The European Ombudsman (EO) has historically played a pioneering role in an otherwise largely neglected field of EU public/administrative law, namely the field of EU ethics. That has been achieved via two approaches: a horizontal approach (by the first two-office holders, Söderman and Diamandouros) which has entailed developing principles and standards applicable across the whole EU administration; and a vertical (or more focused) approach (by O’Reilly, the current office-holder) which has entailed a more robust and targeted engagement with ethical issues of the EU executive, in particular. However, as an EU body, the EO could have done more in synthesizing and putting in order this space/set of principles over time. The new Ethics Body (‘Interinstitutional Body for Ethical Standards for Members of Institutions and Advisory Bodies of the EU’) should learn from the EO’s work and find ways to collaborate within the boundaries of their respective prerogatives.