diff --git a/osc/commandline.py b/osc/commandline.py
index acb3ea63..0fd14b78 100644
--- a/osc/commandline.py
+++ b/osc/commandline.py
@@ -1858,7 +1858,8 @@ Please submit there instead, or use --nodevelproject to force direct submission.
                         raise oscerr.UserAbort()
                                             
                 if not opts.message:
-                    opts.message = edit_message()
+                    tmpl = change_request_state_template(rq, state_map[cmd])
+                    opts.message = edit_message(template=tmpl)
                 r = change_request_state(apiurl,
                         reqid, state_map[cmd], opts.message or '')
                 print 'Result of change request state: %s' % r
diff --git a/osc/conf.py b/osc/conf.py
index 22e6e86e..6b2d0fee 100644
--- a/osc/conf.py
+++ b/osc/conf.py
@@ -123,6 +123,8 @@ DEFAULTS = { 'apiurl': 'https://api.opensuse.org',
              # what to do with the source package if the submitrequest has been accepted
              'submitrequest_on_accept_action': '',
              'request_show_interactive': '0',
+             'submitrequest_accepted_template': '',
+             'submitrequest_declined_template': '',
              'linkcontrol': '0',
 
              # Maintenance defaults to OBS instance defaults
@@ -257,6 +259,12 @@ apiurl = %(apiurl)s
 # nothing is specified the API default is used
 #submitrequest_on_accept_action = cleanup|update|noupdate
 
+# template for an accepted submitrequest
+#submitrequest_accepted_template = Hi %%(who)s,\\nthanks for working on %%(dst_project)s/%%(dst_package)s. SR %%(reqid)s has been accepted.\\n\\nYour maintainers
+
+# template for a declined submitrequest
+#submitrequest_declined_template = Hi %%(who)s,\\nsorry your SR %%(reqid)s for %%(dst_project)s/%%(dst_package)s has been declined because ...
+
 #review requests interactively (default: off)
 #request_show_review = 1
 
diff --git a/osc/core.py b/osc/core.py
index 9408e081..1ad1361b 100644
--- a/osc/core.py
+++ b/osc/core.py
@@ -2218,6 +2218,11 @@ class Request:
                                    dst_prj, dst_pkg, src_update, role_person, role_group, role)
                            )
 
+    def get_creator(self):
+        if len(self.statehistory):
+            return self.statehistory[-1].who
+        return self.state.who
+
     def list_view(self):
         ret = '%6d  State:%-7s By:%-12s When:%-12s' % (self.reqid, self.state.name, self.state.who, self.state.when)
 
@@ -3321,6 +3326,24 @@ def change_request_state(apiurl, reqid, newstate, message='', supersed=''):
 
     return r
 
+def change_request_state_template(req, newstate):
+    if not len(req.actions):
+        return ''
+    action = req.actions[0]
+    tmpl_name = '%srequest_%s_template' % (action.type, newstate)
+    tmpl = conf.config.get(tmpl_name, '')
+    tmpl = tmpl.replace('\\t', '\t').replace('\\n', '\n')    
+    data = {'reqid': req.reqid, 'type': action.type, 'who': req.get_creator()}
+    if req.actions[0].type == 'submit':
+        data.update({'src_project': action.src_project,
+            'src_package': action.src_package, 'src_rev': action.src_rev,
+            'dst_project': action.dst_project, 'dst_package': action.dst_package})
+    try:
+        return tmpl % data
+    except KeyError, e:
+        print >>sys.stderr, 'error: cannot interpolate \'%s\' in \'%s\'' % (e.args[0], tmpl_name)
+        return ''
+
 def get_review_list(apiurl, project='', package='', user='', group='', states=('new')):
     xpath = ''
     xpath = xpath_join(xpath, 'state/@name=\'review\'', inner=True)
@@ -5598,7 +5621,10 @@ def request_interactive_review(apiurl, request):
                     # the read bytes probably have a moderate size so the str won't be too large
                     footer += '\n\n' + tmpfile.read()
                 if msg is None:
-                    msg = edit_message(footer = footer)
+                    tmpl = ''
+                    if not state is None:
+                        tmpl = change_request_state_template(request, state)
+                    msg = edit_message(footer = footer, template=tmpl)
                 else:
                     msg = msg.strip('\'').strip('"')
                 if state is None: