Swedish Government from the Swedish Agency for Public Management on the principles of good administration in the Member States of the European Union (6),

—

having regard to the briefing notes presented at the Conference on EU administrative law organised by the Policy Department of Parliament's Committee on Legal Affairs and the University of León (León, 27—28 April 2011),

—

having regard to the recommendations included in the working document on the state of play and future prospects for EU administrative law presented by the Working Group on EU Administrative Law to the Committee of Legal Affairs on 22 November 2011,

—

having regard to the European Added Value Assessment on a Law of Administrative Procedure of the European Union, presented by the European Added Value Unit to the Committee of Legal Affairs on 6 November 2012,

—

having regard to Rules 42 and 48 of its Rules of Procedure,

—

having regard to the report of the Committee on Legal Affairs and the opinions of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs and the Committee on Petitions (A7-0369/2012),

A.

whereas with the development of the competences of the European Union, citizens are increasingly directly confronted with the Union's administration, without always having the corresponding procedural rights which they could enforce against it in cases where such actions may prove necessary;

B.

whereas citizens are entitled to expect a high level of transparency, efficiency, swift execution and responsiveness from the Union's administration, regardless of whether they are making a formal complaint or exercising their right of petition under the Treaty, together with information as to the possibility of their taking any further action in the matter;

C.

whereas the Union's existing rules and principles on good administration are scattered across a wide variety of sources: primary law, case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union, secondary legislation, soft law and unilateral commitments by the Union's institutions;

D.

whereas the fact that the Union lacks a coherent and comprehensive set of codified rules of administrative law makes it difficult for citizens to understand their administrative rights under Union law;

E.

whereas the existing internal codes of conduct of the different institutions have a limited effect, differ from one another and are not legally binding;

F.

whereas in its abovementioned resolution of 6 September 2001, in the belief that the same code of good administrative behaviour should apply to all Union institutions, bodies and agencies, Parliament approved with amendments the European Code of Good Administrative Behaviour drafted by the Ombudsman;

G.

whereas in the same resolution Parliament called on the Commission to submit a proposal for a regulation containing a code of Good Administrative Behaviour based on Article 308 of the Treaty establishing the European Community;

H.

whereas, as emphasised by the Ombudsman, this would help eliminate the confusion currently arising from the parallel existence of different codes for most Union institutions and bodies, would ensure that the institutions and bodies apply the same basic principles in their relations with citizens and would underline, both for citizens and for officials, the importance of such principles;

I.

whereas all actions of the Union must comply with the rule of law under a strict separation of powers;

J.

whereas the fundamental right to good administration enshrined in Article 41 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union has become legally binding as primary law;

K.

whereas rules on good administration promote transparency and accountability;

L.

whereas a pressing problem facing the European Union today is the lack of confidence on the part of citizens, which can affect its legitimacy; whereas the European Union needs to address swift, clear and visible answers to the citizens in order to respond to their worries;

M.

whereas the codification of the service principle — that is, the principle that the administration should seek to guide, help, serve and support citizens, act with appropriate courtesy and therefore avoid unnecessarily cumbersome and lengthy procedures, thus saving the time and effort both of citizens and of officials — would help to meet the legitimate expectations of citizens and benefit both citizens and the administration in terms of improved service and increased efficiency; whereas awareness of the right of Union citizens to good administration should be increased, including through the Commission's relevant information services and networks;

N.

whereas, taking into account the recommendations of the Group of States against corruption (GRECO) of the Council of Europe, a clear and binding set of rules for the Union's administration would be a positive signal in the fight against corruption in public administrations;

O.

whereas a core set of principles of good administration is currently widely accepted among Member States;

P.

whereas the case-law of the Court of Justice has developed well-established procedural principles which apply to Member States' procedures in community matters and which should a fortiori apply to direct administration by the Union;

Q.

whereas a European Law of Administrative Procedure would help the Union's administration in using its power of internal organisation to facilitate and promote the highest standards of administration;

R.

whereas a European Law of Administrative Procedure would enhance the Union's legitimacy and increase the confidence of citizens in the Union's administration;

S.

whereas a European Law of Administrative Procedure could strengthen a spontaneous convergence of national administrative law, with regard to general principles of procedure and the fundamental rights of citizens vis-à-vis the administration, and thus strengthen the process of integration;

T.

whereas a European Law of Administrative Procedure could foster cooperation and the exchange of best practices between national administrations and the Union's administration, in order to fulfil the objectives set up by Article 298 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union;

U.

whereas the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon has provided the Union with an appropriate legal basis for the adoption of a European Law of Administrative Procedure;

V.

whereas the legislative action requested in this resolution should be based on detailed impact assessments inter alia quantifying the cost of administrative procedures;

W.

whereas the Commission should engage in adequate consultation with all relevant actors, and should in particular make use of the special knowledge and expertise of the European Ombudsman, since it is to him that public complaints about abuses within the bodies and institutions of the Union are made;

1.

Requests the Commission to submit, on the basis of Article 298 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, a proposal for a regulation on a European Law of Administrative Procedure, following the detailed recommendations set out in the Annex hereto;

2.

Confirms that the recommendations respect fundamental rights and the principle of subsidiarity;

3.

Considers that the requested proposal does not have financial implications;

4.

Instructs its President to forward this resolution and the accompanying detailed recommendations to the Commission and the Council, to the European Ombudsman and to the parliaments and governments of the Member States.