EPACA | European Public Affairs Consultancies' Association

EPACA

2 Avenue de Tervueren
B-1040 Brussels
tel: +32 2230 0814
fax:+32 2737 6940
Email: info@epaca.org

Disciplinary rules

The Management Committee may appoint a pool of members for a Professional Practices Panel, each from outside the profession and appointed on the basis of their experience of EU institutions and affairs. The Management Committee shall look for professionals of high reputation and extensive experience of EU institutions such as former MEPs, former Commission officials or members of Brussels think-tanks. A disciplinary panel shall consist of three persons, drawn as necessary from such a pool by the management committee.

In the event of a complaint to the Chairman of EPACA or any member of the Management Committee that the Code has been breached by a member consultancy, the Management Committee may exceptionally decide by a two thirds majority of those present at its meeting that the complaint does not warrant investigation by the Professional Practices Panel. In making its decision, the committee shall exclude from its proceedings any member(s) who work(s) for or represent(s) the consultancy against which the complaint has been made. The committee shall make a referral to the panel within 30 days of the alleged breach being notified. The consultancy which is alleged to have breached the code has the right to meet with the committee before a decision is taken on whether to refer the matter to the professional practices panel.

Upon the committee instituting the panel to make its investigation, the panel shall appoint its own chairman. The panel shall report its findings to the Management Committee within 30 days of receiving the referral. In the course of its inquiries, the panel shall meet - or seek to meet - with at least the complainant and a representative of the member consultancy alleged to have breached the Code.

If the panel rules that the Code has been breached, it shall recommend that the Management Committee:

  • reprimands the member consultancy and warns as to its future conduct
  • expels the member consultancy for a specific period
  • expels the member consultancy indefinitely.

 

Any sanction taken by the committee against a member consultancy shall require the support of at least three quarters of votes cast. The member consultancy shall be informed in writing of the management committee’s decision. That decision and the panel’s report shall be made available to the public.