With the EU right to petition its citizens have the possibility to contact EU authorities with complaints or requests for intervention. The citizens of 27 member countries of the EU have three instruments of participation on disposal at the European level: The right to petition at the European Parliament, the European Ombudsman and the European Citizens‘ Initiative.
From the Maastricht Contract in 1993 onwards the EU citizens , persons from non EU countries with residence in the EU as well as the juridical persons or organisations residing in one of the member Ssates have the right to submit petititions to the European Parliament. The petition can include – in the case that it falls in the activity field of the EU and concerns directly the petitioner – an issue of general interest, an individual complaint or an issue for the European Parliament.
The submission of a petition follows in written form. There is also the possibility to fill out the formular at the Petitions Web Portal. The Petitions Committe of the EU Parliament checks the submitted petitions and decides about the further procedure, to ensure that the issues would be treated correctly. The petitions right offers a direct possibility to submit cases at the European level and has therefore a strong meaning for democratical participation in the EU.