This directory provides an overview of petition channels available to European citizens at both the EU level and within individual member states. It includes:
Official parliamentary petition portals – formal channels to petition national parliaments and the European Parliament.
Civic and NGO petition platforms – non-governmental online petition platforms widely used to organise campaigns and forward petitions to authorities.
European Petitions Directory
The right to petition is a fundamental democratic right enshrined in European constitutions and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.
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Official EU Parliamentary Petitions
Pan-European Civic and NGO Petition Platforms
See how it works in your country
How to use this directory
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To petition the EU: Use the European Parliament petitions portal for matters within EU competence.
To petition your national parliament: Check your country’s section for official parliament channels.
To organise a public campaign: Consider using civic platforms like openPetition, change.org, or national platforms listed under your country.
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Many civic platforms offer tools for campaign management, signature collection and forwarding petitions to authorities.
Official parliamentary portals often have higher institutional weight but may have stricter admissibility criteria.
Consider hybrid strategies: gathering signatures via civic platforms and then formally submitting via official channels.
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This directory provides a snapshot as March 2026. Petition systems evolve; always verify current procedures on official parliamentary websites.
Academic studies on e-petitioning systems in Europe are available from sources including the European Parliament Research Service and various democracy technology research organisations.
How to use this directory
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Official Parliamentary Portals are managed by national parliaments or the European Parliament. Petitions submitted through these channels have formal legal standing and trigger official responses and procedures.
Civic/NGO platforms are run by non-governmental organisations or private entities. They facilitate public campaigning and can forward petitions to authorities, but do not have the same formal procedural status.
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Each parliament sets its own rules for petitions admissibility, signature thresholds and debate triggers.
Some countries (UK, France, Germany) have well-developed e-petition systems with public signature thresholds.
Others maintain traditional petition procedures.
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Many issues can be addressed at multiple levels:
EU levelfor matters of EU law and policy.
National levelfor national legislation and implementation.
Regional/local level(not covered in detail here) for devolved or municipal matters.