A right that stops at the border
Only a handful of EU countries allow an assisted death. Cross a frontier and the right can vanish overnight.
A European petition · 2026
Voluntary assisted dying as a fundamental human right in the EU
The petition
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.
Why it matters
Only a handful of EU countries allow an assisted death. Cross a frontier and the right can vanish overnight.
Facing the end on your own terms — with strong safeguards, never coercion — should belong to you.
Where the law forbids it, people are left to endure — or to die alone, far from home.
Four measures to make a dignified death a right across the Union — not a lottery of geography.
Include the right to voluntary assisted dying in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.
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.
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.
Convene a European Citizens’ Assembly, chosen by sortition, to debate and propose European measures on the right to die in a dignified way.
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.”
38 organisations across 21 countries stand behind this petition.
Add your name
Add your voice to the petition. Every name brings a dignified death closer for 450 million Europeans.
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Your signature is one step closer to a dignified death as a right across the Union. Share it — every name counts.