POLICY BRIEFING – European Commission’s Second LGBTIQ Equality Strategy 2026–2030: A Call for Ambition, Enforcement and Inclusion

Policy briefing prepared by the LGBTIQ+ Intergroup, European Parliament 
Date: 10 October 2025 

Summary 

The European Commission’s new LGBTIQ Equality Strategy (2026–2030) marks an important step in the EU’s commitment to protect and empower LGBTIQ+ communities. While the Strategy outlines promising initiatives – including possible legislative plans on online hate crimes and increased civil society funding already promised in July – it falls short of the ambition and concrete action necessary to meet the urgent challenges facing LGBTIQ+ people across Europe today. 

The LGBTIQ+ Intergroup, alongside key civil society partners such as ILGA-Europe, TGEU, OII Europe, EL*C, and Forbidden Colours calls for the Commission to bridge the gap between rhetoric and enforcement. The Strategy must move beyond soft coordination and vague promises to implement firm legal action, robust countermeasures against anti-rights actors, and meaningful intersectional policies, particularly addressing the rights of trans and intersex people, as well as LBTIQ women. 

Context 

Since the first EU LGBTIQ Equality Strategy (2020–2025), which made landmark advances including recognizing LBTIQ women’s rights, conditions for many in the LGBTIQ+ community have deteriorated. Several Member States continue to violate fundamental rights, threatening the very foundations of democracy, rule of law, and equality in the EU. 

Amid escalating attacks, including bans on Pride marches in Hungary and Slovakia, rising anti-rights propaganda, and social exclusion, the Commission’s role as guardian of the Treaties is more critical than ever. However, the current Strategy largely relies on soft policy tools without clear, immediate enforcement mechanisms or plans to counter organised anti-rights movements embedded within EU societies. 

Positive aspects 

• Given the absence of progress on a Council Decision to include hate speech and hate crime in the list of ‘EU crimes’ under Article 83(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), the Commission is considering a legislative initiative based on the existing areas of crime covered by Article 83(1) of TFEU to harmonise the definition of hate offences committed online. 
• Recognition and commitment to uphold the right to peaceful assembly, as it was only mentioned as a Member State competence in the previous Strategy 
• Doubling of funding for civil society organisations through the new Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), increasing support to €3.6 billion via the AGORA programme, as announced already in July.
• Explicit engagement with intersectionality and commitment to LBTIQ women and vulnerable groups, acknowledging diverse experiences within the community. 
• To help Member States ban conversion practices, the Commission will publish a study analysing the nature, prevalence and impact of these practices on LGBTIQ+ people. 
• Acknowledgement that anti-gender narratives and anti-LGBTIQ rhetoric are often part of foreign funded dis- and misinformation campaigns.

Concerns 

• Weak enforcement: Lack of concrete commitments to use infringement procedures or apply rule of conditionalities promptly against Member States violating LGBTIQ+ rights, including ongoing Pride bans in Hungary and elsewhere. Difficult to appreciate the commitment to the right of peaceful assembly in a context where no further steps have been taken and the amendment to the Hungarian Assembly Law is still active. 
• Insufficient focus on trans and intersex rights: Trans and intersex people are mentioned only briefly, with no clear roadmap or actionable measures to fully protect their fundamental rights or improve their lived experience. 
• Failure to counter anti-rights movements: Absence of a comprehensive EU plan to identify, monitor, and dismantle anti-rights actors both within and outside the Union. In addition, the Strategy does not contain counter-disinformation strategies specifically targeting anti-LGBTIQ narratives. 
• Vague intersectionality commitments: References to intersectionality lack translation into tangible, targeted policies that address multiple, overlapping forms of discrimination. The Strategy does not address algorithmic bias or intersectional barriers in socio-economic aspects. 
• No intersex study follow-up: The first Strategy promised an EU-wide study on intersex human rights, but it was never completed. The new Strategy makes no reference to follow through. 
• No concrete follow-up on conversion practices: The Commission failed to propose concrete action and tools to end conversion practices, such as Commission Recommendations. 
• No clear enforcement plan: The Strategy lacks a clear enforcement plan or automatic response mechanism when Member States ban or restrict Pride marches or LGBTIQ+ events. 
• No detailed action plan on:
  • Legal gender recognition based on self-determination; 
  • Protection of bodily autonomy of intersex people; 
  • Addressing administrative, healthcare and legal discrimination. 
• No legislative initiative on algorithmic discrimination: While the Strategy references the AI Act and online hate, there is no new legislative initiative to address algorithmic bias against LGBTIQ+ people. 

Recommendations

1. Systematic and timely legal action: The Commission must fulfill its role as guardian of the Treaties by promptly launching infringement procedures and legal measures against Member States infringing on LGBTIQ+ rights, particularly regarding freedom of assembly and hate crime enforcement. 
2. Robust plan to counter anti-rights movements: Establish and fund comprehensive monitoring and countermeasures to combat anti-rights actors embedded across EU Member States, addressing the intersection of democracy, rule of law, and fundamental rights. 
3. Intersectional implementation: Translate intersectionality into clear, actionable policies that prioritize the lived realities of trans, intersex, and LBTIQ women, including socio-economic empowerment, violence prevention, and increased visibility. 
4. Enhance external action: Integrate LGBTIQ+ equality, with a focus on community’s most vulnerable groups, into the EU’s external human rights and democracy policies. 
5. End conversion practices: Publish Commission Recommendations on ending conversion practices. 
6. Intersex study: Publish the promised EU-wide study on intersex human rights. 
7. Deliver on outstanding commitments: Complete all unfulfilled actions from the previous Strategy, including intersex rights studies and follow-up on ending conversion practices. 
8. Legislative follow-through: Develop clear legislative proposals to address online hate and algorithmic bias with meaningful engagement from LGBTIQ+ communities. 

Conclusion 

The LGBTIQ+ Intergroup welcomes the European Commission’s renewed commitment and positive steps within the new Strategy. However, it must evolve beyond declarative language and partial measures to fully meet the moment’s demands. The escalating threats to LGBTIQ+ communities require political courage, enforceable action, and an intersectional, inclusive approach. The Intergroup stands ready to collaborate with the Commission and Member States to ensure the Strategy translates into real protection, empowerment, and equality for all LGBTIQ+ people in Europe. 

The European Commission’s second LGBTIQ Equality Strategy can be found here.