EPACA CHARTER AND CODE OF CONDUCT

Political advocacy, or lobbying is of paramount importance to ensuring that political decision-makers understand the implications of the legislation they adopt. The EU’s political system is a very open one where most decision-makers, be it civil servants in the European Commission or politicians in the European Parliament, appreciate input from external stakeholders and are open to facts and arguments. This input makes for better legislation.

But advocacy must be transparent and ethical to have the required effect. The EU Transparency Register is one step in the right direction.

The European Public Affairs Consultancies’ Association (EPACA), which represents the major part of the Brussels consultancy community, would like to see a mandatory EU Transparency Register. EPACA has been a vocal supporter of the register since the beginning, and has worked closely with the Commission and the Parliament to make the register as efficient as possible. According to EPACA a mandatory register would create a level-playing field where all interests who want to engage in dialogue with EU decision-makers would be accountable to transparency. It would put an end to the suspicion that a lot of influencing is going on under the radar. Decision-makers and stakeholders alike would get a better understanding of the environment in which we all function.

EPACA has developed a Charter that goes beyond the Code of Conduct to ensure ethics, professionalism and good corporate governance. The Charter guarantees that EPACA members apply the highest ethical standards in their dealings with all stakeholders, that they strive to be the leading service providers in the market.

The EPACA Charter

The EPACA Charter sets a gold standard for public affairs consultancies working with the European Union institutions and other relevant stakeholders in the area of EU policymaking.

Accession to the EPACA Charter is predicated on full EPACA membership and respect of its Code of Conduct, and an undertaking to fulfill the following requirements and commitments:

Charter members shall:

• Be mandatorily signed up to the Transparency Register of the EP and EC (and include their registration numbers in their communication materials);
• Adhere to the EPACA code of ethics as well as the codes of the EP/ EC;
• Proactively abide by any code of ethics applied by their clients;
• In their dealings with stakeholders, identify themselves by name and by company and declare the interest represented;
• Refuse to work for clients or potential clients who do not meet ethical standards;
• Conduct regular training for their staff to instil our core principles and values and the workings and implications of the code(s) of conduct;
• Make available upon request, free of charge, training to clients on the workings and implications of the code(s) of conduct;
• Have in place codes of practice that regulate the trading of their clients’ shares/stock by staff members;
• Strictly apply the rules and confidentiality requirements to which former EU / EP personnel are subject to.

Charter members shall:

• Proactively raise and address any conflicts of interest, both at personal and corporate level;
• Be mindful of potential competition law infringements and proactively work to avoid them;
• Invest in the skills development of their staff by providing training on all aspects of the consulting role as well as the workings of the European institutions;
• Assure the highest levels of commercial confidentiality in the management of their portfolio of clients;
• Have in place mentoring programmes where senior staff provide guidance and support to junior staff to ensure the rapid and full implementation by all of the principles of the Charter;
• Commit to subject their staff to the EPACA code of ethics and professional Charter training and certification;
• Where feasible, contribute to the professionalism of the public affairs industry by teaching, publishing and undertaking other initiatives that promote the sector.

Charter members shall:

• Produce, upon request by EPACA, evidence that they meet all legally required social and employment requirements as well as audited financial statements for the preceding three financial years;
• Have appropriate levels of professional liability / indemnity insurance;
• Recognise, and accept, that EPACA or an external independent auditor may check published financial statements and compare these to transparency register filings to assure the accuracy of these filings;
• Provide fair financial compensation for their trainees;
• Fairly remunerate their staff according to the standards and regulations that are applicable;
• Provide clear and transparent budgets that define fees, costs and any other applicable charges.

EPACA Code of Conduct

Public Affairs professionals are a vital part of the democratic process, acting as a link between the world of business, civil society, and policymakers. These professionals must therefore undertake to observe the highest professional and ethical standards.

The EPACA code of conduct is a 12-point code of best practices for public affairs professionals working in consultancies in the EU sphere. The code ensures that professionals in the EU-facing public affairs consultancies act with the utmost professionalism and in complete transparency. Signatories to the code all commit to abide by it, acting in an honest, responsible and courteous manner at all times and seeking to apply the highest professional standards.

The Code is regularly reviewed and updated to ensure it reflects best practices, extremely important in a fast-moving sector in constant evolution, responding to shifting social, economic and political landscapes as well as new communications technologies. The latest revision, completed in the first quarter of 2013, is the product of an extensive review by the EPACA management committee with independent legal advice. The EPACA Code of Conduct is the basis for all such codes in the EU affairs marketplace.

The full text of the EPACA Code of Conduct follows.

This code of conduct applies to all activities undertaken by EPACA members in the context of their EU Public Affairs work. Our work as public affairs professionals contributes to a healthy democratic process, acting as a link between the world of business, civil society and European policy-makers. The signatories to this code are all committed to abide by it, acting in an honest, responsible and courteous manner at all times and seeking to apply the highest professional standards.

When carrying out the activities described above, public affairs practitioners shall:

(a) identify themselves by name and by company;

(b) declare the interest represented;

(c) neither intentionally misrepresent their status nor the nature of their inquiries nor create any false impression in relation thereto;

(d) neither directly nor indirectly misrepresent links with EU institutions;

(e) honour confidential information given to them;

(f) not disseminate false or misleading information knowingly or recklessly and shall exercise proper care to avoid doing so inadvertently;

(g) not sell for profit to third parties copies of documents obtained from EU institutions;

(h) not obtain information by dishonest means;

(i) avoid any professional conflicts of interest;

(j) neither directly nor indirectly offer or give any financial inducement to any elected or appointed public official, or staff of their institutions and  political groups;

(k) neither propose nor undertake any action which would constitute an improper influence on them;

(l) only employ EU personnel subject to the rules and confidentiality requirements of the EU institutions;

All signatories agree that they and all individuals acting on behalf of their companies will adhere to this Code and will avoid actions likely to bring discredit upon the profession or the Association. The signatories further agree to be subject to the disciplinary rules of EPACA (as set out in the Statutes and Internal Regulations) in case of alleged breach of the Code. The signatories will meet annually to review this code.

The new code of conduct contains three principle innovations that tighten up the code, make it clearer and easier to follow, and extend its scope.

• The scope of the code is extended to cover all activities undertaken by EPACA members in the context of their EU public affairs work. This is significant, as previously the scope of the code of conduct only related to PA consultancies’ dealings with the EU institutions.
• The interdiction against giving of financial inducements is extended to any elected or appointed public official, or staff of their institutions and political groups. This includes inducements at local, regional, national and EU levels.
• It removes the general interdiction to avoid actions likely to bring discredit on the profession or the Association, as it was felt that this was too ill-defined as a specific article to the code, making it difficult to follow. However, Paragraph 4 of the EPACA guidelines covers this point by stating that “all signatories agree that they and all individuals acting upon behalf of their companies will adhere to the code and will avoid actions likely to bring  discredit upon the profession or the Association”

EPACA Members (37 Firms) (The website mentions 42)

1. Action Europe (Gérard Bally)
2. Acumen Public Affairs (Elaine Cruikshanks)
3. APCO Worldwide (Claire Boussagol)
4. Avisa Partners (Jacques Lafitte)
5. Biontino Europe (Sarah Biontino)
6. Burson-Marsteller (Karin Massin)
7. Cambre Associates (Aart Van Iterson)
8. Central Lobby Consultants Ltd. (Helen Donoghue)
9. Cicero Consulting : Helena Walsh
10. DLA Piper (DLA Global Government Relations) (Jeroen Jansen)
11. Dr2 Consultants (Marlene ten Ham)
12. EACON-European Affairs Consulting Group (Sören Haar)
13. Edelman (Esther Busscher)
14. Eamonn Bates Europe Public Affairs (Eamonn Bates)
15. EUK Consulting (Sean Murray)
16. Euralia (Didier Sallé)
17. Eurofacts Oy (Tarja Valde-Brown)
18. Europe Analytica (David Bennett)
19. FairValue Corporate & Public Affairs (Anne Mazoyer)
20. FleishmanHillard (Caroline Wunnerlich)
21. F.T.I. Consulting (Julia Harrison)
22. G+ (Europe) (Michael Tscherny)
23. Havas Public Affairs Brussels (Andrew Johnson)
24. Hanover (Hanover Communications) (Christian Hierholzer)
25. Harwood Levitt Consulting (Margot Lotz)
26. Hume Brophy (Jill Craig)
27. Interel European Affairs (Grégoire Poisson)
28. Kreab (Karl Isaksson)
29. Laroche Conseil (Charles Laroche)
30. Llorente & Cuenca (Joan Navarro)
31. Logos Public Affairs (Frédéric Soudain)
32. Lysios Public Affairs (Jean-Michel Chassériaux)
33. MAS Consulting Group (Daniel Urena)
34. Political Intelligence (Isabelle de Vinck)
35. Rhode Public Policy (Sebastian Rohde)
36. Sovereign Strategy (Charlotte Milligan)
37. Weber Shandwick (Laurent Chokoualé Datou)