As Greens, we want to build a world where we all live free from violence, racism, sexism, queerphobia and coercion. We fight for a world where we get to decide over our bodies, where we can love who we want to love, and where racial justice becomes a reality at last. This world is possible, and we will not stop fighting for it. The harder the attacks, the more convinced, compassionate, and determined we will be.
Equal rights for all
We fight for equal rights for all. This is why we want the Charter of Fundamental Rights to be directly applicable to European citizens and fundamental rights to be direct EU competences.
We call for an overall assessment of the EU Anti-Discrimination framework, acknowledging the need for an intersectional and comprehensive approach. To effectively counter discrimination against racialized communities and ensure equal rights and treatment for all, the Horizontal Anti-discrimination Directive needs a major update. It has been 15 years since it was first introduced.
Smash patriarchy!
Women are not all the same and understanding their diversity is key to fighting inequality and discrimination.
A feminist Europe must guarantee policies that ensure financial independence for women, notably by abolishing tax regimes that discriminate against women and ending the gender pay gap via binding measures for companies and public authorities.
We demand universal and equal access to childcare. We call for the revision of the Work Life Balance Directive and the Maternity Leave Directive to advance towards fully paid maternity and paternity leaves of equal length.
Gender mainstreaming must make sure that European money benefits men and women equally. We defend a binding parity mechanism for the lists in the European elections and gender balance in EU decision-making, including for the top jobs. The EU Commission and the Council need specific portfolios for women’s rights and gender equality.
Our body, our rights!
We fight to expand reproductive freedom. Sexual and reproductive health and rights, including the right to safe abortion, are fundamental rights. They belong in the EU treaties – as core principles and competences of the EU and in the directly applicable Charter of Fundamental Rights. Safe and legal abortion must be available in all EU member states. Abortion care is an essential health service.
We stand up against the devastating regression on reproductive rights all over the world. No one should be criminalized for seeking or accessing abortion services. Women must have access to medical abortions. As Greens, we advocate the provision of free, high-quality contraceptives for all. Young people have the right to comprehensive sexuality education.
End gender-based violence
All women and girls across Europe, including those marginalized on the grounds of race, gender, gender identity, age, sexual characteristics, sexual orientation, disability, class or migration status have the right to live a life free from violence. Gender-based violence is a brutal human rights violation and an expression of unequal power relations in our societies.
We continue our unswerving fight for comprehensive EU legislation that prevents, responds to, and ends gender-based violence online and offline across the EU and addresses it from an intersectional and structural perspective. Greens emphasize the role of communities in harm prevention and strengthening victims’ rights with specialized support, access to justice, and protection for victims with special attention to marginalized communities. All EU member states must ratify the Istanbul Convention. The EU should add gender-based violence to the list of EU crimes.
Pride, respect and equality for LGBTQIA+
A renewed LGBTQIA+ Equality Strategy should ensure that trans, intersex, and non-binary people are also protected under the EU legal framework, closing legislative gaps in the areas of non-discrimination and hate crime. We want to end intersex genital mutilation. We push for legal gender recognition based on self-determination and access to trans-specific healthcare. The European Union should act politically for an EU-wide ban on so-called “conversion therapy” and forced sterilization of transgender people. Rainbow families and their rights must be protected in all of the EU, including the full application of the freedom of movement with no loss of rights.
Fight racism and exclusion
Racism in Europe is not just a problem of individual attitudes, it is a structural and systemic challenge that must be addressed as such. Racial justice should be mainstreamed in all EU policies, based on meaningful participation of all ethnic and racialized communities to ensure their lived experiences are considered.
Antisemitism and anti-Muslim racism are on the rise. The EU must be safe for everybody to live. We will protect Jewish and Muslim communities and demand an end to all forms of discrimination.
We will ensure that the EU Action Plan Against Racism is implemented, and work towards its renewal for 2025 with appropriate funding and a civil society advisory body. National Action Plans must be mandatory for all member states.
It is a democratic problem that 96% of Members of the European Parliament are white. As Greens, we work towards having candidates from racialized communities on electable spots. We actively encourage racialized and ethnic-minoritized Greens to run for the European Parliament.
Young voices matter: more rights, more representation
We fight for votes from 16 for all elections in Europe and the right to stand as a candidate from 18, starting with the European elections. As European Greens, we work towards having young candidates in electable spots on party lists.
EU legislation must work for young people. The European Union needs to support the adoption of an International Convention on the Rights of Young People. Consultation methods such as annual dialogues with youth representative organizations and youth citizens’ agora should be institutionalized and legislative impact assessments should systematically include young people. EU funds must properly finance youth organizations.
No to ageism
Age must not be a barrier to a full and active life, but too often older people are held back by aged-based discrimination and exclusion. Older people are among the social groups most at risk of poverty as well as digital exclusion. As Greens, we will take a stand against ageism in European policies. Very old people make up the fastest growing demographic in Europe and we need to be resilient. We support measures that promote the inclusion of older people and their participation in policy matters, such joining the WHO’s Global Network of Age-friendly Cities and Communities.
We demand fair pensions for all seniors in the EU. This also includes securing freedom of movement for people on guaranteed income pensions so they can access their pensions wherever they live in the EU. We want poverty-proof pensions for all seniors in the EU from the age of retirement. At the same time, we encourage approaches that allow periods of transition between learning, working, family care, periods of unemployment, free time and retirement across different stages of an individual’s life.
We want strong care services that benefit the wellbeing of people with long-term care needs, as well as their families and communities. Intergenerational justice is not just a concept: exchange between generations should be anchored in our educational systems, and also more broadly in community activities.
For a Europe that is accessible for all
People with disabilities in the European Union must be able to pursue a full participation in political, social, and public life, including employment. We will push for the effective monitoring and enforcement of European accessibility legislation and the introduction of Disability Card recognized across the EU. The EU should begin collecting disaggregated data by gender, age, and type of disability to assess the impact of EU policies and monitor progress on the inclusion of people with disabilities generally.