The European Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management, Hadja Lahbib, presented this week the European Commission's official response to the European Citizens' Initiative "Ban conversion practices in the European Union", which gathered more than one million signatures across the EU.
A historic recommendation
On 13 May 2026, the European Commission announced its intention to adopt, by 2027, a recommendation calling on all Member States to ban conversion practices. This is the first time in its history that the European Union has adopted a legal act specifically targeting the protection of the rights of LGBTQIA+ people.
Commissioner Lahbib: "Forced medication. Electric shocks. Isolation. Sexual abuse. Rape. They called it 'therapy'. This is not therapy. This is torture. These practices cause severe mental disorders, personality disorders that can lead to severe depression. There is nothing to cure. And these practices have no place in our Union.".
Why a recommendation and not a binding directive?
The EU has limited competences to legislate in this area. This means a European directive would have limited scope, risking excluding part of the LGBTIQ+ community, precisely the most vulnerable and the most affected by these terrifying practices.
Furthermore, a European directive on this subject would have required unanimity among the 27 Member States in the Council, a condition that is almost impossible to meet in the current political context, as shown by the equal treatment directive, blocked since 2008.
A recommendation allows for swift action, covers all LGBTQIA people, including on gender identity and gender expression issues, and builds on the good practices of Member States that have already legislated. In an ambitious and comprehensive way. It is the fastest and most realistic instrument available.
A fight that continues
The European area remains, on a global scale, the territory where the rights of LGBTQIA people are best protected. The contrast with the United States is striking. On 31 March 2026, the US Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional a Colorado law banning conversion practices for minors, in the name of freedom of speech. In a context where fundamental protections for transgender people have been removed, this setback is a reminder that LGBTQIA rights are never permanently secured.
The European Commission's recommendation confirms this. But we will need to go further and faster.