Answer to a written question – Travel routes used by the Commission – E-000189/2025(ASW)

The Code of Conduct for the Members of the Commission[1] provides that Members’ mission expenses are covered from the Commission’s global envelope and managed by the Head of Cabinet of the Member concerned (legal authorising officer), who also certifies the validity of invoices.

The Head of Cabinet of the President of the Commission may subdelegate this power to the Director of Coordination and Administration in the President of the Commission’s Cabinet.

The Commission is sending directly to the Honourable Member a table containing information on the use of air taxis charged to the EU budget, providing preliminary data on the year 2024[2].

Concerning data related to the name of passengers other than Members of the Commission, the Commission does not include the requested personal data in the present reply, with a view to the data protection requirements laid down in Regulation (EU) 2018/1725[3].

In the period indicated by the Honourable Member, no companies have covered travel costs for Members of the Commission. According to the Code of Conduct, Members cannot accept free travel offered by third parties unless it is in accordance with diplomatic or courtesy usage or unless the President of the Commission has authorised it beforehand.

As regards Commission staff, the Secretariat-General and the Directorate-General for Human Resources issued instructions to all services in 2023 which rule out the payment for missions by companies.

• [1] Commission Decision C(2018) 700 final, of 31 January 2018, on a Code of Conduct for the Members of the European Commission and in particular Annex 2 thereof, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32018D0221(02)&from=EN.
• [2] See Annex.
• [3] Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the EU institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 and Decision No 1247/2002/EC, OJ L 295, 21.11.2018, p. 39-98.