How do we use cookies?

Websites of the European Commission mostly use "first-party cookies". These are cookies set and controlled by the Commission, not anyone else.

To view some of our pages, you will need to accept cookies from external sites.

We use three types of first-party cookies:

store visitor preferences
make our websites operational
gather analytics data (about user behaviour)
Visitor preferences

If you have agreed to (or refused) the cookie policy of this site
If you have already responded to our survey pop-up (about how helpful the site content was) - you won't be asked again
In order for certain pages to function, we must include certain cookies. For this reason, they do not require your consent. In particular:
Cookies used for authentication
Certain IT systems require technical cookies

Cookies for analytics

These are used solely for internal research on how we can improve our service.

Cookies are used to analyze how you interact with our website, as an anonymous user (the data gathered does not identify you). In addition, this information is not shared with third parties or used for any other purpose. Under contractual agreements with the Commission, contractors involved in communication projects could receive anonymised statistics. However, you can refuse such cookies at any time.

Cookies from third parties

We display content from external providers, such as YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, on some of our pages.

In order to view this third-party content, you will have to accept their terms and conditions, including their cookie policies.

However, if you do not view this content, no third-party cookies will be installed.

Third-party services are not under the control of the Commission. Providers may change their terms of service, purpose and use of cookies at any time.

How can you manage cookies?

If you wish to delete all cookies on your device, you can do so by clearing your browser's browsing history. This will remove all cookies from all websites you have visited. However, you may also lose some saved information (e.g. login details, preferences, etc.).

Managing site-specific cookies

Check your preferred browser's privacy and cookie settings if you would like more detailed control over site-specific cookies

Blocking cookies

When you disable cookies in most modern browsers, you may have to manually adjust some preferences every time you visit a site/page, and some services and functionalities will not work (e.g. logging into a profile).