Parliament group leaders, met at the usual Conference of Presidents held during the plenary, endorse new Code of Conduct for MEPs. The Code seeks avoid conflicts of interest setting out rules and principles which MEPs will need to follow in their contacts with outside interests.

Jerzy Buzek, the EP President welcomed the new rules and remained the work to build this code has been made in record time, just 10 weeks. Therefore, now there is a proposal for the first-ever Code of Conduct for the European Parliament. The Bureau Working Group, which drew up the draft Code, took inspiration from the best practices of a number of national parliaments. Now the Conference of Presidents has referred the Code to the Constitutional Affairs Committee in view of a subsequent vote by the whole Parliament to bring it into force.

Once the code enters into force, MEPs will have to provide clear declarations of their paid activities outside Parliament and their remuneration, as well as of other functions which might constitute a conflict of interest. For instance, there are clear rules on the acceptance of gifts and on the position of former MEPs working as lobbyists. The code also contains an explicit ban on receiving payments or other rewards in exchange for influencing parliamentary decisions. Thus, the code's guiding principle is transparency. This rules follows recently changes approved and applied to the The Code of Conduct for Commissioners.

MEPs will be provided guidance through an Advisory Committee. This one will also advise the President on what steps to take in the event of alleged breaches of the Code. Possible sanctions range from a reprimand to withholding daily allowances or removal from posts held within the Parliament. Any such sanctions will be published on Parliament's website.