26.8.2000 Official Journal of the European Communities L 216/15 II (Acts whose publication is not obligatory) EUROPEAN ENVIRONMENT AGENCY EUROPEAN ENVIRONMENT AGENCY DECISION of 20 March 2000 establishing a code of good administrative behaviour for the Agency (2000/529/EC) THE EUROPEAN ENVIRONMENT AGENCY, Having regard to the provisions on openness in the Amsterdam Treaty, and in particular Article 1 of the Treaty on European Union and Article 21 of the EC Treaty, Having regard to the initiative taken by Roy Perry, rapporteur for the report of the Committee on Petitions on its own activities in 1996-1997 ('), in calling for a code of good administrative behaviour, Having regard to the resolution of the European Parliament of 16 July 1998 on the Annual Report on the activities of the European Ombudsman in 1997 (C4-0270/98) (%), Having regard to the own initiative inquiry of the European Ombudsman into the existence and the public accessibility, in the different Community institutions and bodies, of a code of good administrative behaviour for officials in their relations with the public, Having regard to the resolution of the European Parliament of 15 April 1999 on the Annual Report on the activities of the European Ombudsman in 1998 (C4-0138/99), Having regard to the existing Code of conduct concerning public access to Commission documents, contained in Decision 94/90/ECSC, EC, Euratom (%), Whereas the Amsterdam Treaty has explicitly introduced the concept of openness into the Treaty on European Union, by stating that it marks a new stage in the process of creating an ever closer union in which decisions are taken as openly as possible and as closely as possible to the citizen; Whereas the European Commission equally aims at reforming the procedures of the Community administration to fully implement this concept; Whereas, in order to bring the administration closer to the citizens and to guarantee a better quality of administration, a code should be adopted which contains the basic principles of good administrative behaviour for officials when dealing with the public; Whereas such a code is useful for both the officials, as it will inform them in a detailed manner of the rules they have to follow when dealing with the public, and the citizens, as it will provide them with information on the standard of conduct they are entitled to expect in dealings with the Community administrations; Whereas such a code can only be efficient if it is a publicly accessible document for the citizens, and thus published in the form of a decision like the abovementioned Decision on public access to Commission documents; Whereas, in its resolutions C4-0270/98 and C4-0138/99, the Parliament welcomed the initiative for a code of good adminis- trative behaviour for the European institutions and bodies, and stressed the urgent need to draw up such a code as soon as possible; Whereas the Parliament equally stressed the importance for such a code to be as identical as possible for all European institutions and bodies, to be accessible to all European citi- zens, and to be published in the Official Journal;