On 24 February, a group of more than 30 eminent legal scholars from across the European Union issued an open letter calling on the European Commission to respond positively and decisively to the European Citizens’ Initiative My Voice, My Choice. The signatories include leading experts in EU law, constitutional law and international human rights law.

In their letter, the scholars urge the Commission to commit to a concrete legislative proposal establishing EU financial support to ensure access to safe and legal abortion care within the EU. They emphasise that such action would be consistent with the EU’s legal competences and necessary to address persistent barriers and cross-border inequalities that continue to affect women’s health, rights and dignity.

---

Dear President von der Leyen,

Dear Commissioner Lahbib,

We are writing as European Union lawyers, legal scholars and experts, ahead of the European Commission communication on the European Citizens’ Initiative My Voice, My Choice. We consider that the initiative proposes a concrete and legally sound way for the European Union to address critical obstacles faced by women across the European Union in accessing essential healthcare, while respecting the EU’s limited supportive competence in the area of health. We strongly encourage you to issue a positive decision in response to this initiative.

As noted in the Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2024/1158 on the registration of the initiative, the EU may lawfully exercise its competence to establish a cross-border abortion financing mechanism. Such a mechanism is legally feasible within the scope of the Treaties provided it respects the supportive competence and the limits set out in Articles 168(5) and 168(7) TFEU.

A cross-border abortion financing mechanism would serve to protect and improve human health of many EU inhabitants by addressing urgent cross-border health care needs that current EU law on cross-border healthcare does not adequately cover. It would support Member States that provide safe and legal abortion care to patients from other Member States, thereby advancing women’s dignity, equality and human rights and public health across the EU.

The principle of free movement of services safeguards the freedom to receive lawful health services in another Member State. Any limitations arising from Article 168(7) TFEU must be applied consistently against this principle. The EU can design a financing mechanism that neither seeks to or has as its effect the harmonisation of abortion laws nor interferes with the organisation of national healthcare systems. Such a mechanism would remain within the scope of the limitations placed on the EU’s supporting competence and would offer clear added-value.

The participation of Member States would be voluntary, in respect for the allocation of competence under the Treaties. The mechanism could establish a common framework for coordination and financing among participating Member States. On the basis of neutral, pre-defined eligibility criteria set by the European Commission, participating Member States could access dedicated funding to cover the provision of abortion care to cross-border patients. By directing funding to participating Member States to ensure the delivery of abortion care to cross-border patients by existing providers, under applicable national rules, and as part of the ordinary health system of the treating Member State, this approach would respect the bounds of the limited EU competence in Article 168(5) and 168(7) TFEU. The prospective allocation of funds would ensure predictability, while reporting and accountability requirements would align with standard EU budgetary rules.

The Commission’s response to the initiative presents a critical opportunity to demonstrate responsiveness to over one million citizens, and to heed the European Parliament’s calls for EU action on a persistent cross-border health challenge.

The European Union has both the competence and the democratic mandate to propose a targeted proportional financing mechanism that complements and supports Member States’ efforts on reproductive health. Firmly grounded in the EU’s values of gender equality, public health, and the effective enjoyment of free movement, such a proposal would rest on a sound legal basis and send a clear message that the European Commission is prepared to act on urgent and ongoing cross-border women’s health challenges across the EU.

Sincerely,

Dr. Susanne Baer, LL.M. (Michigan), Professor of Law, Humboldt University Berlin

Dr. Susanne Beck, Professor of Law, Leibniz University Hanover

Dr. Stefanie Bock, Professor of Law, Marburg University

Dr. Ulrike Davy, Professor of Law, Bielefeld University

Prof. Gráinne de Búrca,  Professor of Law, European University Institute and New York University

Prof. Olivier de Frouville, Professor of International Law, Director of the Paris Center for Human Rights, Pantheon-Assas University

Dr. Fiona de Londras, Barber Professor of Jurisprudence, University of Birmingham, UK

Prof. Máiréad Enright, Professor of Law, Loughborough University, UK

Prof. Marina Eudes, Professor of International Law, University Paris Nanterre

Dr. Ruth Fletcher, Professor of Law, Queen Mary University of London, UK

Prof. Marie Fox, Queen Victoria Chair of Law, University of Liverpool, UK

Dr Mireia Garcés de Marcilla, Lecturer in Law, University of Liverpool

Dr. Barbara Havelková, Associate Professor of Law, Faculty of Law, University of Oxford

Dr. hab. Marta Kłopocka-Jasińska, Assistant Professor of Law, University of Wroclaw

Prof Ginevra Le Moli, European University Institute, Florence School of Régulation

Dr. Ruth Rubio Marin, Professor of Law, European University Institute and University of Seville

Prof. Sheelagh McGuinness, Professor of Law, University of Bristol Law School

Dr Siobhán Mullally, Established Professor of Human Rights Law and Director of the Irish Centre for Human Rights, University of Galway

Dr. Manfred Nowak, Professor of International Law and Human Rights, University of Vienna

Prof Aoife O’Donoghue, Professor of Law, Queen’s University Belfast

Jarna Petman, LL.D., Director of the Human Rights Centre of Finland (NHRI), Adjunct Professor of Law, University of Helsinki

Prof. Monika Płatek, Professor of Law, Head of Criminology Department, Warsaw University

Dr. Erol Pohlreich, Professor of Law, European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder)

Dr. Jana Schäfer-Kuczynski, Lawyer [FA medical law], Master of Medicine-Ethics-Law, Frankfurt am Main

Dr. Charlotte Schmitt-Leonardy, Professor of Law, Bielefeld University

Dr. hab. Katarzyna Sękowska-Kozłowska, Professor of Law, Director of Poznań Human Rights Centre, Polish Academy of Sciences

Dr. Anna Śledzińska-Simon, Professor of Law, University of Wrocław

Dr. Georgia Stefanopoulou, Professor of Law, BSP Business & Law School Berlin

Dr. Silvia Şuteu, Professor of Law, European University Institute (EUI)

Prof. Aleksandra Szczerba, Jacob of Paradies University in Gorzów Wielkopolski

Dr hab. Magdalena Tabernacka, Professor, University of Wrocław

Prof. Hélène Tigroudja, Professor at Aix-Marseille University

Dr. Dana-Sophia Valentiner, Professor of Law, Helmut Schmidt University Hamburg

Dr. Maria Wersig, Professor of Law, Hannover University of Applied Sciences and Arts

Dr. Liane Wörner, Professor of Law, Director of the Center for Human | Data | Society at the University of Konstanz