Anyone may, individually or with others, submit a petition to the European Parliament on a subject which comes within the European Union's fields of activity and which affects them directly. Any company, organisation or association with its headquarters in the European Union may also exercise this right of petition, which is guaranteed by the Treaty.

A petition may take the form of a complaint or a request and may relate to issues of public or private interest.

The petition may present an individual request, a complaint or observation concerning the application of EU law or an appeal to the European Parliament to adopt a position on a specific matter. Such petitions give the European Parliament the opportunity of calling attention to any infringement of a European citizen's rights by the Government or local authorities or other institution.

In some cases, e.g. where a petition highlights a breach of EC environmental legislation, the European Commission may take legal action against the Government.

Petitions dealing purely with national issues have to be raised at national level.

The European Parliament's Petitions Committee

How to petition the European Parliament