BRUSSELS, Nov. 9 (Xinhuanet) -- European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union (EU), on Wednesday unveiled an initiative to bring greater transparency to the workings of the EU institutions.

    Announcing the initiative at a press conference in Brussels, the Commission Vice-President Siim Kallas said that the move was aiming to bolster public confidence in this 25-nation bloc.

    The initiative would be followed by a Green Paper in the first half of 2006 in order to obtain the views of stakeholders, he added.

    Asked why the Commission was being so slow to put forward concrete options, he said that the processes in Europe "take more time than I as a radical person would like".

    The Commissioner also noted, however, that some progress had already been made on transparency with a substantial number of member states now publishing data on the end-recipients of EU funds.

    The other main elements of the initiative will be to ensure a level playing field for ethical standards for all those working inEU institutions, and adopt a voluntary code of conduct for lobbyists. Enditem