Publications Office of the European Union (OP Portal)
Cookies Policy
To make the websites of the Publications Office work properly, we sometimes place small data files called ‘cookies’ on your device.
What are cookies?
A cookie is a small text file that a website stores on your computer or mobile device when you visit the site. It enables the website to remember your actions and preferences (such as login, language, font size and other display preferences) over a period of time, so you don’t have to keep re-entering them whenever you come back to the site or browse from one page to another.
- First-party cookies are cookies set by the website you’re visiting. Only that website can read them.
- Third-party cookies may be used when a website uses external services which set their own cookies.
- Session cookies are cookies that are deleted automatically when you quit your browser.
- Persistent cookies are cookies that are saved on your computer and remain on your computer when you quit your browser.
- Essential cookiesare cookies that are necessary to ensure that the website is properly displayed for you. They may e.g. include information on your operating system version and language, browser or location.
Every time you visit the Publications Office’s websites, you will be prompted to either accept all cookies or only essential cookies. Cookies can also be used to establish anonymised statistics about the browsing experience on our sites.
How do we use cookies?
Publications Office websites mostly use first-party cookies set and controlled by the Publications Office, not by any external organisation. However, to view some of our pages, you will have to accept third-party cookies. You can delete or block these cookies, but if you do that some features of this site may not work as intended. These cookies are used to remember:
- your display preferences, such as browsing language, contrast colour, font size, device used, search results preferences and notification preferences;
- your latest visit to the website (for statistical purposes) and the three most recent pages visited (to help our helpdesk if you send a request);
- if you have agreed (or not) to our use of cookies on this site.
Visitor preferences
The cookies registering your preferences are set by us and only we can read them. They remember if you have accepted all the cookies or only the essential ones..
| Name | Service | Purpose | Cookie type and duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| PORTAL2012_USER_PREFERENCES | OP PORTAL | Store user preferences(language, accessibility, pagination, default querys, etc) | End of browser session |
| GUEST_LANGUAGE_ID | OP PORTAL | Store guest language | 1 year |
| cck1 | COOKIE CONSENT KIT | Set by the EC webtools Cookie Consent Kit (DG COMM) integrated in the portal; stores the visitor's consent choices. | First-party persistent cookie, 6 months |
| PORTAL2012_SEARCH | OP PORTAL | Stores search display preferences (sort order, results per page) as JSON. Set client-side only when a visitor changes those options on a search results page. | Client-side only, until a visitor changes these options on the search results page |
Operational cookies
There are some cookies that we have to include in order for certain web pages to function. For this reason, they do not require your consent. In particular:
- authentication cookies ;
- technical cookies required by certain IT systems.
Authentication cookies
These are stored when you log in to the Publications Office sites, using our authentication service (EU Login). When you do this, you accept the associated privacy policy.
| Name | Service | Purpose | Cookie type and duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| PORTAL2012_USER_PREFERENCES | OP PORTAL | Authenticate users in the portal | End of browser session |
| GUEST_LANGUAGE_ID | OP PORTAL | Authenticate users in the portal | End of browser session |
Operational cookies
There are some cookies that we have to include in order for certain web pages to function. For this reason, they do not require your consent. In particular:
- authentication cookies
- technical cookies required by certain IT systems.
Authentication cookies
These are stored when you log in to the Publications Office sites, using our authentication service (EU Login). They are set on the op.europa.eu domain as part of the Keycloak login flow (for example, to open the authentication pop-up and authenticate the user) and are removed once the login redirect has completed. When you log in, you accept the associated privacy policy.
| Name | Service | Purpose | Cookie type and duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| KC_RESTART, AUTH_SESSION_ID, KEYCLOAK_LOCALE, KEYCLOAK_SESSION, KEYCLOAK_IDENTITY | OP PORTAL | Cookies set during authentication process | Removed once the login redirect has completed |
| AUTH_SESSION_ID_LEGACY, KEYCLOAK_SESSION_LEGACY, KEYCLOAK_IDENTITY_LEGACY | OP PORTAL | Authentication cookies set as a fallback for older browsers | Removed once the login redirect has completed |
| AUTO_SSO_DISABLED | OP PORTAL (EU Login SSO) | Set by the portal on logout to prevent auto single sign on to silently re-authenticate the user | HttpOnly, path /; deleted at the next successful login |
The names of these cookies may change, for technical reasons.
Technical cookies
| Name | Service | Purpose | Cookie duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| OP_PORTAL_BASKET_ID | OP PORTAL | Manage shopping cart | End of browser session |
| COOKIE_SUPPORT | OP PORTAL | used to know if the user admits cookies | duration: 1 year |
| JSESSIONID | OP PORTAL | used by sites to maintain an anonymous user session by the server | End of browser session |
| LFR_SESSION_STATE | OP PORTAL | contains the user's ID on the Liferay platform. | End of browser session |
| OPPORTAL_LAST_PATH | OP PORTAL | Used in the redirect after login process | End of browser session |
| Route | OP PORTAL | Used by the web proxy for the node affinity | Expires in 2days |
| opSSWS | OP PORTAL | expert search information | End of browser session |
| INTEGRATION-ERROR | OP PORTAL | Created when a portal call to a backend integration system fails, to carry the error code for tracing; cleared automatically by a servlet filter. | Deleted automatically at the end of the visit |
Analytics cookies
We use these purely for internal research on how we can improve the service we provide for all our users. The cookies assess how you interact with our website — as an anonymous user (the data gathered does not identify you personally).
Also, this data is not shared with any third parties or used for any other purpose. The anonymised statistics could be shared with contractors working on communication projects under contractual agreement with the Publications Office.
However, you are free to refuse these types of cookies — via the cookie banner you’ll see on the first page you visit by selecting to accept only essential cookies.
| Name | Service | Purpose | Cookie duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| _pk_ses | OP PORTAL | Collect analytics data from users | 30 minutes |
| _pk_id | OP PORTAL | Collect analytics data from users | 13 months |
| ppms_privacy_ | OP PORTAL | Stores visitor`s consent to data collection and usage | 365 days or 30 minutes (for anonymous tracking) |
| stg_traffic_source_priority | OP PORTAL | Stores the type of traffic source from which the visitor came to your site. | 30 minutes |
| sstg_returning_visitor | OP PORTAL | Indicates whether the visitor has been to your site before – they are a returning visitor. | 1 year |
| stg_last_interaction | OP PORTAL | Indicates whether the last visitor’s session is still running or a new session has started. | 1 year |
| stg_fired__ |
OP PORTAL | Indicates that a Tag Manager condition was triggered | 30 minutes |
| stg_utm_campaign | OP PORTAL | Stores campaign tracking info | 30 minutes |
| stg_pk_campaign | OP PORTAL | Stores campaign tracking info from Piwik PRO | 30 minutes |
| stg_externalReferrer | OP PORTAL | Stores the external referrer URL | 30 minutes |
| _stg_optout | OP PORTAL | Stores opt-out information from tracking | 1 year |
| stg_debug | PIWIK PRO (Tag Manager) | Piwik PRO Tag Manager debug cookie, created by the analytics loader in the portal themes only when debug mode is activated via the URL. For the analytics contractor. | Debug mode only |
Third-party cookies
Some of our pages display content from external providers, such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. These third-party services are outside of the control of the Publications Office. Providers may at any time change their terms of service, purpose and use of cookies, etc.
To view this third-party content, you first have to accept their specific terms and conditions. This includes their cookie policies, over which we do not have any control.
If you do not view this content, no third-party cookies will be installed on your device.
Private data
The cookie-related information is not used to identify you personally and the pattern data is fully under our control. These cookies are not used for any purpose other than those described here.
How can you manage cookies?
You can manage/delete cookies as you wish — for details, see aboutcookies.org
Removing cookies from your device
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).
Managing site-specific cookies
For more detailed control over site-specific cookies, check the privacy and cookie settings in your preferred browser.
Blocking cookies
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.logging in to your profile).