How to contact the EU Institutions and their officials

Contents
	Information offices of the European parliament
	The European Parliament and the Members of the European Parliament – petitions
	Contacting the European Commission
	How to contact the European Ombudsman
	SOLVIT

Since the European Parliament is the only institution whose political constitution is directly elected by the citizens of the EU, the communication between the EP and the citizens has the most immediate nature.

One of the major rights of the citizens of the EU is submitting a petition to the European Parliament. This could be done individually, or collectively - together with other persons. 

Any EU citizen or permanent resident in the EU can submit a petition. The subject of the request must be within the EU policy areas. This also counts for any company, organization or association whose headquarter is located on the territory of the EU.

The petition can represent a complaint or a request, and may relate to matters of public or private interest. It may present a request, complaint or a remark regarding the application of EU law, or to appeal to the European Parliament to take a position on a specific issue.

The petition must be written in one of the official EU languages and submitted by means of mail, or e-mail. It must be clear, including all facts relevant to the case, yet free of unnecessary details. The petition must be written clearly and legibly, and may be accompanied by a summary.

 There is no specific blank or standardized layout for the paper submissions. However, a submission should include the name, the nationality and the permanent address of the petitioner. If that is a collective body, the name, the nationality and permanent address of the sender, or at least the first person who have signed the petition, is mandatory. The document must be signed. All documents, which the petitioner has on the case, should be enclosed.

The petition shall be sent to:

European Parliament
The President of the European Parliament
Rue Wiertz
B-1047 BRUSSELS 
 

E-mail petitions submissions are done through an electronic blank, which could be found on the European Parliament webpage under “Petitions”. A successful submission of a petition is confirmed by electronic notification.

 The Commission will not review or respond to petitions that contain offensive words or phrases, or have inappropriate content. Any further correspondence concerning the actions, taken on the petition will be sent by the European Parliament’s Committee on Petitions by mail.

All additional information or documentary evidence to already submitted petitions shall be sent by mail, stating the petition number to:

European Parliament
Committee on Petitions
The Secretariat
Rue Wiertz
B-1047 BRUSSELS

If the issue, raised in the petition concerns the EU policy areas, it is most often declared admissible by the Committee on Petitions, which then decides what actions are to be taken under the Rules of Procedure of the EP. Regardless the decision taken, the Committee informs the petitioner as soon as a decision is taken.

Depending on the circumstances, the Petition Commission can:

Ask the European Commission to conduct a preliminary study and provide information about the correspondence with the relevant Community Law, or to address SOLVIT;

Address the petition to other committees of the European Parliament for information or taking further actions, and in some exceptional cases, to prepare and submit to the Parliament a comprehensive report to be voted on a plenary session; or, make informational visit to the relevant state country or region and  prepare a report containing its observations and recommendations;

Take other appropriate actions.

Issues, concerning bad governance in the institutions or in other EU bodies should be addressed to the European Ombudsman.