The petition
The petition
Across Europe, the State still imposes how our lives end. We ask the European Union to recognise voluntary assisted dying as a fundamental right — with strong safeguards, never coercion.
The petition
No one should be forced to suffer against their will. Across Europe, the State still imposes how our lives end. It’s time to change that.
Today only a handful of EU countries let their citizens choose an assisted death. Cross a border and you can lose that right overnight. A fundamental freedom shouldn’t depend on your postcode.
We believe the choice of a peaceful end — with strong safeguards, never coercion — belongs to each of us. Not to the state, not to chance. To you.
What we ask of the EU
Four measures to make a dignified death a right across the Union — not a lottery of geography.
-
01
Write it into the Charter
Include the right to voluntary assisted dying in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.
Recognition -
02
A law that protects the choice
EU legislation to enforce “the individual’s right to decide by what means and at what point their life will end, provided this person is capable of freely reaching a decision on this question and acting in consequence” — which the European Court of Human Rights considers one of the aspects of the right to respect for private life. Proper professional assistance for end-of-life decisions must be provided across the EU.
Legislation -
03
Living wills recognised across borders
Mutual recognition of living-will declarations and advance directives within the EU, for arrangements compatible with the law of the member state where the person is at the moment of need. A secure EU database will connect national living-will depositories so they can be reached when needed — in full compliance with the fundamental right to privacy.
Recognition -
04
Let citizens decide together
Convene a European Citizens’ Assembly, chosen by sortition, to debate and propose European measures on the right to die in a dignified way.
Democracy
The principle
“The individual’s right to decide by what means and at what point their life will end … is one of the aspects of the right to respect for private life.”