European Ombudsman: Code of good administrative behaviour for the officials, relations with the public. Special report

The committee adopted the report by Roy PERRY (EPP-ED, UK) welcoming the special report and the draft code drawn up by the European Ombudsman in April 2000. It called on the Commission to propose a regulation which would include the code, with some amendments made by MEPs, with a view to promoting transparency and closing the gap between the institutions and the public. The amendments aimed to ensure that the Code applied to all Community institutions and all Community bodies and agencies. The committee also felt that the Code should take account of Article 41 of the European Charter of Fundamental Rights (the right to good administration). Other points raised by the report included a call for the Code to be made available to the public through Internet. The committee also introduced a number of amendments designed to ease the position of front desk officials (inter alia with regard to their superiors), enabling them to offer their apologies if ever an error occurred and rectify errors or omissions as quickly as possible.