On the other hand, it was not considered desirable or even feasible to define ethical conduct in terms of adherence to statutory rules, nor can the role of an appointed official, however vital, fundamentally displace the responsibility of the Prime Minister for the ethical standards of his or her government.

Using this ethical framework as a point of departure, the EGE also makes recommendations on a plethora of issues, such as: revision of EU Common Agriculture Policy, technology impact assessment of agricultural technologies; the right to food; Sustainability of agriculture technologies; Food safety; Agricultural biodiversity; Soil and water protection; Biofuels; GM crops; Research in agricultural sciences; policy-making in arable agriculture; Global trade in agricultural products; Intellectual Property Rights system; Fair competition and “vertical monopolies”; Food prices; Societal aspects; Public participation; Responsibi ...[+++]lity of EU citizens; Food waste etc.

But as I said at the outset, the ethics counsellor reports to the Prime Minister.

As a starting point, the Commission proposes to analyse together with the Audit Advisory Committee existing national codes of ethics and the international IFAC Code of Ethics.

Commission report on human embryonic stem cell research provides basis for discussion on ethics

Provided that its provisions are otherwise complied with, this Directive shall thus not prejudice the right of churches and other public or private organisations, the ethos of which is based on religion or belief, acting in conformity with national constitutions and laws, to require individuals working for them to act in good faith and with loyalty to the organisation's ethos.