The Council of the EU's General Secretariat has reported that in 2025, no former senior officials notified an intention to engage in new occupational activities that would trigger the one-year lobbying ban, according to a compliance report published on 3 May 2026. The report, issued under the Staff Regulations and internal Council decisions, aims to prevent conflicts of interest by restricting former officials from lobbying or advocating on matters they handled while in office.
Legal framework and assessment criteria
The report is based on Article 16 of the Staff Regulations, implemented via Council decisions No 61/2015 and No 43/2019, and complies with data protection Regulation (EU) 2018/1725. It details a strict assessment method using personal, temporal, and material criteria to determine whether a proposed activity falls under the lobbying ban. The ban applies to activities targeting the Council on matters the official handled during their last three years of service.
Zero cases in 2025
For the reporting year, the Council confirmed zero notifications from former senior officials—defined as directors-general, directors, and equivalent grades—seeking approval for new occupational activities. This marks a continuation of low activity, with no cases reported in previous years either, according to the document. The report attributes this to the limited number of officials leaving service annually and the restrictive nature of the rules.
Impact on stakeholders
The absence of cases has a negligible direct impact on most stakeholders. For EU regulatory bodies, it indicates effective deterrence but also raises questions about the rules' scope. National authorities and EU producers face no new compliance costs. Civil society groups may view the zero-case outcome as either a sign of strong ethics or a need for broader transparency measures. The main trade-off is between maintaining rigorous ethics standards and the administrative burden of monitoring a small pool of former officials.
Institutional follow-up
The report is a routine compliance document with no immediate legislative follow-up. The Council will continue to apply the existing framework, and future reports will track any changes in notification patterns. No other EU institutions are expected to react, as the rules are internal to the Council's General Secretariat.