The European Union’s Civil Service Staff Regulations and the Direct Implementation of the EU Law

Abstract

The regulation of the European Union’s civil service staff became more detailed in the course of the integration. One of the main incentives of this evolution was the enhanced role of the direct implementation of the EU law. The direct implementation refers to the phenomenon that the EU’s own institutions and bodies became responsible for applying their norms instead of the bodies of the Member States (indirect implementation) due to the implementation deficit of the EU law in certain policy areas. This tendency led to a more detailed regulation of work ethics by the EU as certain members of the EU staff might have gotten in dual commitments with former/future employers or with their home country (Member State). Consequently, the European Commission, EU agencies, as well as ECB being responsible for the direct implementation of the EU law enacted well-detailed regulations to address such issues. Though, the future practice – especially based on the Commission’s own practice – might also justify the extended exchange of best practices, as well as of information as main ethics management tools in this regard. Additionally, the future regulator should also consider to make specific (internal) bodies responsible for the direct implementation instead of politically most affected main decision-making bodies.