Mediation for administrative problems in Europe

How does the European legislation influence your daily life?

Different domains of our daily lives are impacted by European law. It protects citizens and companies who work, study or live in another member state. For example European rules apply when you want to obtain a recognition for your diploma in your new home country, when you buy a new car in another member state or when applying for family benefits in the member state where you work.

In most cases, there should be no problem in recognizing your rights as a European citizen or company and you will be able to enjoy the four liberties: free movement of persons, goods, services and capital in Europe.

If you do encounter difficulties, SOLVIT is there to help. The SOLVIT network deals with a large range of problems related to the European internal market. For an overview of problems that have been treated by SOLVIT, please check this website.

What is SOLVIT?

SOLVIT is a free mediation service, established in 2002 by the European Commission in order to solve administrative problems for citizens and enterprises who live, work or study in another member state than their own country.

 
When can SOLVIT help?

SOLVIT can help citizens and enterprises with problems that fall under the following three criteria:

• Cross-border problems within the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway ;
• Caused by a local, regional or national administration ;
• And due to a misapplication of European legislation.

 
How do I file a complaint with SOLVIT?

If your problem meets the three aforementioned criteria, you can file your complaint through the online complaint form.

Your case will be treated by two SOLVIT-centers. As soon as your problem is presented to SOLVIT, the SOLVIT center in your country of origin (Home center) will contact you to confirm reception of your complaint, and to explain the rest of the SOLVIT-procedure.

If your complaint can be treated by SOLVIT, your case will be sent to the SOLVIT center in the member state where the problem occurs (Lead center), who will then try to solve your problem.

The fixed deadline for treating a case is ten weeks from the moment the Lead center accepts your case.

 
If your problem doesn’t fall under the abovementioned criteria, or if you just have a question on your rights as a citizen or enterprise in Europe, our colleagues at one of the following networks may be able to help you:

• For general information on your rights in the European Union, please visit the European Commission’s website Your Europe.
• For free juridical advice regarding the European rules applicable to your situation, you can contact the network Your Europe - advice.
• For information on your rights as a consumer, or for help with disputes regarding the purchase of goods or services in another EU Member state, Iceland, Norway or Liechtenstein, you can contact the European Consumers’ Center.
• For information on your European rights as an entrepreneur, or for mediation with disputes between European entrepreneurs, you can contact the Enterprise Europe Network.

How to contact SOLVIT?

If you want to file a complaint, please use the online complaint form. For other questions or remarks, you can contact SOLVIT Belgium:

By e-mail: solvit@diplobel.fed.be
Website: http://ec.europa.eu/solvit/index_en.htm