Enforcing Your Rights

Sometimes you may encounter difficulties in exercising your EU rights and you may feel that an unfair or incorrect decision has been applied to you.
To ensure that you can exercise your rights properly, you should first pursue the matter at national level, as Member States are responsible for applying EU law and you may be awarded compensation.
In addition, there are procedures available at EU level.

Complain to the relevant authority: but make sure you respect any time limits and deadlines.
Complain to the national ombudsman: its existence and form may differ between countries.
Take legal action in a national court: depending on the country, you may qualify for legal aid.

Solvit: If you face a problem caused by the misapplication of EU legislation by a public administration in another EU country. Website link: http://europa.eu/solvit/
Complain to the European Ombudsman: If there is a dispute between you and an EU institution and you feel that maladministration — i.e. administrative irregularities or omissions — has occurred. This is not appropriate for disputes at national level. Website link: http://www.ombudsman.europa.eu
Petition the European Parliament: On an EU-related matter that affects you directly. Your petition will be dealt with by a Petition Committee which, while having no power to remedy the situation directly, can nevertheless put pressure on those concerned.
Website link: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/parliament/public/staticDisplay.do?id=49&language=en
Complain to the European Commission: You can complain about an alleged violation of EU law by a Member State. The Commission will consider your complaint and may ask the country concerned to change its laws. This is not appropriate for disputes between private parties.
Website link: http://ec.europa.eu/secretariat_general/sgb/lexcomm

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