handover
The handover of your petition should be a media-effective event. You can use this opportunity to once again draw the attention of the public to your concerns and thus put pressure on decision-makers.
make an appointment:
Please request a date for the handover well in advance, as politicians' schedules are usually full. So please allow a few weeks’ lead time.
If the addressee declines the appointment, suggest a new one and, if necessary, contact deputies, spokespersons, or department heads. Before a handover fails, it is better to find another suitable person. In the previous chapter, we also explained how you can increase the pressure so that a personal handover with public figures takes place.
Personal handover
The person addressed will be confronted with your demands. Prepare for the handover or a discussion about your demands. Share your personal background story and invite your supporters to join you for the handover.
Invite the press:
For the press, meetings with politicians and public figures are of interest, especially when they are confronted with challenging or sensitive issues. Invite the press and photographers a few days in advance and briefly describe what will happen and whether there will be any photo opportunities. You can use a press release for this purpose. Please include a link to the petition.
Stage the handover for the press:
If you can provide a good photo opportunity, the press will be more interested in your story and your cause. Television stations don't send out camera crews if there's nothing to see. Here are a few suggestions.:
- Print out signature lists and hand them over as a thick 'book' or even in several boxes that stack up impressively.
- Print out the petition's request, including the petition image and the number of signatures, as a poster and hold it up. You can download an automatically generated handover poster for your petition.
- Invite supporters and hand over concerns together.
- Conversation with the recipient.
- Not a must, but particularly effective: staging and actions for the handover.
With a poster, for example, you always generate attention and are a popular subject for press photographers. In your petition's management area (the orange bar after logging in), under the "Download" tab, you'll find the signature lists to print out, as well as an automatically generated poster for distribution. Of course, you can also create your own. Large-format posters in particular attract attention and are a popular photo subject for the press. You may use the openPetition logo for this purpose: Logo with white background , Logo without background color
Write a press release
Report on the handover, the demands of the petition, the number of supporters, and what you will do next. The press release should reach the editorial offices by early afternoon at the latest so that it can be published the next day. Be sure to provide a contact person with a telephone number so that you can be reached for inquiries and perhaps even give an interview. Tips for Press release .
What if no one wants to accept your petition?
Make the best of the situation. Company bosses who refuse to make an appointment to hand over a challenging petition are of interest to the press for that reason alone. Make a handover anyway! For example, rent a room in the town hall or state parliament, or choose a representative location in front of the company headquarters. Present the signatures to an empty chair on behalf of someone else – this will make it clear that your request is being ignored and will put pressure on the decision-makers. Invite the press and photographers.
Inform your supporters
Let your supporters know that you have submitted the petition and what will happen next. The people who signed for their cause want to know what has become of the petition – after all, it is their petition too. Write a blog post on your petition page and send an email update. Be sure to change the status of your petition accordingly.
Submit a petition
In addition to the symbolic handover, petitions that have a political concern should also be officially submitted to the relevant petitions committee! You can also submit petitions at the local level at the state level. However, it is usually more productive to seek dialogue with mayors and city or municipal councils. Ask for a statement and a symbolic handover.
How and where can I submit my petition?
You can usually submit your petition by mail or using an online form. Be sure to point out your openPetition (with the short link) and the number of signatures.
Right of petition in the EU
The right to petition is enshrined in Article 44 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. A petition to the European Parliament can be submitted by any EU citizen and any legal or natural person established in the EU. However, the prerequisite is that the subject matter of the petition must fall within the competence of the EU and that the petitioners are directly affected by it. The petition may set out an individual request, complaint or observation on the application of EU law. The European Parliament may also be asked to comment on a specific matter. Such petitions give the European Parliament the opportunity to respond to violations of the rights of a Union citizen by a Member State or an EU institution.
Petitions to the European Parliament can be submitted in writing by post, online on the European Parliament’s website or by email. The European Parliament receives approximately 1,000 petitions every year.
STAY TUNED!
After the handover, continue to work on getting your request through. Stay in touch with recipients, the press, and your supporters. Take photos and videos during the handover and post them on social media to demonstrate your commitment and keep your cause in the public eye.
By posting regularly on the petition blog, you can keep all supporters of your petition up to date, announce events, communicate progress, or share the success of a petition. This function remains available for a period of one year even after completed petitions. Also, be sure to update the status of your petition so that supporters know when it has been submitted and, perhaps, even if it was successful!
Support through openPetition: We will support you in all these steps. It is important that you keep us updated. If we notice that you are strongly committed, then we will also commit ourselves to you. For example, if we learn of a planned handover, we can advise you and, if necessary, inform you about it through our channels.