A cookie is a small text file that a website stores on your computer or mobile device when you visit the site. First-party cookies are cookies set by the website you’re visiting.Only that website can read them.

In addition, a website might potentially use external services, which also set their own cookies, known as third-party cookies.

Persistent cookies are cookies that are saved on your computer and are not deleted automatically when you quit your browser, unlike a session cookie which is deleted when you quit your browser.

Every time you visit the Commission’s websites, you will be prompted to accept or refuse cookies. The purpose is to enable the site to remember your preferences (such as user name, language, etc.) for a certain period of time.

This way, you don’t have to re-enter them when browsing the site during the same visit.

Cookies can also be used to establish anonymized statistics about user behavior on our sites. European Commission websites mostly use first-party cookies, which are cookies set and controlled by the Commission, not by any external organization.

However, to view some of our pages, you may have to accept cookies from external organizations.

The three types of first-party cookies we use are:

1. Store visitor preferences
2. Make our websites operational
3. Gather analytics data about user behavior

Visitor preferences are set by us and only we can read them. They remember if you have agreed to or refused this site’s cookie policy, or if you have already replied to our survey pop-up about how helpful the site content was, so you won’t be asked again.

There are some cookies that are required for certain web pages to function, and therefore do not require your consent. These include authentication cookies and technical cookies required by certain IT systems.
Authentication cookies are stored when you log in to a Commission site, using our authentication service (Login). When you do this, you accept the associated privacy policy. These cookies help ensure that your logged-in session remains active while you are browsing the site.
Technical cookies are required by certain IT systems to enable features such as video playback or to ensure website security. These cookies do not collect any personal information and are necessary for the website to function properly. As such, they are exempt from the requirement for user consent.

Some of our pages display content from external providers such as YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. In order to view this third-party content, you must first accept their specific terms and conditions. This includes their cookie policies, which we have no control over.
However, if you choose not to view this content, no third-party cookies will be installed on your device. The following is a list of third-party providers that we use on Commission websites:
1. YouTube
2. Internet Archive
3. Google Maps
4. Twitter
5. TV1
6. Vimeo
7. Microsoft
8. Facebook
9. Google
10. LinkedIn
11. Livestream
12. SoundCloud
13. European Parliament
These third-party services are outside of the control of the Commission. Providers may, at any time, change their terms of service, purpose and use of cookies, etc.

You can delete all cookies that are already on your device by clearing the browsing history of your browser. This will remove all cookies from all websites you have visited. Be aware though that you may also lose some saved information (e.g. saved login details, site preferences).

For more detailed control over site-specific cookies, check the privacy and cookie settings in your preferred browser

You can set most modern browsers to prevent any cookies being placed on your device, but you may then have to manually adjust some preferences every time you visit a site/page. And some services and functionalities may not work properly at all (e.g. profile logging-in).