Access to consular protection and other arrangements
Article 7
1. Unrepresented citizens shall be entitled to seek protection from the embassy or consulate of any Member State. 2. Without prejudice to Article 2, a Member State may represent another Member State on a permanent basis and Member States' embassies or consulates may, wherever deemed necessary, conclude practical arrangements on sharing responsibilities for providing consular protection to unrepresented citizens. Member States shall notify the Commission and the European External Action Service (EEAS) of such arrangements, which shall be publicised by the Union and Member States to ensure transparency for unrepresented citizens. 3. In cases where a practical arrangement has been concluded as provided for in paragraph 2, an embassy or consulate from which the unrepresented citizen seeks consular protection, and which is not designated as competent according to the specific arrangement in place, shall ensure that the application from the citizen is redirected to the relevant embassy or consulate, unless consular protection would thereby be compromised, in particular if the urgency of the matter requires immediate action by the requested embassy or consulate.