The European Commission wants to follow up on the citizens’ initiative aimed at banning conversion therapies that claim to “cure” homosexual or transgender people, but the road to achieving this is expected to be long, as a debate on the subject makes clear.

So far, only eight EU member states have banned conversion therapies – practices that seek to modify or suppress a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity and are widely condemned by medical authorities.

“There is nothing to cure. These therapies are based on a mistaken idea that people are sick. They are not. It is an attack on dignity,” said Irena Moozová from the Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers during a public hearing on Monday. She explained that the World Health Organization removed homosexuality from the list of diseases in 1990, and that Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has asked Commissioner Hadja Lahbib to combat conversion therapy.

A report by the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA), published in December, found that a quarter of LGBTQI+ people had been subjected to forms of this “therapy”.

The Commission launched a study last month to gather data and identify the most effective ways to address the issue raised by the citizens’ initiative, which gathered 1.25 million signatures. The results are not expected before the first quarter of 2027.

New directive vs treaty change

Several avenues are being considered to provide a legal follow-up to the initiative aimed at banning conversion therapies, but all have their drawbacks. One option could be a new directive on the matter.

Any directive would require the backing of EU countries, as health, sexual identity and reproductive rights fall under national authority. As with the recent abortion initiative, which received only limited follow-up from the Commission, resistance from some governments is likely.

“We must respect the competences of the member states, which have the power over health,” the Commission confirmed, adding: “If eight member states have banned these practices at present, this shows that it is possible.”

Francesco Stocco, one of the members behind the citizens’ initiative, said: “It should not be a divisive issue. Bans exist, to varying degrees, but that is not enough.”

In addition, members of the organisation behind the initiative are also considering pushing the Commission to amend the Treaties to include conversion therapies among the list of eurocrimes as defined in Article 83 TFEU, which sets out the particularly serious offences for which the EU may harmonise criminal law.

However, as MEP Lena Düpont (EPP, Germany) summed up, “this will take a lot of time.”

Discussions ongoing

Malta became the first EU country, in 2016, to ban conversion therapies. It was joined by Germany four years later, followed by France and Greece in 2022.

Spain and Belgium legislated on the issue in 2023, and Portugal and Cyprus followed suit the following year. Discussions are ongoing in several other EU countries, such as the Netherlands, where a bill was introduced in parliament in 2025.

While the scale of conversion therapies remains difficult to quantify, several cases have drawn attention across Europe in recent years. One of the most widely cited is the death of Layla Achichi in 2009 at the age of 18. She was found dead after being burned during an exorcism intended to change her sexual orientation.

(bms, aw)