Legal notice
The information on this site is subject to
- a disclaimer
- a copyright notice
- rules related to personal data protection
- an accessibility statement
- a cookies notice
Disclaimer
The Publications Office maintains this website to enhance public access to European Union law. 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 Publications Office 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 Publications Office services have no control and for which the Publications Office assumes no responsibility;
- not professional or legal advice (if you need specific advice, you should always consult a suitably qualified professional).
Only European Union documents published in the Official Journal of the European Union are deemed authentic. For the rules governing authenticity of the Official Journal, see Council Regulation (EU) No. 216/2013 of 7 March 2013. With respect to case-law, only the versions of documents published in the "European Court Reports" are deemed official sources.
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 Publications Office 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 Publications Office 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, 1998-2024
The Commission’s document reuse policy is based on Decision 2011/833/EU. Unless otherwise specified, you can re-use the legal documents published in EUR-Lex for commercial or non-commercial purposes.
Some documents, like the International Accounting Standards, may be subject to special conditions of use; these are mentioned in the respective Official Journal/document. You can also consult the rules on on reproducing euro coin/note images .
The copyright for the editorial content of this website, the summaries of EU legislation and the consolidated texts, which is owned by the EU, is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence . This means that you can re-use the content provided you acknowledge the source and indicate any changes you have made.
You may be required to clear additional rights if certain content depicts identifiable private individuals or includes third-party works. To use or reproduce content not owned by the EU, you may need to seek permission directly from the rights holders. Software or documents covered by industrial property rights, such as patents, trademarks, registered designs, logos and names, are excluded from the Commission’s reuse policy and are not licensed to you.
To use the EUR-Lex logo, you first need the prior consent of the Publications Office.
EUR-Lex metadata is dedicated to the public domain in accordance with the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication deed .
For all other copyright issues, please contact: op-copyright@publications.europa.eu .
Protection of your personal data
This privacy statement provides information about the processing and the protection of your personal data.
- Introduction
- Why and how do we process your personal data?
- On what legal ground(s) do we process your personal data?
- What personal data do we collect and further process?
- How long do we keep your personal data?
- How do we protect and safeguard your personal data?
- Who has access to your personal data and to whom is it disclosed?
- What are your rights and how can you exercise them?
- Contact information
- Where to find more detailed information
Introduction
The European Commission (hereafter ‘the Commission’) is committed to protect your personal data and to respect your privacy. The Commission collects and further processes personal data pursuant to 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 (repealing Regulation (EC) No 45/2001).
This privacy statement explains the reason for the processing of your personal data, the way we collect, handle and ensure protection of all personal data provided, how that information is used and what rights you have in relation to your personal data. It also specifies the contact details of the responsible Data Controller with whom you may exercise your rights, the Data Protection Officer and the European Data Protection Supervisor.
The information in relation to processing operation "User registration in EUR-Lex" undertaken by unit C.2 "EUR-Lex and Legal information" of the Publications Office of the European Union is presented below.
Why and how do we process your personal data?
Purpose of the processing operation
Unit C.2 "EUR-Lex and legal information" of the Publications Office collects and uses your personal information to allow you to subscribe to the EUR-Lex newsletter, to take part in a survey, or to register with a profile on the EUR-Lex website and in this way personalise your user experience. This includes the possibility of signing up to the 'webservice', a way for registered users to query EUR-Lex directly without having to use a search form on the website. As a webservice user, you can also opt for receiving information on events related to EUR-Lex.
In addition, we may invite you – via the website or the newsletter – to participate in a survey, which, in certain cases, is then carried out by our contractor. For the processing of personal data in relation to a survey, please refer to record DPR-EC-00488 in the Commission Data Protection Officer's register at http://ec.europa.eu/dpo-register . Concerning the processing of data in relation to the services provided by the EUR-Lex helpdesk, please refer to record DPR-EC-00493 in the Commission Data Protection Officer's register at http://ec.europa.eu/dpo-register .
The processing operation consists in storing the personal data you provide us with when you register and using it to provide you with the requested services.
Your personal data will not be used for automated decision-making including profiling.
On what legal ground(s) do we process your personal data?
We process your personal data, because:
- processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the European Union institution or body;
- by registering you have given consent to the processing of your personal data for one or more specific purposes.
Legal basis for the processing
Which personal data do we collect and further process?
In order to carry out this processing operation, unit C.2 "EUR-Lex and legal information" of the Publications Office collects the following categories of personal data:
- for access to the system and personalisation: login, first name, surname, email address, last login; site and search preferences, saved searches, saved documents and RSS feeds. If provided, also: preferred language, first and second alternative languages;
- for using the ‘web service’: login, first name, last name, email address, as well as information on used data, last login and final use of data. If provided, we also collect information on the organisation to which you belong, on the calling application, days of use of the service and whether you want to be informed about EUR-Lex related events;
- for the EUR-Lex newsletter: name and email address;
- for participation in surveys: requested personal data varies depending on the purposes of the survey. We may ask for first name, surname, email address and type of profession.
The provision of personal data is mandatory if you want to benefit from the listed services.
How long do we keep your personal data?
Unit C.2 "EUR-Lex and Legal information" of the Publications Office only keeps your personal data for the time necessary to fulfil the purpose of collection or further processing, namely for providing you with the requested services.
- Registration and use of the 'webservice'
- After 6 months of inactivity you will receive an email informing you that unless you login again we will delete your account after a further 30 days. However, your data stored for the purposes of the European Commission Authentication Service (EU Login) — which is a prerequisite for creating an account as EUR-Lex registered user — are not stored by us and will not be deleted. EU Login allows you to access many EU services and is maintained by a different service. Please refer to the data protection record on EU Login (legacy notification DPO-839) in the Data Protection Officer’s register online .
- Receiving the EUR-Lex newsletter
- If you have provided your explicit consent to receiving the EUR-Lex newsletter, you will remain on the mailing list until you unsubscribe.
- For participation in surveys
- Your data will be kept as long as it is necessary to fulfil the purposes of the survey.
How do we protect and safeguard your personal data?
All personal data in electronic format (emails, documents, databases, uploaded batches of data, etc.) are stored on the servers of the European Commission. All processing operations are carried out pursuant to the Commission Decision (EU, Euratom) 2017/46 of 10 January 2017 on the security of communication and information systems in the European Commission.
The Commission’s contractors are bound by a specific contractual clause for any processing operations of your data on behalf of the Commission, and by the confidentiality obligations deriving from the General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’ Regulation (EU) 2016/679).
In order to protect your personal data, the Commission has put in place a number of technical and organisational measures. Technical measures include appropriate actions to address online security, risk of data loss, alteration of data or unauthorised access, taking into consideration the risk presented by the processing and the nature of the personal data being processed. Organisational measures include restricting access to the personal data solely to authorised persons with a legitimate need to know for the purposes of this processing operation.
If you participate in a survey, we may transfer your personal data to our contractor to fulfil the purpose of the survey.
Who has access to your personal data and to whom is it disclosed?
Access to your personal data is provided to the Commission staff responsible for carrying out this processing operation and to authorised staff according to the "need-to-know" principle. Such staff abide by statutory rules and, when required, additional confidentiality agreements.
What are your rights and how can you exercise them?
You have specific rights as a ‘data subject’ under Chapter III (Articles 14-25) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725, in particular the right of access to, rectification or erasure of your personal data and the right to restrict the processing of your personal data. Where applicable, you also have the right to object to the processing or the right to data portability.
You have consented to provide your personal data to unit C.2 ‘EUR-Lex and Legal Information’ of the Publications Office for the present processing operation. You can withdraw your consent at any time by notifying the data controller. The withdrawal will not affect the lawfulness of the processing carried out before you have withdrawn the consent.
You can exercise your rights by contacting the data controller or, in case of conflict, the Data Protection Officer. If necessary, you can also address the European Data Protection Supervisor. Their contact information is given under heading "Contact information" below.
If you wish to exercise your rights in the context of one or several specific processing operations, please provide their description (i.e. their Record reference(s) as specified under heading "Where to find more detailed information" below) in your request.
Contact information
- The Data Controller
If you would like to exercise your rights under Regulation (EU) 2018/1725, or if you have comments, questions or concerns, or if you would like to submit a complaint regarding the collection and use of your personal data, please feel free to contact the data controller, unit C.2 ‘EUR-Lex and Legal Information’ of the Publications Office (info@publications.europa.eu ).
- The Data Protection Officer (DPO) of the Commission
You may contact the Data Protection Officer with regard to issues related to the processing of your personal data under Regulation (EU) 2018/1725.
- The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS)
You have the right to have recourse (i.e. you can lodge a complaint) to the European Data Protection Supervisor if you consider that your rights under Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 have been infringed as a result of the processing of your personal data by the data controller.
Where to find more detailed information
The Commission’s Data Protection Officer publishes the register of all processing operations on personal data by the Commission that have been documented and notified to him/her. You may access the register via the following link: http://ec.europa.eu/dpo-register .
This specific processing operation has been included in the DPO’s public register with the following Record reference: DPR-EC-00450.
Accessibility statement for EUR-Lex
Last updated: 22 March 2024
- Introduction
- How we comply
- Compliance status
- Non-accessible content
- Resources
- Feedback and contact information
Introduction
The Publications Office is committed to making EUR-Lex accessible, in line with Directive (EU) 2016/2102 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the accessibility of the websites and mobile applications of public sector bodies. Accessibility is at the core of our design, and we follow universal design principles. This ensures all our users can view and navigate our websites easily, no matter what device they are using.
We are working to ensure that our pages and documents are accessible to all users. This includes users with visual, auditory, cognitive or physical impairments. Our website can be accessed from different devices such as desktop computers, laptops and mobile devices.
Web accessibility is based on the 4 principles listed below.
- Perceivable: Information and the user interface are presented to users in ways they can perceive.
- Operable: The website’s input forms, controls (e.g. buttons, checkboxes), and navigation are operable.
- Understandable: Information and the operation of user interface must be understandable.
- Robust: Web content must work on different browsers and devices, including assistive technologies.
This accessibility statement applies to the EUR-Lex website.
How we comply
- We are working to ensure that EUR-Lex meets the accessibility standards referred to under Directive (EU) 2016/2102 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the accessibility of the websites and mobile applications of public sector bodies. See the compliance status below.
- We have an accessibility statement.
- We help users contact us to report any accessibility issues.
- We include accessibility compliance requirements in our procurement contracts for web development.
- We carry out internal and external accessibility audits.
Compliance status
EUR-Lex is partially compliant with the accessibility standards referred to under Directive (EU) 2016/2102 due to the non-compliances listed below.
Non-accessible content
- Some labels and lists elements may not be informative for assistive technology users as they lack the correct programmatic structure and association.
- Colour contrast may be insufficient on some pages.
- Some links can only be identified by their colour.
- Some images do not have a text alternative and some are not indicated as decorative images.
- Some links have no link text which can make them difficult to identify. The same link text may be used for links going to different pages or documents, which could confuse some users.
- Some content may not be accessible for assistive technology users or for users relying on keyboard only.
- Reading tab order is not presented in a logical way.
- Data table elements are used for some page layouts.
- Some page headings are not always descriptive or marked as headings.
- On some pages, the language of the page is not indicated in the code, which can cause issues for screen reader users.
- Navigation breadcrumbs are not available when zooming to 400% of the original page size.
- Some pre-recorded videos do not include captions and so may not be accessible for people with auditory impairments.
Resources
Feedback and contact information
Contact us to report accessibility issues or provide suggestions to improve accessibility. Please be as clear and detailed as possible so we may understand the problem. Please also provide your contact details so we can get back to you quickly.
Cookies Policy
To make the websites of the Publications Office of the European Union work properly, we sometimes place small data files called ‘cookies’ on your device.
What are cookies?
A cookie is a small text file that a website stores on your computer or mobile device when you visit the site. It enables the website to remember your actions and preferences (such as login, language, font size and other display preferences) over a period of time, so you don’t have to keep re-entering them whenever you come back to the site or browse from one page to another.
- First-party cookies are cookies set by the website you’re visiting. Only that website can read them. In addition, a website might potentially use external services, which also set their own cookies, known as third-party cookies.
- Persistent cookies are cookies that are saved on your computer and are not deleted automatically when you quit your browser, unlike a session cookie, which is deleted when you quit your browser.
Every time you visit the Publications Office’s websites, you will be prompted to accept or refuse cookies.
Cookies can also be used to establish anonymised statistics about the browsing experience on our sites.
How do we use cookies?
The Publications Office websites mostly use ‘first-party cookies’. These are cookies set and controlled by the Publications Office, not by any external organisations.
However, to view some of our pages, you will have to accept cookies from external organisations.
You can delete or block these cookies, but if you do that, some features of this site may not work as intended. These cookies are used to remember:
- your display preferences, such as browsing language, contrast colour, font size, device used, search results preferences and notification preferences;
- your latest visit to the website (for statistical purposes) and the three most recent pages visited (to help our helpdesk if you send a request);
- if you have agreed (or not) to our use of cookies on this site.
Visitor preferences
These are set by us and only we can read them. They remember if you have agreed to (or refused) this site’s cookie policy.
| Name | Service | Purpose | Cookie type and duration | EUR-Lex | CheckLex |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| cck1 | Cookie consent kit | Stores your cookie preferences (so you won’t be asked again) | First-party persistent cookie, 6 months | ✔ | ✔ |
Operational cookies
There are some cookies that we have to include in order for certain web pages to function. For this reason, they do not require your consent. In particular:
- authentication cookies;
- technical cookies required by certain IT systems.
Authentication cookies
These are stored when you log in to the Publications Office sites, using our authentication service (EU Login). When you do this, you accept the associated privacy policy .
| Name | Service | Purpose | Cookie type and duration | EUR-Lex | CheckLex |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| _Secure_ECAS_SESSIONID | Identity Management Service | Identifies the current Central Authentication Service session | First-party session cookie, deleted after you quit your browser | ✔ | |
| _ECAS_PREFS | Identity Management Service | Remembers your settings and preferences: user id, user name, acknowledged cookie policy, high contrast mode, privacy mode, view account details after login, last strength selected | First-party session cookie, deleted after you quit your browser | ✔ |
Technical cookies
| Name | Service | Purpose | Cookie type and duration | EUR-Lex | CheckLex |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AWSALB | AWS | Registers, which server-cluster is serving the visitor. This is used in context with load balancing, in order to optimize user experience. | First-party persistent cookie, 6 days | ✔ | |
| ELX_SESSIONID | EUR-Lex | It is a JSESSIONID type of cookie, which in J2EE web application is used in session tracking. Since HTTP is a stateless protocol, there is no way for Web server to relate two separate requests coming from the same client. Session management is a process to track user using cookies. If a Web server is using a cookie for session management, it creates and sends JSESSIONID cookie to the client who sends it back to the server in subsequent HTTP requests. | First-party session cookie, deleted after you quit your browser | ✔ | |
| clientlanguage | EUR-Lex | Cookie holding the user’s language selection | First-party persistent cookie, 30 days | ✔ | |
| desktopModeOn | EUR-Lex | Cookie storing the user’s preference when in mobile but he desires to switch to desktop view | First-party persistent cookie, 30 days | ✔ | |
| (stab, #FacetState#, PP#, Procedure#, tab-#, dAoj# etc) | EUR-Lex | Cookies related to the expand/collapse state of panels | First-party persistent cookie, 30 days | ✔ | |
| experimentalFeaturesActivated | EUR-Lex | Cookie storing the user’s preferences on the activation/deactivation of experimental features | First-party persistent cookie, 30 days | ✔ | |
| experimentalFeatures | EUR-Lex | Cookie storing information on which experimental features the user has activated | First-party persistent cookie, 30 days | ✔ |
Analytics cookies
We use these purely for internal research on how we can improve the service we provide for all our users.
The cookies simply assess how you interact with our website — as an anonymous user (the data gathered does not identify you personally).
Also, this data is not shared with any third parties or used for any other purpose. The anonymised statistics could be shared with contractors working on communication projects under contractual agreement with the Publications Office.
However, you are free to refuse these types of cookies via the cookie banner you’ll see on the first page you visit.
| Name | Service | Purpose | Cookie type and duration | EUR-Lex | CheckLex |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| _pk_id# | Corporate web analytics service, based on Piwik-PRO open source software | Recognises website visitors (anonymously – no personal information is collected on the user) | First-party persistent cookie, 13 months | ✔ | |
| _pk_ses _pk_cvar _pk_hsr | Corporate web analytics service, based on Piwik-PRO open source software | Short lived cookies used to temporarily store data for the visit | First-party persistent cookie, 30 minutes | ✔ | |
| _pk_ref# | Corporate web analytics service, based on Piwik-PRO open source software | Used to store the attribution information, the referrer initially used to visit the website | First-party persistent cookie, 6 months | ✔ | |
| ppms_privacy_ | Corporate web analytics service, based on Piwik-PRO open source software | Stores visitor`s consent to data collection and usage. | First-party persistent cookie, 365 days (configurable) or 30 minutes (for anonymous tracking) | ✔ |
Third-party cookies
Some of our pages display content from external providers, such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter and links to websites managed by EU countries.
To view this third-party content, you first have to accept their specific terms and conditions. This includes their cookie policies, which we have no control over.
But if you do not view this content, no third-party cookies will be installed on your device.
Third-party providers on Publications Office websites
These third-party services are outside of the control of the Publications Office. Providers may, at any time, change their terms of service, purpose and use of cookies, etc.
Private data
The cookie-related information is not used to identify you personally and the pattern data is fully under our control. These cookies are not used for any purpose other than those described here.
How can you manage cookies?
You can manage/delete cookies as you wish — for details, see aboutcookies.org
Removing cookies from your device
You can delete all cookies that are already on your device by clearing the browsing history of your browser. This will remove all cookies from all websites you have visited.
Be aware though that you may also lose some saved information (e.g. saved login details, site preferences).
Managing site-specific cookies
For more detailed control over site-specific cookies, check the privacy and cookie settings in your preferred browser.
Blocking cookies
You can set most modern browsers to prevent any cookies being placed on your device, but you may then have to manually adjust some preferences every time you visit a site/page. And some services and functionalities may not work properly at all (e.g. logging in to your profile).