Identifying and managing conflicts of interest in the Parliamentary Assembly
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Text
adopted by the Standing Committee, acting on behalf of
the Assembly, on 21 November 2025 (see Doc. 16287, report of the Committee on Rules, Ethics and Immunities,
rapporteur: Mr Sergiy Vlasenko).
1. Every parliament should have transparent
and clear processes for identifying and managing conflicts of interest.
Such systems are essential for maintaining the standards of objectivity
and public service that the public expects from democratically elected
politicians. Establishing, and maintaining, an adequate conflict-of-interest
management system within the Parliamentary Assembly is vital for
maintaining public trust in Europe’s democratic institutions and
ensuring the credibility of its actions.
2. The Assembly already has a well-established system for declaring
interests, which has been further improved and developed in its
Resolution 2596 (2025) “Respect
for the rule of law and the fight against corruption within the
Council of Europe”. However, to further improve its integrity system,
the Assembly considers that it could benefit from:
2.1 improved definitions in the
Code of conduct for members of the Parliamentary Assembly to help identify
what constitutes a “conflict of interest” for the purposes of the
Rules of Procedure and the code of conduct;
2.2 clear guidance on identifying potential, perceived or
actual conflicts of interest and on ways of managing conflicts of
interest;
2.3 a named person from whom members can seek confidential
advice to assist them in identifying and managing conflicts of interest;
2.4 efforts to simplify the language of the code of conduct,
in particular to avoid repetition in the general principles and
the rules of conduct.
3. It is important that members of the Assembly be given sufficiently
clear information and support when declaring their interests, and
when identifying and managing potential, perceived or actual conflicts
of interest. Practical guidance notes, tailored to the Assembly’s
context and regularly updated, on making declarations of interest
and on identifying and managing conflicts of interest, are a key
tool in this respect.
4. In line with best practice in managing conflicts of interest,
it is appropriate to designate a person to whom members can go for
confidential advice based on expertise in identifying potential,
perceived or actual conflicts of interest and how to react to or
manage such situations. It nonetheless remains the responsibility
of members to declare their interests and to appropriately resolve
any situation regarding a conflict of interest. The Assembly considers
that the Council of Europe Ethics Officer has the relevant expertise,
suitability, independence and availability for this role. The advice
given should be specifically tailored to the context of parliamentarians
exercising their functions within the Assembly.
5. In light of the above, the Assembly amends the Code of conduct
for members of the Parliamentary Assembly (contained in Appendix II
to the Rules of Procedure) as follows:
5.1 delete paragraph 9;
5.2 after paragraph 21, insert the following new provision:
“Managing conflicts of interest
21.1. For the purposes of this code, the following definitions
shall apply:
21.1.1. a personal “interest” is something that could
lead to a personal advantage to oneself or one’s close connections.
The interest can arise in relation to one’s occupation, finances,
business interests, relationships (family and friends), liabilities
or other interests;
21.1.2. “close connections” include one’s household and
close friends and family members;
21.1.3. a “conflict of interest” can be potential, perceived
or actual. It is a situation where a person has a personal interest
which is such as to influence or appear to influence the impartial
and objective performance of their duties.
21.2. In their declaration of interests, a member shall
identify any potential, perceived or actual conflicts of interest
between their personal interests and the public interest in the
work of the Assembly. In doing so, special regard should be paid
to that member’s particular roles within the Assembly (e.g. President
or Vice-President of the Assembly; chairperson or vice-chairperson
of a committee, sub-committee, network, platform, alliance or political
group; rapporteur (including co-rapporteur, general rapporteur and
youth rapporteur) or member of an ad hoc committee for the observation
of elections). A separate entry shall be included in their declaration
identifying any potential, perceived or actual conflicts of interest
for each role within the Assembly.
21.3. Once a potential, perceived or actual conflict of
interest has been identified, a member shall set out in their declaration
of interests the remedial steps that will be taken to avoid that
conflict unduly affecting their work in the Assembly. Remedial steps
can include, for example:
– disclosure;
– third-party involvement;
– stepping back or recusal;
– refusal;
– avoidance.
21.4. Advice may be sought from the Council of Europe
Ethics Officer, who can provide confidential advice to members,
tailored to the context of parliamentarians exercising their functions
within the Assembly, to assist them in identifying and managing
potential conflicts of interest. Advice may also be sought from
the Secretary General of the Parliamentary Assembly, who is responsible
for the application of the code of conduct. It remains the responsibility
of the members to declare any interests and to identify and appropriately
resolve any conflicts of interest. Conflicts of interest should
be resolved in favour of the public interest and must be disclosed.”;
5.3 replace paragraph 22.1.1 with the following:
“obligation to update their declaration
of interests in order to declare any interests relevant to that role,
to identify any potential, perceived or actual conflicts of interest
and to record how any such conflicts will be managed;”;
5.4 replace paragraph 40.1.1 with the following:
“obligation to update their declaration
of interests in order to declare any interests relevant to that role,
to identify any potential, perceived or actual conflicts of interest
and to record how any such conflicts will be managed;”.
6. The Assembly decides to modify the guidelines on the observation
of elections by the Parliamentary Assembly (contained in Appendix XIII
to the Rules of Procedure) by replacing paragraph 20 with the following:
“All candidates for membership
of an ad hoc committee, at the time of putting forward their candidacy, shall
make a written declaration of interests in connection with the country
concerned by an election observation; this declaration shall be
added to their declaration of interests published on the Assembly website
and shall identify any conflicts of interest (as defined in the
Code of conduct for members of the Parliamentary Assembly) and any
remedial steps taken in relation to those interests and the work
of the ad hoc committee for the observation of elections. Political
groups shall not submit the candidatures of members with unmanaged
conflicts of interest in respect of a particular country.”
7. The Assembly decides that the amendments to the Rules of Procedure
set out in this Resolution shall enter into force at the opening
of its January 2026 part-session.
