23 March 2026
My Voice, My Choice
The European Citizens’ Initiative My Voice, My Choice for safe and accessible abortion, signed by over 1.2 million people, has proven remarkably successful. On 26 February 2026, the Commission announced that it will link abortion services to the European Social Fund Plus, thereby effectively enabling Member States to use EU funds to provide these services to women across the Union. While the Commission did not establish a new European right to abortion in a new law, it has effectively provided European budgetary support for abortion services for the first time. Continue reading >>
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21 October 2025
Rainbow Europe or Rainbow Washing?
A growing number of EU Member States have proposed or introduced legislation that directly targets LGBTIQA+ individuals. What a decade ago seemed to be Hungary’s isolated case is today a growing trend across the Union. Against this backdrop, the European Commission just published its new LGBTIQ+ Equality Strategy (2026-2030). In my view, however, this initiative represents a downgraded commitment of the European Commission towards the protection of Queer individuals. Continue reading >>
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19 June 2025
When Failure Succeeds and Success Fails
Despite its modest uptake since its inception in 2012, the European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) has become the subject of several cases before the Court of Justice of the EU. The ECI is the world's first and only instrument of direct transnational democracy, allowing a group of at least seven European citizens from seven different EU member states to request that the Union take new action. The growing legal challenges around successful but ineffective ECIs reflect a fundamental mismatch between constitutional recognition of participatory democracy and institutional realities. Continue reading >>
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