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having regard to Article 25(2) of the Rules of Procedure of the European Parliament,

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having regard to the Interinstitutional Agreement of 20 May 2021 between the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and the European Commission on a mandatory transparency register (1),

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after consulting the Legal Service of the European Parliament, the Staff Committee of the European Parliament, the Committee for Equality of Opportunity between men and women and Diversity of the European Parliament, and the Data Protection Officer of the European Parliament,

(1)

Article 11(1) of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) requires Union institutions, by appropriate means, to give citizens and representative associations the opportunity to make known, and publicly exchange, their views in all areas of Union action. Moreover, Article 11(2) TEU requires Union institutions to maintain an open, transparent and regular dialogue with representative associations and civil society.

(2)

Article 15(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) provides that, in order to promote good governance and ensure the participation of civil society, Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies are to conduct their work as openly as possible.

(3)

Title II of the Staff Regulations of Officials of the European Union and the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the Union, laid down in Council Regulation (EEC, Euratom, ECSC) No 259/68 (2) lays down rights and obligations of officials, explicitly outlining their conduct and duties.

(4)

Parliament is committed to ensuring its integrity, independence and accountability, which are essential for maintaining the trust of Union citizens in the legitimacy of the political, legislative and administrative processes of the Union. That commitment should be translated into specific requirements as regards the meetings of Parliament’s managers in active employment in its General Secretariat.

(5)

The signatory institutions of the Interinstitutional Agreement of 20 May 2021 between the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and the European Commission on a mandatory transparency register (‘the IIA on a mandatory transparency register’), committed themselves to ‘conditionality’, the principle whereby registration in the transparency register is a precondition for interest representatives to be able to carry out certain covered activities. The signatory institutions implement that principle by means of individual decisions on the basis of their powers of internal organisation.

(6)

The principle of conditionality should apply to scheduled meetings relating to parliamentary business organised between interest representatives and managers in Parliament’s administration.

(7)

Scheduled meetings of managers with interest representatives and with representatives of public authorities of third countries relating to parliamentary business should be declared and published as a means of ensuring an open, efficient and independent Parliament administration.

(8)

Certain activities and bodies listed in Article 4 of the IIA on a mandatory transparency register fall outside the scope of that IIA and should therefore not be covered by the definition of ‘interest representative’ in this Decision.

(9)

Citizens of the Union visiting Parliament’s premises, petitioners, and journalists participating in press conferences or other information activities organised for their benefit should not be considered to be ‘interest representatives’ as defined in this Decision. Likewise, general information sessions and communication activities by Parliament’s services that aim to reach out to audiences consisting of multipliers should not be considered to be scheduled meetings with interest representatives for the purposes of this Decision.

(10)

In light of Parliament’s commitment to ensuring its integrity, independence and accountability and in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council (3), in particular Article 5(1)(a) thereof, it should be possible to publish the names of managers who have declared a scheduled meeting under this Decision,

(a)

‘manager’ means the Secretary-General, a Director-General, a Director, a Head of Unit, a Head of Liaison Office or a Team Leader, including in an acting capacity;

(b)

‘interest representative’ means any natural or legal person, or formal or informal group, association or network, that falls within the scope of the IIA on a mandatory transparency register, as it engages with covered activities pursuant to Article 3 of the IIA on a mandatory transparency register, subject to the exemptions for activities and bodies not covered pursuant to Article 4 of the IIA on a mandatory transparency register;

(c)

‘representatives of public authorities of third countries’ means all representatives, at national or subnational level, of third countries, their diplomatic missions, embassies, consulates, trade envoys, commercial entities and other representations;

(d)

‘scheduled meeting’ means a planned meeting with interest representatives or with representatives of public authorities of third countries, in person or remotely, that has been arranged in advance, excluding inter alia spontaneous or social encounters and participation in public debates, and excluding meetings taking place in the context of an administrative procedure established by the TEU, the TFEU or legal acts of the Union that falls under the responsibility of the manager, or meetings which form part of the programme of an official Parliament body;

(e)

‘conditionality’ means the principle whereby registration in the transparency register is a precondition for interest representatives to be able to carry out certain covered activities.