Terms and Conditions for the EU Proximity and Social Economy Platform

All visitors and registered users who participate in and use the Transition Pathway Stakeholders' Support Platform for Proximity and Social Economy [hereinafter: Platform] administered by the European Commission are expected to read and agree with these Terms and Conditions and not to breach any of them. Please take a moment to familiarise yourself with the Platform’s Terms & Conditions as the use of the Platform entails unconditional acceptance of these terms.

By uploading a post, text or any other material (“Content”) on the https://transition-pathways.europa.eu/pse, you grant the European Commission, to the fullest extent permitted by law, a non-exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, worldwide, sublicensable licence to use the Content (“Licence”), under the terms set out in these Terms & Conditions.

In particular, the scope of the Licence includes: the right to produce copies of the submitted Content using specific techniques, including printing, reprographic, magnetic recording, and digital techniques; the right to distribute, lend, or lease the original or copies of the submitted Content; the right to publicly perform, display, screen, play, broadcast, and rebroadcast the submitted Content, disseminate, modify, merge, create derivative works and perform derivative rights thereto, translate in any language, as well as to make the submitted Content publicly available, in any format, medium and language, in such a way that anyone can access it at a place and time of their choosing including on the Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW) and all European Commission websites and official social media pages or any third parties websites and on the Internet. 

The Licence is granted without any time restrictions (perpetual) or for a maximum period of time allowed by law - should any statutory provisions forbid granting perpetual licence – in such case the Licence is granted for a maximum fixed period allowed by law with the maximum termination notice period allowed by law. 

By uploading Content, you warrant and represent that:

• The Content does not infringe any intellectual property rights and will not give rise to any claims of infringement, including without limitation, copyright, database sui generis rights or trademark rights, image, privacy or publicity rights, and does not infringe any other rights and/or interests of any third party under any applicable law or regulation;
• You have obtained written consent from any identifiable individuals depicted in the Content and, if a minor is mentioned or shown (generally held to be someone under the age of 18, but this definition may vary from country to country), that they have the written consent of their parents/legal guardian for the reproduction of their image. You must retain all release forms obtained as the European Union has the right to request that you provide evidence that consent has been given; 
• If the Content contains third party works (such as music, architectural designs, photographs, to which you do not own intellectual property rights), you have obtained all the necessary rights which permit the European Commission to use the submitted Content in accordance with the Licence. The European Commission has the right to request that you provide evidence of third parties' rights clearance. If the Content contains third party materials made available under an open licence (e.g. Creative Commons), it has indicated the type of licence, together with the source and author’s name;
• The Content does not contain third party materials whose origin or source is unknown;
• The Content has not been previously published and/or licenced under exclusive terms or terms that are incompatible with the Licence.

You are responsible for any costs or expenses incurred when producing and providing the Content, and you are not entitled to any remuneration and/or compensation on any account for the publication or any other use of the Content by the European Commission or any third parties authorised to use the Content under the Licence.

When using the Content, the European Commission will acknowledge the name of the Content’s author(s), where known and technically possible.

As the author of the Content, you will not, based on your moral rights, object to the modification of the Content, including the creation of derivative works, provided that the modifications and derivative works are not prejudicial to your honour and/or reputation. You shall not exercise your moral rights in a manner that may impede the use of the Content in accordance with the Licence.

You will indemnify, defend and hold the European Commission harmless against any costs, expenses or damages as a result of an intellectual property infringement or any other claim that would be based on a breach of the terms, representations or warranties granted in these Terms and Conditions and Licence.

The use of any content found on the Platform is subject to some copyright rules:

• The copyright in any materials (e.g., text, images) which have not been uploaded by users and unless otherwise mentioned is owned by the European Commission . Materials owned by the European Commission on this website are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence. This means that reuse is allowed, provided appropriate credit is given and changes are indicated. Software or documents covered by industrial property rights, such as patents, trademarks, registered designs, logos and names are not licensed to you.
• When contributing original work authored or created by you on the Platform you agree that the contribution will be freely available (visible) to users (with sufficient access) of the Platform.
• To use or reproduce content that is not owned by the European Commission, notably Content posted by other users of the Platform, you may need to seek permission directly from the respective rights holders. You assume full responsibility and the European Commission will not be held responsible for any damage or loss resulting from the unauthorised use of content owned by third parties and the breach of third parties' rights on such content.

In order to maintain a friendly and pleasant atmosphere on the platform we have implemented some basic rules of conduct, which may be updated by us from time to time without prior notice. All visitors who participate and use the Transition Pathway Stakeholder Support Platform are expected to read and agree with these rules and policies and to not breach any of them. 
Please take a moment to familiarise yourself with our Core Values and our Code of Conduct.

Our Core Values: What You Can Expect from the Platform

• Inclusivity and diverse representation: We ensure as much as possible that the platform includes a broad range of stakeholders, including marginalized and underrepresented groups, and provide equal opportunities for all stakeholders to contribute and engage.
• Transparency: Our processes and information are open and accessible, fostering a culture of clarity and trust.
• Accountability: We define clear roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders and platform administrators, and offer robust feedback channels, holding ourselves to the highest standards of responsibility.
• Collaboration: We promote an open and respectful dialogue among stakeholders to foster mutual understanding and cooperation, and encourage collective decision-making processes that reflect the input and consensus of all stakeholders.
• Flexibility and adaptability: We are agile and responsive, continually refining our approach based on community feedback and evolving needs. We continuously evaluate and improve the platform offer based on stakeholder input and performance metrics.
• Capacity building: We provide resources, training, and support to help stakeholders effectively participate and engage with the platform. We facilitate the exchange of knowledge, best practices, and experiences among stakeholders.
• Security and privacy: We prioritize the protection of data and the creation of a safe, confidential space for all members. This includes creating a safe and respectful environment for all stakeholders to interact and share their views.
• Effectiveness: With clear objectives and measurable outcomes, we strive to monitor the platform’s impact and success in achieving its goals.
• Innovation: We use innovative technologies to enhance engagement, collaboration, and efficiency, and foster a culture of creativity and innovation among stakeholders.

Play Rules

• Keep all content and contributions within the appropriate community area of interest.
• When proposing content, read carefully the waiver.  
• Please make an effort to communicate as clearly as possible.
• Refrain from using foul or offensive language.
• All Content posted by users express the views of the author; The European Commission will not be held responsible for any offending message, comment, post or other material published on the site.
• Treat all other Platform users in a respectful and courteous manner at all times, even in the event of disagreements.
• Users who are not recognised as administrators of the Platform must not use misleading identifications such as "site administrator" or similar in their profile.

Addressing Inappropriate Content

The following in particular are deemed to constitute inappropriate Content. Posting such Content may result in account suspension or banning as well as the removal of the offending Content:

• Content, posts or images of a defamatory, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane or threatening nature. This includes any messages or material ethnically, racially, religiously or sexually offensive, insulting or demeaning.
• Content, posts or images that violate any laws or regulations, including copyright
• Advertising of products or services without our prior consent or the adequate context. You can talk about you or your company through your Personal Profile but no advertisement as such will be allowed. Registering solely to promote yourself , your company or others could eventually lead to the user removal from the site.
• Discussion of illegal activities including software and movie piracy and other intellectual property infringement.
• Posting other people's personal data, including personal contact information (i.e. telephone numbers, addresses etc.) on any publicly viewable forums.
• Any Content that contains viruses, Trojan horses, or the like, or other computer programming routines that may damage or interfere with the Platform.
• Posts or comments that come from an impersonation or fake accounts that are created with the intent to deceive others by pretending to be someone else. This could involve creating a profile using the name, photos, and other personal information of an existing person without their consent.
• Anything else deemed inappropriate by the Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW).
• Links to any of the above.

While these rules cover most common situations, they cannot anticipate everything. Consequently we reserve the right to take any actions we deem appropriate to ensure the Platform is not disrupted or abused in any way.

Report a Rule Infraction

If you feel that specific content or a fellow Platform user breaks the Platform’s Terms and Conditions, Code of Conduct or other applicable rules, please report it to the Platform’s support team through the contact form on the site, or through the Helpdesk email address: helpdesk.PSE@be.ey.com.

We reserve the right to monitor the Platform, including discussion forums and working spaces, and remove/block any postings or users who do not adhere to these rules, our standard Terms and Conditions and our Privacy Statement. This includes postings that disrupt or interfere with our technical operations. 
We reserve the right to close or ban, temporarily or permanently, any user's account as we deem necessary. The user will be notified and informed of the reasons and measures taken.
Should you feel you have been treated unfairly by a Platform administrator, you may appeal directly to us through the contact form on the site. When contacting us, please provide the email address you used to sign up. We do not discuss the suspension of users or any disciplinary action taken with the general public.
All visitors and registered users who participate and use the Platform administered by the European Commission are expected to read, agree and observe the Code of Conduct.

Please also familiarise with the Privacy Statement.