These two documents were adopted by the European Commission in 2005. They contain recommendations defining the role, responsibilities and rights of researchers, as well as their employers and research funders, operating in the public and private sectors in the Member States of the European Union.

• European Charter for Researchers – describes the rights and obligations to which both researchers and the institutions that employ them and the organisations that provide research funding are subject;
• Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers – describes the principles for the recruitment of researchers that institutions-employers should follow in order to ensure equal treatment of researchers recruited in Europe. These principles are implemented through an Open, Transparent and Merit-based Recruitment Policy (OTM-R), which includes, among other things: involving, among other things: providing full and transparent information on the entire recruitment and selection process, publishing job advertisements with information on the required competences, responsibilities, career development opportunities, and ensuring that the required level of qualifications and competences is in line with the needs of the position and not a barrier to applying.

The implementation of the principles of the Charter and the Code is done on a voluntary basis, i.e. institutions that wish to implement the principles of these documents can enter into this process at any time and apply for the European HR Excellence in Research award.