Terms of use

Effective since: 26 January 2024

Last update: 26 January 2024

1. Information about Maastricht Debate 2024

1.1. The website www.maastrichtdebate.eu (hereinafter the “Website”) is managed and operated under the responsibility of:

POLITICO SRL (hereinafter “POLITICO”)

Rue de la Loi 62

1040 Brussels

Belgium 

VAT BE0526.900.436

AND 

STUDIO EUROPA MAASTRICHT (hereafter “SEM”)

Minderbroedersberg 4-6

6211LK Maastricht

Netherlands 

1.2. The Website provides visitors with information regarding the Maastricht Debate 2024 (hereinafter “Maastricht Debate 2024”). 

1.3. Any question or complaint relating to the Website, the present Terms of Use (hereinafter the “Terms of Use”), the Privacy Policy and/or the Cookies Policy of Maastricht Debate 2024 (hereinafter the “Privacy and Cookies Policies”) can be directed to Politico and SEM at the above address or at the following email addressed: privacy@maastrichtuniversity.nl, privacy@politico.eu

2. Acceptance

2.1. Access to the Website is subject to the present Terms of Use, the Privacy and Cookies Policies and applicable laws and regulations. Access to or use of the Website consequently implies full and unconditional acceptance by the visitor (hereafter the “Visitor”) of the Terms of Use as well as the acknowledgment of the Privacy and Cookies Policies.

2..2 The present Terms of Use and the Privacy and Cookies Policies only cover the relationship between the Visitor on the one hand and Politico and SEM on the other hand in regard to the use of the Website. They can be consulted at all times on the Website. 

3. Accessibility and operation of the Website

3.1. Politico and SEM will, insofar as possible, ensure that the Website is up to date and that it remains accessible to a normal number of Visitors. Politico and SEM cannot guarantee that the features of the Website can be available without interruption or errors, that defects are immediately corrected or that the server that makes them available is free of viruses or any other harmful component. 

3.2. Politico and SEM cannot be held liable for any loss or damage, of whatever nature, which results from suspension, interruption, (technical) disruption, delay, difficult accessibility and/or termination of the accessibility of the whole or a part of the Website or viruses or any other harmful element that is present on the Website. 

3.3. If the Visitor finds an error, virus or any other harmful element on the Website, he/she is invited to communicate it to Politico and SEM at the following addresses: live@politico.eu, maastrichtdebate24@studioeuropamaastricht.nl so that the necessary measures can be adopted. Politico and SEM advise the Visitor in any case, to install firewalls, antivirus and other necessary security softwares on his/her computer to prevent damages. 

3.4. Politico and SEM reserve the right to suspend or stop the Website in whole or in part, at any time, without justification and without prior notice. 

4. Use of the Website

4.1. The Visitor agrees to use the Website only in accordance with its purposes, to the exclusion of any other purpose. 

4.2. The Visitor is required to ensure that all information he/she communicates is accurate and up to date. 

4.3. The Visitor agrees to use the Website in good faith and to respect the prevailing legislation, and in particular to refrain from:

• sending to Politico and SEM false or misleading content (i.e., by updating this content, if necessary, to ensure that it does not become false or misleading), or any communication that can be considered as obscene, racist or xenophobic, insulting, deceptive, intrusive, offensive, harmful, violent, threatening, harassing, slanderous, infringing on intellectual property rights;
• providing e-mail addresses or other types of content to Politico and SEM without the prior consent of the individuals involved;
• sending or making available by any means (including video questions with #MaastrichtDebate) to Politico and SEM any content that violates the rights of third parties or damages them in any way (intellectual property rights, right to privacy, trade secrets, etc.);
• copying any literary, artistic, visual or audio-visual content of the Website for other purposes than personal consultation;
• extracting, by definitive or temporary transfers, all of or part of the content of the Website, or all of or part of one or different types of data available on the Website, irrespective of the extraction method used; 
• reuse, through public disposal of all of or some of the content of the Website, or all of or part of one of the different types of data available on the Website, irrespective of the form;  
• sending to Politico and SEM any content that refers to illegal websites or websites with inappropriate content;
• using the Website to send unsolicited spam, pyramid schemes or similar fraudulent processes;
• circumventing technical protection measures for documents and multimedia;
• taking any action that may adversely affect the proper functioning of the Website, Maastricht Debate 2024, including the use of computer viruses, ransomware or mass mailing;
• gaining (or attempting to gain) unauthorized access to (a part of) the Website or equipment (hardware and software) used for the proper functioning of the Website;
• using of a false name, a pseudonym or use of the identity of someone else or of an entity;
• using of the Website for purposes other than those described in these Terms of Use.

4.4. Politico and SEM reserve the right, at their discretion, to vet any of the Visitors, including any video question or content including the #MaastrichtDebate or any other references to Politico or SEM.

4.5. Politico and SEM cannot be held responsible for any non-compliance by the Visitor with the Terms of Use, the Privacy and Cookies Policies and/or any prevailing legislation. The Visitor holds Politico and SEM harmless against any action, claim or complaint from third parties (incl. public authorities) with regard to his/her use of the Website. 

4.6. The Visitor uses the Website entirely at his/her own risk. The Website, its components and all information, software, features and associated services are offered as they are, subject to availability without any form of guarantee (explicit or implicit) and within the limits of the applicable legislation.

4.7. Politico and SEM cannot be held responsible for any losses or damages (whether direct, indirect, tangible or intangible) arising form the use of the Website and its components or the inability to use the Website in whole or in part.

4.8. The Visitor must inform Politico and SEM immediately in writing if he/she becomes aware of any inappropriate behavior or prohibited use related to the Website, by sending an email to privacy@maastrichtuniversity.nl and/or privacy@politico.eu

5. References, Links to and on other websites

References, Links to other websites can be displayed on the Website. Other websites may hold links to the Website. These third-party websites are not operated by Politico and SEM, which cannot be held liable for their operation, content and use. The existence of such links does not imply any approval by Politico and SEM regarding these third-party websites or the use that could be made of them, nor any association or partnership with the operators of such websites. 

6. Intellectual Property rights

6.1. The Website and its components (incl. trademarks, logos, graphics, photos, animations, videos, music, texts, etc.) are the property of or are duly licensed to Politico and SEM. They are protected by intellectual property rights (incl. copyright, design rights, trademark rights, etc.) and may not be reproduced, used or distributed without the prior written consent of Politico and SEM or, if applicable, the relevant rights holder, under a penalty of infringement of copyright and/or models and/or trademark rights, punishable by three months to three years and a fine of 100 up to 100.000 euros or one of these fines only. 

6.2. Politico and SEM grant the Visitor a non-exclusive, non-transferable license, for an indefinite period of time and at any time and without justification, to gain access to the content of the Website, to consult it and download it only for strictly display purposes. The Visitor may also print a copy of the content displayed on the Website for strictly personal purposes, provided that he/she does not modify the content of the Website in any way and keeps all references and mentions of authorship and origin of the Website. 

6.3. Any use of the Website and its components that is not covered by this provision is strictly prohibited. 

7. Requirements regarding the content publication

7.1. The Visitor commits not to publish on the Website nor on social media channels content that might:

• Mention third parties’ information such as addresses, phone numbers, e-mail addresses, social security numbers and/or credit card numbers;
• In Politico’s and SEM’s reasonable judgment, be reprehensible, or that can restrain any other individual’s use of Maastricht Debate 2024 or the Website, or that could trigger for Politico and SEM or other visitors their responsibility or any damages. 

7.2. The Visitor commits to full responsibility for the content published on his/her social media channel’s profile and its consequences. 

7.3. The Visitor possesses all the content he/she published on the Website or on social media. The Visitor declares and certifies that he/she possesses:

• All rights on the content he/she published or obtained the necessary authorizations for publishing;
• The Visitor’s content is exact and;
• The use and display of the content provided do not violate these Terms of Use nor any other right, or harm or prejudice another individual or entity. 

7.4. Only for the use of the Website and to ease its features if the Visitor published content on the Website or on social media and unless stated otherwise, he/she grants Politico and SEM a non-exclusive and free license to use, reproduce, adapt, publish, translate, create new derivative works, distribute, execute or display this content worldwide on any support on or related to the Website and the Maastricht Debate and its promotion, and without use restriction regarding the Visitor’s name, image or identity. 

7.5. The Visitor agrees and acknowledges that (i) Politico and SEM will at their sole discretion select approximately 9 video questions only from all the submissions to be played during the debate and therefore provide no warranty that the Visitor’s submitted video will be amongst these. (ii) if a Visitor’s video question is selected, the latter will be used during the debate and the Visitor’s question be answered (iii)  the Visitor’s name or user name, voice, remarks,  footage and images of Visitor, may be used, distributed and published in any media (including Politico and SEM  promotional materials) in the context of and in connection with the Maastricht debate only. The videos may be edited, copied, exhibited, published or distributed by POLITICO  and its Group companies to which it belongs or its partners in connection with the debate and its promotion. If Visitor has any queries about this, however, he/she can reach out to live@politico.eu.

8. Moderation and good behavior

8.1. Politico and SEM are not to be held responsible for any content a Visitor posts, stocks or downloads through the Website, social media, or via another other visitor, or for any loss or damage, or any visitor’s conduct, and Politico and SEM are not responsible for errors, defamation, omissions, wrong information, obscenity, pornography or blasphemy that the Visitor might encounter. 

8.2. As Website providers, Politico and SEM are not responsible for declarations, representations or content furnished by its visitors in any public forum, website, message or any communication.

8.3. Even if Politico and SEM are not entitled to filter, edit or control the content posted on the Website, Politico and SEM hold the right to, at its own discretion, retract, filter or modify any content posted or stocked on the Website for any reason whatsoever, and without prior notice. The Visitor is the only one entitled to copy or safeguard any content he/she publishes or stocks on the Website. 

8.4. If the content published by the Visitor on the Website or on social media were not to respect the previously enounced provisions in the Terms of Use, Politico and SEM hold the right, immediately and without prior notice to suspend, delete, ask for modification of the content.

8.5. The Visitor can consequently not pretend to any damages or interests. It is therefore reminded that the Visitor personally incurs, the specific criminal sanctions in regard to the litigious content (prison penalties and fines), other than any eventual conviction to pay monetary damages. 

8.6. In the case of a dispute between visitors regarding content published by one of them, it is the Visitors duty to get in contact with each other and to find a solution to their dispute. Politico and SEM are not expected to intervene and will not intervene in that dispute resolution. Politico and SEM hold the right not to give any follow-up to the claim of a visitor that would be addressed to Politico and SEM, and without any responsibility. 

9. Complaints

Every claim/complaint of the Visitor regarding the Website will be communicated in writing within eight (8) calendar days after he/she has become aware of it and intends to communicate it to Politico and SEM. The absence of any dispute in accordance with the aforementioned rules implies unconditional acceptance by the Visitor of the fact that has given rise to the claim and, de facto, the definitive waiver of any claim under this provision. 

10. Updates and language versions

10.1. Politico and SEM reserve the right, at all times and without prior notice, to change/update the present Terms of Use and the Privacy and Cookies Policies, as well as the access to the Website and its content. These changes are binding for the Visitor(s) each time the Website is visited. It is recommended to consult such changes at every use of the Website; the date of last modification is indicated at the top of the present Terms of Use.

10.2. In case of any differences between the available language versions of the present Terms of Use and/or the Privacy and Cookies Policies, the English version must prevail. 

11. Validity of contractual clauses

11.1. If Politico and SEM do not use/invoke one of the provisions of the present Terms of Use for a period of time, this cannot be interpreted in any way as a waiver to enforce such rights on a later stage.

11.2. The nullity, interpretation and/or execution of some of the provisions implies by no means the invalidity of all provisions. The provision that is wholly or partially invalid, void or unenforceable is to be considered as unwritten. Politico and SEM undertake to replace this provision by another who, as far as possible, pursues the same goal. 

12. Applicable law and competent court

12.1. The validity, interpretation and/or execution of the present Terms of Use are only subject to Belgian law, to the maximum extent permitted by the prevailing rules of private international law.

12.2. In the event of a dispute concerning the validity, interpretation or implementation of the present Terms of Use, the courts of the judicial district of Brussels are exclusively competent.

12.3. Before launching legal proceedings, the Visitor on the one hand and Politico and SEM on the other hand will aim to resolve the dispute amicably. That is why they will first contact each other’s, and if appropriate and necessary, reach out for mediation, arbitration or any other alternative dispute resolution method.