ETHICS MANAGEMENT AT THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Abstract

This article reports on ethic management at the European Commission services and analyses its implementation measures. The European Commission is one of the most powerful international executives in the world and it is a very particular bureaucracy employing approximately 33.000 officials from twenty-eight Member States. The European Commission fulfils a very complex mandate by implementing EU policies and the budget as well as enforcing EU legislation. This challenging task is carried out in a unique structure, which combines professional bureaucratic processes with cultural richness. As of the year 2000 – driven by external pressure – European Commission enhanced its Ethic and Compliance policy by issuing guidelines and implementation measures at its headquarters; subsequently these efforts were also transported to the agencies, most of them being established in the Member States. The article will analyse recognized Ethics management tools applied at the European Commission services with a special view to the efficiency of the role of an Ethics officer. The article provides a concise overview on how Ethics policy is implemented in a highly complex and international structure. The reader will learn about organisational aspects of the European Commission and applied management techniques in terms of Ethical reforms. The method is a sound literature research combined with a practical analysis of the current state of Ethics management in European bodies.