On 12–13 September 2014 the third annual Cologne Consensus Conference (CCC) was held in Cologne, Germany. The two-day educational event was organised by the European Cardiology Section Foundation (ECSF) and the European Board for Accreditation in Cardiology (EBAC), a specialty CME-CPD accreditation board of the European Union of Medical Specialists (UEMS). The conference was planned in cooperation with an impressive group of international organisations and faculty members representing leading European and North American institutions. Each year, the CCC is organised around a specific topic area. For the conference’s third iteration, the management of conflicts of interest (COI) was the focus. The CCC 2014 was an exceptional opportunity for international experts and leadership to gather and learn from one another through both the formal presentations and lively group discussions. This report provides a summary of the presentations and discussions from the educational event.