It is a motley collection of items - pewter jugs, a box of cigars, an engraving of the Belgian parliament - but it gives a glimpse of the largesse that is bestowed upon European commissioners as they travel the world in luxury.

The 27 members of the EU's executive body have registered 216 gifts during their four-year term, in line with a code of conduct that requires them to disclose details of presents worth more than €150 (£120) but not of any hospitality or other perks such as private jets, holidays, hotels and restaurants, no matter who paid for them.

Pledges made in 2005 to tighten the code, after an outcry over a cruise on a Greek tycoon's yacht enjoyed by José Manuel Barroso, the Commission President, seem to have fallen by the wayside.

Instead, transparency in Brussels amounts to a quaint list of curios, such as the 12-volume history of Sicily received by the Italian former commissioner Franco Frattini in December 2004, his only entry on the register.

He saw no need to list the skiing weekend with the Bulgarian Interior Minister, which caused a furore when it came to light because Mr Frattini had taken such a close interest in a report on Bulgaria's progress in joining the EU - a report that was criticised for giving Bulgaria an easy ride.

Mr Barroso has declared the highest number of gifts, 80, ranging from a gold fob watch from a head of state - there is no requirement to name the benefactor - to a silver dagger presented by an anonymous diplomat.

However, he does not list any free cruises, such as the one he took with his friend Spiro Latsis shortly after being appointed and which led to criticism because it followed a decision by the previous Commission to allow state aid to a shipyard owned by Mr Latsis.

In 2005 the Anti-Fraud Commissioner, the Estonian Siim Kallas, said that he wanted the code of conduct to be “more precise and more exhaustive”. His spokesman said yesterday that a report on safeguards had concluded that the European Commission, along with the European Central Bank, had the best mechanisms of all the European institutions.

Günter Verheugen, the German commissioner, has declared ten gifts, including two mobile phones, a television, a hi-fi and scale models of a ship, an Airbus and a BMW car, all given by unnamed companies. He made no mention of any hospitality that he may have enjoyed on trips with his chief of staff, Petra Erler, who was alleged to be his girlfriend at the time of her appointment.

During his tenure as Trade Commissioner, Lord Mandelson, now the Business Secretary in Gordon Brown's Government, declared five gifts: a pen from a head of state, a glass lamp from a “private association”, a rug and a gold-decorated glass plate from national governments, and a model sailing vessel from “companies”.

His spokesman confirmed that this was not a keepsake of theQueen K, the yacht owned by the Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska, where Lord Mandelson partied last summer. It was this visit that brought calls for the peer to clarify the hospitality he received from Mr Deripaska while his EU department was dealing with aluminium tariffs affecting Mr Deripaska's business.

The Times asked a number of commissioners, including Mr Barroso, whether they would be prepared to provide information beyond the strict limits of the code of conduct. Their spokesmen all gave the same answer: “The commissioner has acted fully in line with obligations set out in the treaty and code of conduct.

“The commissioner believes that the treaty and the commissioners' code of conduct is sufficiently clear and precise on conflicts of interest and how hospitality should be handled. The commissioner does not believe it is helpful to speculate on whether information ‘going beyond the code' should be provided.”

One of those asked, the Dutch Competition Commissioner, Neelie Kroes, has been careful to distance herself from decisions concerning the shipping sector because she is a board member of P&O Nedlloyd. In the gifts register, she records 33 items, including “a silver fig leaf” - perhaps from someone with a sense of humour about the code of conduct.

Gifts to commissioners

José Manuel Barroso, President of the Commission, received a dagger in March 2007 and a box of cigars in October 2005

Andris Piebalgs, the Energy Commissioner, received a fossilised mollusc called a nautilus in February 2007

Mariann Fischer Boel, the Agriculture Commissioner, received a chocolate egg that measured approximately 80cm (2ft 7in) high in March 2007 and six silver coins in June 2006

Olli Rehn, the Enlargement Commissioner, received a golden paper cutter and a silver sailing boat in December 2005

Neelie Kroes, the Competition Commissioner, received a fig leaf crafted from silver in November 2005

Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the External Relations Commissioner, received a wooden money box complete with money in September 2005

Franco Frattini, Vice-President of the Commission who also has responsibility for justice, freedom and security, received a history of Sicily in 12 volumes in December 2004

Jacques Barrot, also Vice-President of the Commission, received a pair of opera glasses in March 2005

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