Disclaimer
The European Committee of the Regions maintains this website to enhance public access to information about its initiatives and European Union policies in general. Our goal is to keep this information timely and accurate. If errors are brought to our attention, we will try to correct them.
However the European Committee of the Regions accepts no responsibility or liability whatsoever with regard to the information on this site.
This information is:
- of a general nature only and is not intended to address the specific circumstances of any particular individual or entity;
- not necessarily comprehensive, complete, accurate or up to date;
- sometimes linked to external sites over which the Committee has no control and for which the Committee assumes no responsibility;
- not professional or legal advice (if you need specific advice, you should always consult a suitably qualified professional).
Please note that it cannot be guaranteed that a document available on-line exactly reproduces an officially adopted text. Only European Union legislation published in the Official Journal of the European Union is deemed authentic.
It is our goal to minimize disruption caused by technical errors. However some data or information on our site may have been created or structured in files or formats that are not error-free and we cannot guarantee that our service will not be interrupted or otherwise affected by such problems. The European Committee of the Regions accepts no responsibility with regard to such problems incurred as a result of using this site or any linked external sites.
This disclaimer is not intended to limit the liability of the European Committee of the Regions in contravention of any requirements laid down in applicable national law nor to exclude its liability for matters which may not be excluded under that law.
Copyright notice
© European Union, 1995-2022
Reproduction is authorised, provided the source is acknowledged, save where otherwise stated.
Where
prior permission must be obtained for the reproduction or use of
textual and multimedia information (sound, images, software, etc.), such
permission shall cancel the above-mentioned general permission and
shall clearly indicate any restrictions on use.
Moderation policy for social media
We are on social media!
The European Committee of the Regions offers a platform focusing on regions and cities in the EU and has a social media presence that includes Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube. We welcome all political views, thoughts and ideas, and encourage you to participate in our online discussions. Please feel free to comment and share our content.
Principles
We ask you to observe the fundamental principle of good behavior. We do not accept offensive comments or insulting and inappropriate language. Please show respect to fellow users and the fundamental principles we all share. We say no to racism, no to xenophobia, and no to discrimination based on religion, ethnic origin, gender or sexual orientation. We do not accept calls to violence and hate speech. Our rules also forbid comments that are defamatory, unlawful or that include copyright infringements. We will delete these types of comments and we may ban users who repeatedly use offensive language, as well as people impersonating public figures or using fake accounts. We reserve the right to delete as spam posts that are excessively repetitive, very long or disruptive to the community, as well as unsolicited advertisement. We encourage you to post comments that stick to the subject and contribute to the ongoing debates.
Management
These social media platforms fall under the responsibility of the Social and Digital Media and Publications Unit of the European Committee of the Regions, with content-related support from colleagues across other departments. The accounts we follow are not an indication of our endorsement of these accounts or of the content they share. We use a number of existing or new hashtags (#) in order to join group conversations and to enable us to participate in relevant debates. However, we cannot assume responsibility for any content under these hashtags that has not been developed by us.
If errors are brought to our attention, we will try to correct them. We do not take responsibility for the content or activities of any third party or external site.
We aim to respond to as many questions as possible as quickly as we can. Did we miss yours? Please let us know at the e-mail address below.
Photos
All photos published on our channels are copyright of the European Union, unless stated otherwise. Photos ©European Union can be used freely provided the source is acknowledged. They must not be used for commercial purposes or in an offensive way. We do our best to make sure that all content posted on our channels complies with the General Data Protection Regulation (EU). If, however, you think that your rights to privacy or your intellectual property have been violated, please contact us via email.
Personal data
For statistical purposes we collect aggregated data about our users on social media platforms. We use Talkwalker to gather and visualise aggregated data for statistical research and in no case do we process the personal data of our followers. The collection of data is covered by the user terms and licence agreement of each of the social media platforms.
For further questions, please contact:
socialmedia@cor.europa.eu
Last updated: June 2019
Personal Data Protection
The European Union is committed to user privacy. The policy on protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data by the EU institutions is based on Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 and Decision No 1247/2002/EC.
This general policy covers the European Union's family of institutional Web Sites, within the europa.eu domain.
Although you can browse through most of these Web Sites without giving any information about yourself, in some cases, personal information is required in order to provide the e-services you request.
Web Sites that require such information treat it according to the policy described in the Regulation mentioned above and provide information about the use of your data in their specific privacy policy statements.
In this respect:
- for each specific e-service, a controller determines the purposes and means of the processing of personal data and ensures conformity of the specific e-service with the privacy policy;
- within each Institution, a Data Protection Officer ensures that the provisions of the Regulation are applied and advises controllers on fulfilling their obligations (see art. 43 to 45 of the Regulation);
- for all the Institutions, the European Data Protection Supervisor [27 KB] will act as an independent supervisory authority (see art. 52 to 60 of the Regulation).
The European Union's family of institutional Web Sites, within the europa.eu domain, provides links to third party sites. Since we do not control them, we encourage you to review their privacy policies.
What is an e-service?
An e-service on EUROPA is a service or resource made available on the Internet in order to improve the communication between citizens and businesses on the one hand and the European Institutions on the other hand.
Three types of e-services are or will be offered by EUROPA:
- Information services that provide citizens, media, business, administrations and other decision makers with easy and effective access to information, thus increasing transparency and understanding of the policies and activities of the EU.
- Interactive communication services that allow better contacts with citizens, business, civil society and public actors thus facilitating policy consultations, and feedback mechanisms, in order to contribute to the shaping of policies, the activities and the services of the EU.
- Transaction services that allow access to all basic forms of transactions with the EU, e.g. procurement, financial operations, recruitment, event enrolment, acquisition or purchase of documents etc.
Information contained in a specific privacy statement
A specific privacy policy statement will contain the following information about the use of your data:
- what information is collected, for what purpose and through which technical means the EU collects personal information exclusively to the extent necessary to fulfil a specific purpose. The information will not be re-used for an incompatible purpose;
- To whom your information is disclosed. The EU will only disclose information to third parties if that is necessary for the fulfilment of the purpose(s) identified above and to the mentioned (categories of) recipients. The EU will not divulge your personal data for direct marketing purposes;
- How you can access your information, verify its accuracy and, if necessary, correct it. As a data subject you also have the right to object to the processing of your personal data on legitimate compelling grounds except when it is collected in order to comply with a legal obligation, or is necessary for the performance of a contract to which you are a party, or is to be used for a purpose for which you have given your unambiguous consent;
- How long your data is kept. The EU only keeps the data for the time necessary to fulfil the purpose of collection or further processing;
- What are the security measures taken to safeguard your information against possible misuse or unauthorised access;
- Whom to contact if you have queries or complaints.
How do we treat e-mails you send us?
Many web pages on Europa have a "Contact" button, which activates your e-mail software and invites you to send your comments to a specific functional mailbox.
When you send such a message, your personal data is collected only to the extent necessary to reply. If the management team of the mailbox is unable to answer your question, it will forward your e-mail to another service. You will be informed, via e-mail, about which service your question has been forwarded to.
If you have any questions about the processing of your e-mail and related personal data, do not hesitate to include them in your message.