Did you know that everybody can contribute to EU policy-making?

The European Commission wants to write high quality,

vidence-based laws and policy proposals and be open and transparent about it.

The Commission is always open to your opinion

and starts listening before we pick up the pen to write a proposal.

Citizens can always give their feedback, even after laws are in force.

So how can you give the Commission your opinion?

The EU Commission listens to you at every step of the policy-making cycle:

So, what does this consultation process look like? Let's take an example.

In 2016, the Commission identified a gap in the EU rules on pensions.

There were no common EU rules for consumers.

So, it wrote a ROADMAP outlining the issue

and asked citizens to comment for a period of 4 weeks.

Tom, an EU citizen with a personal interest in retirement savings,

was very happy to share his experience, providing concrete ideas on how to solve the problem.

The Commission analysed the feedback submitted by Tom and other citizens

and got back to work to translate those ideas into more concrete policy options.

These options were then presented in a PUBLIC CONSULTATION,

in the form of a simple online questionnaire, open for 12 weeks.

Tom could see that the Commission had taken on board his suggestions,

and he joined the consultation to express his views on the presented options.

On the basis of the contributions received, the Commission was able to draft a proposed law

for a pan-European private pension system, which met the citizens' real needs.

The PROPOSAL was sent to the European Parliament and Council,

who are in charge of debating and adopting the law.

But it was also made public so that citizens had 8 weeks to give more comments.

All the opinions submitted at this stage were sent to the European Parliament and Council,

so that they could take them into account during their legislative work.

But our consultation does not stop here.

Sometimes, technical provisions or updates are needed to EU laws.

They are adopted through DELEGATED AND IMPLEMENTING ACTS:

citizens and stakeholders can also send their feedback on these draft texts

for a period of 4 weeks.

But what if you wanted to share an idea about a law that is already in force?

Isn't that too late?

No! On the contrary, we want to hear what works and what doesn't

and listen to suggestions on how laws can be improved so we can change them if need be.

Therefore, anyone at any time can give feedback

or share his or her ideas through 'LIGHTEN THE LOAD',

a tool created for citizens to share their experiences

on how laws affect their daily lives!

The European Commission is always open to your opinions.

So why don't you visit the Have Your Say portal and make your voice heard?