Code of Conduct

Mem­bers of the Aus­tri­an Pub­lic Affairs Asso­ci­a­tion (OePAV) com­mit them­selves to com­ply with the prin­ci­ples of the OePAV code of conduct.

Preamble

Rep­re­sen­ta­tion of inter­ests and exchange of infor­ma­tion are key ele­ments of a healthy and pros­per­ous democ­ra­cy. They need to be sup­port­ed in the inter­est of all par­tic­i­pants of the polit­i­cal are­na. Inter­est groups and pub­lic affairs experts of com­pa­nies, asso­ci­a­tions, NGOs, trade asso­ci­a­tions and agen­cies are valu­able medi­a­tors between the econ­o­my, pol­i­tics, the admin­is­tra­tion and civ­il soci­ety. A high sense of per­son­al integri­ty, social sen­si­tiv­i­ty and trans­paren­cy is nec­es­sary to con­duct pub­lic affairs.

There­fore, in recent years, nation­al pub­lic affairs asso­ci­a­tions as the Swiss Pub­lic Affairs Asso­ci­a­tion (SPAG), the Ger­man Asso­ci­a­tion for Polit­i­cal Con­sult­ing (deIgeIpol), the Brus­sels-based Soci­ety of Euro­pean Affairs Pro­fes­sion­als (SEAP) and the Euro­pean Asso­ci­a­tion of Pub­lic Affairs Agen­cies (EPACA) have enact­ed codes of con­duct bind­ing their mem­bers. In addi­tion, the Euro­pean Com­mis­sion and the Euro­pean Par­lia­ment have agreed upon a code of con­duct for the Euro­pean Trans­paren­cy Register.

In a con­tin­u­ous process of pro­fes­sion­al­iza­tion, the Aus­tri­an Pub­lic Affairs Asso­ci­a­tion (OePAV) devel­oped a code of con­duct bind­ing its mem­bers. The OePAV code is based on inter­na­tion­al role-mod­els. In enact­ing a code of con­duct, the OePAV shows its com­mit­ment to trans­paren­cy and qual­i­ty stan­dards to pol­i­tics, civ­il soci­ety, clients and the public.

Self-Perception

OePAV mem­bers regard their work as con­vey­ing infor­ma­tion and rep­re­sent­ing inter­ests. They are con­vinced that they make sig­nif­i­cant and legit­i­mate con­tri­bu­tions to basic demo­c­ra­t­ic process­es like defin­ing opin­ion and mak­ing deci­sion. In their work, OePAV mem­bers sup­port and com­ply with all applic­a­ble laws par­tic­u­lar­ly the free­dom of speech, the right to infor­ma­tion, the inde­pen­den­cy of the media and the pro­tec­tion of per­son­al rights.

Integri­ty, trans­paren­cy and com­pli­ance with the basic demo­c­ra­t­ic order are require­ments for the work of OePAV mem­bers and are inte­gral parts of their self-conception.

Principles

Mem­bers of OEPAV com­mit them­selves to com­ply with the fol­low­ing prin­ci­ples in their busi­ness life:

Article 1: Honesty and transparency

OePAV mem­bers must be hon­est and accu­rate in their inter­re­la­tions with clients, polit­i­cal insti­tu­tions, the leg­isla­tive and exec­u­tive bod­ies, the media and the pub­lic. They must not mis­lead by using inac­cu­rate or incom­plete infor­ma­tion. Mem­bers of the OePAV must pay atten­tion to trans­paren­cy. They must dis­close their clients’ iden­ti­ty when act­ing on their behalf.

Article 2: Confidentiality and conflict of interest

OePAV mem­bers are com­mit­ted to dis­cre­tion in their work. Meet­ings with politi­cians or mem­bers of the admin­is­tra­tion must be con­fi­den­tial unless oth­er­wise agreed. Con­sul­tants must pro­tect con­fi­den­tial infor­ma­tion and pro­tect pri­va­cy rights of their cur­rent and for­mer clients. Con­fi­den­tial infor­ma­tion con­cern­ing cur­rent and for­mer clients must not be passed on with­out the clients’ explic­it approval. OePAV mem­bers must not accept an assign­ment that may cause con­flicts of interest.

Article 3: Dishonest methods

In rep­re­sent­ing their clients’ inter­ests, OePAV mem­bers must refrain from any dis­hon­est or ille­gal behav­ior. They must not give direct or indi­rect finan­cial incen­tives. If a client request­ed an ille­gal action from the con­sul­tant, the con­sul­tant would have to decline the request and inform the client about the rea­sons for his decline.

Article 4: No discrimination

OeP­VA mem­bers must not dis­crim­i­nate against gen­der, reli­gious beliefs, eth­ni­cal back­grounds, age, dis­abil­i­ties or sex­u­al ori­en­ta­tion. OePAV mem­bers must not par­tic­i­pate in dis­crim­i­na­to­ry actions.

Article 5: Respect

OePAV mem­bers must treat their clients, col­leagues and con­tacts respect­ful­ly. They must con­sid­er their per­son­al and pro­fes­sion­al rep­u­ta­tion and strength­en it when­ev­er possible.

Article 6: Incompatibility

The work of pub­lic affairs pro­fes­sion­als is not com­pat­i­ble with a func­tion in admin­is­tra­tive or exec­u­tive bod­ies includ­ing bod­ies of the Euro­pean Union.

Article 7: Protecting and advancing the profession; competition

OePAV mem­bers must avoid any behav­ior that could dam­age the rep­u­ta­tion of the pub­lic affairs busi­ness, the OePAV or its members.

Article 8: Compensation

OePAV mem­bers must sign writ­ten con­tracts with their clients deter­min­ing the terms and con­di­tions for their ser­vices, includ­ing a rea­son­able pay­ment. Com­mis­sion pay­ments must not be offered nor accepted.

General terms

OePAV mem­bers accept the code in its cur­rent ver­sion when join­ing the OePAV. They active­ly con­tribute to its com­pli­ance, cir­cu­la­tion and refinement.

The OePAV releas­es a list of mem­bers reg­u­lar­ly to com­ply with the prin­ci­ple of transparency.

OePAV mem­bers may use their mem­ber­ship pub­licly to assure clients their qual­i­ty standards.

The OePAV board of direc­tors must update the code of con­duct once a year.

Proceedings

Any vio­la­tion of Arti­cles 1 to 8 may lay the ground for a pro­ceed­ing. A pro­ceed­ing may result in sanc­tions rang­ing from a for­mal writ­ten warn­ing to a com­plete exclu­sion from the OePAV. Exclu­sions are exe­cut­ed by the board of direc­tors. The indi­vid­ual sanc­tion is deter­mined by the degree of unlaw­ful­ness of the action and the extent of rep­u­ta­tion dam­age for the pub­lic affairs business.

Vio­la­tions of the code may be noti­fied to the code of con­duct com­mit­tee by OePAV mem­bers, polit­i­cal deci­sion mak­ers, media rep­re­sen­ta­tives or indi­vid­u­als. Noti­fi­ca­tions can­not be done anony­mous­ly. Noti­fi­ca­tions must include their jus­ti­fi­ca­tion with inclu­sion of facts and spec­i­fy the vio­lat­ed article.

If a pro­ceed­ing is ini­ti­at­ed, the code of con­duct com­mit­tee judges the case and gives rec­om­men­da­tions to the board of direc­tors. The affect­ed OePAV mem­ber is enti­tled to be heard. Mem­bers of the com­mit­tee are two unbi­ased mem­bers of the board of direc­tors and one exter­nal legal expert. The com­mit­tee has to deliv­er its rec­om­men­da­tions with­in a peri­od of 8 weeks after noti­fi­ca­tion. Rec­om­men­da­tions have to be made in writ­ten form. The board of direc­tors decides by major­i­ty. Its deci­sions have to be pub­lished in writ­ten form.