Terms and conditions

Please read these terms of use carefully as they contain important information regarding your legal rights and obligations whilst you use the online services (such as websites and mobile device applications) of the European Youth Portal and related initiatives, including the European Solidarity Corps. These terms of use may change from time to time and so you should check them regularly.

These online services are owned and administered by the Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture, European Commission.

Introduction

In order to maintain a friendly and pleasant atmosphere on these online services we have implemented some basic rules of conduct, which may be updated by us from time to time without previous notice. All visitors who participate and use these online facilities are expected to read and agree with these rules and policies and not to violate any of them. Please take a moment to familiarise yourself with the guidelines.

Please see the detailed Legal Notice of the European Commission.

Appropriate Content

Expected behaviour of members and suggestions for better posting:

• Keep all contributions within the appropriate community area of interest.
• Use short and concise titles when posting entries.
• Please make an effort to communicate yourself as clearly as possible.
• Only use images for which you have full rights, and ensure that you have the permission of everyone who is identifiable in the image (see section below on "Copyright and third parties' rights" for more details).
• Refrain from using foul or offensive language.

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

• Posts which contain any materials or statements which violate or infringe upon the public or private rights of others.
• Posts or images of an indecent, 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.
• Posts or images which encourage conduct or is conduct which would constitute a criminal offence, gives rise to civil liability, or otherwise violate any laws or regulations.
• Explicit advertising of products or services without our prior consent or the adequate context.
• Registering to solely post/endorse/promote for your own personal gain.
• Posting your or other people's personal contact information (i.e. telephone numbers, addresses etc) on forums.
• Anything else deemed inappropriate by us.
• Links to any of the above.

All content posted by users express the views of the author, and the European Union will not be held responsible for any message.

Treat all other users in a respectful and courteous manner at all times, even in the event of disagreements.

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 online services are not disrupted or abused in any way.

Copyright and third parties' rights

By submitting text, videos, images or other material, users guarantee that they are rights holder of the submitted materials, and that they do not violate any copyright, right of privacy, image right, or any other right of any third party. 

By submitting a post, users grant the European Union a non-exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, worldwide licence to use the submitted materials in relation to its programmes and initiatives. In particular, participants grant the European Union right to store, reproduce, modify, create derivative works, display, print, publish, disseminate, broadcast, communicate to the public or otherwise make publicly available, the submitted materials in any format, medium and language, including on the internet and on social networks.

If the submitted materials contain third party works (such as music, architectural designs, photographs whose ownership is not with the user) users declare to have obtained all the necessary rights which permit the European Union to use the submitted materials as specified above. The European Union has the right to request evidence of third parties' rights clearance. Users assume full responsibility for any damage or loss due to their violation of third parties' rights.

Any use of the submitted materials by the European Union will be made with due acknowledgment to the author/s.

By submitting a post, users guarantee to the European Union that (i) they have obtained written consent from any identifiable individuals and, if a minor is mentioned or shown (generally held to be someone under the age of 16, but this definition may vary from country to country), that they have the written consent of their parents/legal guardian; (ii) their application will not give rise to any claims of infringement, invasion of privacy or publicity, or infringe on any rights and/or interests of any third party, or give rise to any claims whatsoever, nor violate any applicable law or regulation. It is the user's responsibility to ensure that the necessary consent has been obtained. Users must retain all release forms obtained as they may be asked to prove that consent has been given. In the event that users submit material for which they do not have the appropriate permissions, users accept liability for any and all resulting consequences.

All users are responsible for any costs or expenses incurred by them when producing the content for their posts.

Report a Rule Infraction

If you feel a fellow user breaks these policies and terms of use, please report it through the website's Contact Us page, or via the "Report this post" feature in the mobile device application.

Disciplinary Measures

We reserve the right to monitor the online service's posts and delete or amend any postings or that do not adhere to these rules and our standard portal “Terms & Conditions" of use. This includes postings that disrupt or interfere with our technical operations.

We reserve the right to immediately close or suspend, temporarily or permanently, any user accounts without previous notice, as we deem necessary.

Should you feel you have been treated unfairly by us, you may appeal directly to us. When contacting us, please provide the email address you used to post an entry, or your European Solidarity Corps Participant Reference Number. We do not discuss the suspension of portal members with the general public.

Copyright note: the descriptive pictures used on this website (except for any sent by users) are ©European Commission or its suppliers.

©European Union 2014-2024. Reproduction is authorised, provided the source is acknowledged, save where otherwise stated. Where prior permission must be obtained for the reproduction or use of textual and multimedia information (sound, images, software, etc.), such permission shall cancel the above-mentioned general permission and shall clearly indicate any restrictions on use.