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Mental Health Europe - Santé Mentale Europe

MHE-SME

Mental Health Europe is a leading non-governmental network promoting mental health and the rights of people with psychosocial disabilities.

Lobbying Activity

Meeting with Maria Walsh (Member of the European Parliament)

16 Jan 2026 · Mental Health and Gender Equality

Meeting with Cecilia Strada (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur)

11 Dec 2025 · Exchange on mental health issues, with a gender-based focus and recommendations to improve the access to care

Meeting with Ana Carla Pereira (Director Justice and Consumers)

20 Nov 2025 · Courtesy meeting to present their work and new director

Meeting with Olivér Várhelyi (Commissioner) and

2 Oct 2025 · All pressing portfolio topics

Meeting with Tilly Metz (Member of the European Parliament) and Global Alliance of Mental Illness Advocacy Networks

2 Oct 2025 · Mental Health Intergroup

Meeting with Tilly Metz (Member of the European Parliament) and Global Alliance of Mental Illness Advocacy Networks

17 Sept 2025 · Mental Health Intergroup

Meeting with András Tivadar Kulja (Member of the European Parliament)

16 Sept 2025 · Mental health

Response to Technical specifications of the data sets for the 2027 ad hoc subject on 'Mental health and well-being'

2 Sept 2025

Mental Health Europe (MHE) is the main independent organisation working on mental health in Europe, with over 80 member organisations across 30 countries and more than 40 years of expertise advocating for the rights, inclusion, and well-being of people with psychosocial disabilities. We welcome the initiative to dedicate the 2027 EU-SILC ad hoc module to mental health and well-being, as robust, comparable data is crucial for shaping inclusive and equitable policies across Europe. MHE stresses the urgent need for a psychosocial and rights-based approach in EU-SILC. Mental health is shaped by social, economic, and environmental factors, including income and housing stability, access to community and green spaces, social inclusion, and trust in institutions. Current indicators do not fully capture these determinants, protective and risks factors, which are essential for understanding mental well-being in real-life contexts. A psychosocial approach would focus on recovery-oriented, human rights-based indicators, measuring autonomy, empowerment, coping strategies, social and community participation, non-coercive care, and protection against discrimination. Integrating these measures into EU-SILC would ensure the module reflects the lived realities of people with psychosocial disabilities, supports inclusive policies, and aligns with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the EU Disability Rights Strategy 20212030. MHE calls on the EU-SILC to adopt this approach, producing data that is holistic, actionable, and firmly grounded in human rights, and that can drive transformative and equitable change across Europe. See our recommendations attached.
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Response to Number and the title of the variables for the 2027 ad hoc subject 'Mental health and well-being'

2 Sept 2025

Mental Health Europe (MHE) is the main independent organisation working on mental health in Europe, with over 80 member organisations across 30 countries and more than 40 years of expertise advocating for the rights, inclusion, and well-being of people with psychosocial disabilities. We welcome the initiative to dedicate the 2027 EU-SILC ad hoc module to mental health and well-being, as robust, comparable data is crucial for shaping inclusive and equitable policies across Europe. MHE stresses the urgent need for a psychosocial and rights-based approach in EU-SILC. Mental health is shaped by social, economic, and environmental factors, including income and housing stability, access to community and green spaces, social inclusion, and trust in institutions. Current indicators do not fully capture these determinants, protective and risks factors, which are essential for understanding mental well-being in real-life contexts. A psychosocial approach would focus on recovery-oriented, human rights-based indicators, measuring autonomy, empowerment, coping strategies, social and community participation, non-coercive care, and protection against discrimination. Integrating these measures into EU-SILC would ensure the module reflects the lived realities of people with psychosocial disabilities, supports inclusive policies, and aligns with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the EU Disability Rights Strategy 20212030. MHE calls on the EU-SILC to adopt this approach, producing data that is holistic, actionable, and firmly grounded in human rights, and that can drive transformative and equitable change across Europe. See our recommendations attached.
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Response to The new Action Plan on the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights

18 Aug 2025

Mental Health Europe (MHE) is the main independent European network representing organisations, professionals, and people with lived experience in the field of mental health. Our recommendations for the new European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR) Action Plan stress the need to embed mental health at the core of EU social policy through a mental health-in-all-policies approach and the adoption of a dedicated EU Mental Health Strategy as a follow-up to the Comprehensive Approach to Mental Health. These priorities respond to the urgent need to act on mental health and the necessity of EU guidance to lift and coordinate members state response to this common challenge. At the EU level it will address the persistent fragmentation of policy responses, the lack of systematic consideration of mental health in non-health sectors, and the uneven implementation of the Pillars principles influencing mental health across Member States. While the EPSR has driven progress since 2017, mental health remains largely absent from key targets, indicators, and monitoring tools, and its socio-economic determinants are not consistently addressed. The next AP is an opportunity to change this and ensure that all EU social policy recognises the central role of mental well-being in achieving social cohesion, equality, and economic resilience. Our position (see attached policy brief for EMHW 2025- Care for mental health, invest in Social Rights) links the Pillars chapters to mental health and makes recommendations aligned with current and future EU initiatives. For instance, on equal opportunities, we call for strengthened equality strategies by explicitly addressing the links between discrimination and mental health, integration of mental health literacy into education and lifelong learning, and improved equality data collection, disaggregated by population groups. On fair working conditions, we urge the adoption of an Directive on psychosocial risks at work, better integration of mental health into the European Care Strategy and long-term care policies with targets and funding. On social protection and inclusion, we recommend embedding mental health in all social protection reforms, expanding support to groups outside the labour market such as informal carers and older people, and addressing the needs of persons with psychosocial disabilities through a strong deinstitutionalisation initiative, guidance on supported decision-making, recovery-oriented and community-based services that are aligned with the UNCRPD, and new inclusion indicators beyond employment gaps. We also propose stronger links between the EPSR and the European Health Union, mainstreaming mental health into the European Semester, Country Specific Recommendations, and the Social Scoreboard. This requires improved disaggregated data, mental health impact assessments for all non-health policies, and meaningful involvement of civil society through co-creation. Under the new action plan, member States should develop national, cross-sectoral mental health strategies aligned with EU action, covering areas such as employment, education, digitalisation, environment, and culture, and enforce anti-discrimination legislation. Public awareness, including through action such as the European Mental Health Week, should be supported and expanded to tackle stigma and strengthen collective responsibility for mental health. Overall, our proposal advocates for a rights-based, intersectional, and preventive approach to social policy, ensuring that mental health is both protected and promoted through all aspects of the EPSR, and that no one is left behind in building a fairer, healthier Europe. Placing mental health at the heart of the next EPSR Action Plan, through both a dedicated EU Strategy and a genuine mental health-in-all-policies approach, would ensure that social rights deliver for well-being, strengthen social cohesion, and generate lasting social and economic returns.
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Response to Anti-racism Strategy

4 Jul 2025

Mental Health Europe welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the European Commissions call for evidence on the forthcoming EU Anti-Racism Strategy 20262030. As a leading European NGO working to promote positive mental health, protect human rights, and improve access to rights-based, person-centred mental health care, we urge the Commission to give greater attention to the intersection between racism and mental health. Mental health remains an overlooked but vital component of racial justice. Racialised communities in Europe are disproportionately exposed to individual and structural forms of racism, which have a direct and damaging impact on mental health. This was noted in our 2024 report The Mental Health Impacts of Racial Discrimination,available on Mental Health Europe's website, which underscored that from chronic stress and trauma to reduced access to support services, the cumulative effects of racism are a clear determinant of mental health issues. Addressing these effects must be a core ambition of the EUs future Anti-Racism Strategy. Despite some progress made through the current EU Anti-Racism Action Plan, mental health has not been sufficiently integrated into policy or practice. This omission has real consequences for racialised people who continue to face institutional barriers to mental health care, often compounded by poverty, insecure residence status, and discriminatory legal and healthcare frameworks. We call for the upcoming strategy to take a more holistic and inclusive approach that recognises mental health as a key equality issue: 1. Develop an intersectional EU Mental Health Strategy, with concrete targets, a timeline, and budget. Support national strategies on anti-racism and mental health policies with an intersectional lens 2. Integrate mental health explicitly into the EU Anti-Racism Strategy, recognising racial discrimination as a determinant of mental health and including actions to address it 3.Develop anti-discrimination laws reinstate or replace the Race Equality Directive with a comprehensive, intersectional legislative proposal, to combat discrimination and inequalities based on race and ethnicity 4.Standardise and harmonise equality data collection disaggregated by race, ethnicity, gender, disability, and other relevant indicators, while respecting fundamental rights and data privacy 5. Ensure culturally competent mental health services, including community-based and non-medicalised approaches tailored to racialised communities 6.Ensure the meaningful participation of racialised communities and civil society in design, implementation, and monitoring of all anti-racism and mental health initiatives (including experts by experience). 7.Ensure EU funding mechanisms support anti-racism and mental health initiatives equally across Member States 8.Breaking stigma and end discrimination More detailed recommendations are attached.
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Meeting with Tilly Metz (Member of the European Parliament)

10 Apr 2025 · Mental Health Intergroup

Meeting with Adam Jarubas (Member of the European Parliament, Committee chair)

24 Jan 2025 · Mental Health Europe

Meeting with Alex Agius Saliba (Member of the European Parliament)

28 Oct 2024 · On the creation of Mental Health Intergroup at the European Parliament

Meeting with Per Clausen (Member of the European Parliament)

16 Oct 2024 · Mental Health Policies in Europe

Meeting with Tilly Metz (Member of the European Parliament) and Global Alliance of Mental Illness Advocacy Networks

14 Oct 2024 · Mental health intergroup

Meeting with Marko Vešligaj (Member of the European Parliament)

2 Oct 2024 · Mental health policies with a gender perspective

Meeting with Tilly Metz (Member of the European Parliament)

30 Sept 2024 · mental health intergroup

Meeting with Alex Agius Saliba (Member of the European Parliament)

30 Sept 2024 · On the creation of Mental Health Intergroup at the European Parliament

Meeting with Vytenis Povilas Andriukaitis (Member of the European Parliament)

24 Sept 2024 · EU Health Policy

Meeting with Alex Agius Saliba (Member of the European Parliament)

23 Sept 2024 · On the creation of Mental Health Intergroup at the European Parliament

Meeting with Alex Agius Saliba (Member of the European Parliament)

9 Sept 2024 · On the creation of Mental Health Intergroup at the European Parliament

Meeting with Per Clausen (Member of the European Parliament)

5 Sept 2024 · meeting on mental health legislation in the upcoming term

Meeting with Catherine Amalric (Member of the European Parliament) and European Brain Council and

18 Mar 2024 · Renew Europe Workshop on Healthcare in Europe and the patient-centric approach

Meeting with Sara Cerdas (Member of the European Parliament, Rapporteur) and Wellcome Trust

31 Aug 2023 · Saúde Mental

Meeting with Sara Cerdas (Member of the European Parliament, Rapporteur)

20 Jun 2023 · Saúde Mental

Meeting with István Ujhelyi (Member of the European Parliament)

14 Jun 2023 · Mental Health

Meeting with Daphne Von Buxhoeveden (Cabinet of Commissioner Stella Kyriakides), Panayiotis Pourgourides (Cabinet of Commissioner Stella Kyriakides)

30 May 2023 · mental health initiative

Meeting with Margaritis Schinas (Vice-President) and

25 Apr 2023 · Eu role in mental health

Meeting with Tilly Metz (Member of the European Parliament) and EUROPEAN TRADE UNION CONFEDERATION and

16 Feb 2023 · Stakeholder Exchange on COVID

EP Mental Health Coalition urges comprehensive European mental health strategy

15 Feb 2023
Topic — This initiative explores how the EU can address mental health challenges through policy.
Message — The coalition proposes a European Mental Health Strategy with a dedicated budget and a new fund for member states. They advocate for a psychosocial model that addresses structural barriers instead of just individual resilience. They also call for co-creating policies alongside people with lived experience and key stakeholders.123
Why — A dedicated fund would provide significant financial resources for community-based mental health services.4
Impact — Member states could lose funding if they fail to meet new standards.5
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Meeting with Stella Kyriakides (Commissioner)

6 Dec 2022 · EU policies and initiatives on mental health

Meeting with Marion Finke (Cabinet of Vice-President Dubravka Šuica)

5 Dec 2022 · Mental Health and wellbeing Possible cooperation during the Week of Mental Health in May 2023

Meeting with Helena Dalli (Commissioner) and

29 Nov 2022 · Discussed issues related to mental health and psychosocial disabilities including independent living and deinstitutionalisation, supported decision-making and Commission priorities for next year.

Meeting with Stella Kyriakides (Commissioner)

24 Jan 2022 · Video-conference on mental health

Response to Proposal for a Regulation - Migration and Home Affairs

27 Jan 2021

Mental Health Europe (MHE) is a European non-governmental network organisation committed to the promotion of positive mental health, the prevention of mental distress, the improvement of care, advocacy for social inclusion and the protection of the rights of (ex)users of mental health services, persons with psychosocial disabilities, their families and carers. Next to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD) includes further relevant obligations. Article 11 of the UN CRPD requires countries to ensure the protection and safety of people with disabilities, including psychosocial disabilities, in situations of risk, e.g. situations of armed conflict, humanitarian emergencies, and natural disasters. The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has also addressed the fact that the EU has failed to take a human rights-based approach to its migration policies. It recommended the EU to ‘mainstream disability in its migration and refugee policies (...) and also recommended that the European Union issues guidelines to its agencies and Member States that restrictive detention of persons with disabilities in the context of migration and asylum-seeking is not in line with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities’. This proposal raises some particular concerns for persons with mental health problems and persons with psychosocial disabilities. While its introductory remarks reaffirm the commitment to fully take into account “the rights of the child and the special needs of vulnerable persons, by providing timely and adequate support in view of their physical and mental health” the rollout of the proposal seems to render this obligation unfeasible. Rather than respecting the human right to health, including mental health support, the proposal seems to prioritize management and security concerns over potential vulnerabilities of third-country nationals. While the screening should guarantee a standard of living complying with the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, including access to emergency health care, authorities should pay “particular attention (…) to individuals with vulnerabilities, such as (…) persons with an immediately identifiable physical or mental disability.” However, persons with disabilities, including persons with mental health problems, are diverse. To request authorities to make examinations upon mere observation of “immediately identifiable disability” frankly ignores the diversity amongst persons with disabilities and de facto discriminates persons with disabilities. It reintroduces a medical understanding of disability and mental health which does not comply with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD) and international standards. Article 9 (1) includes a “preliminary medical examination with a view to identifying any needs for immediate care or isolation on public health grounds”. Furthermore, Article 9 (4) of the proposal states that "wherever deemed necessary based on the circumstances, third-country nationals submitted to the screening referred to in Article 5 shall be subject to a preliminary medical examination, notably to identify any medical condition requiring immediate care, special assistance or isolation”. While deemed necessary based on the circumstances raises questions of interpretation, for example the nature of circumstances, the provision could become problematic when isolation is justified on the basis of mental health as a medical condition. MHE would reiterate that isolating persons on the basis of mental health problems, often against their will and consent, constitutes a violation of the UN CRPD, in particular Articles 14, 15, 16, 17 and 19. Instead, mental health support services should be available that guarantee the right to live in the community on an equal basis with others.
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Meeting with Nicolas Schmit (Commissioner) and

14 Dec 2020 · Meeting on the European Disability Strategy.

Response to Union of Equality: European Disability Rights Strategy

10 Nov 2020

Mental Health Europe (MHE) is the largest European independent network organization representing mental health users, their families and carers, health professionals, volunteers, and service providers across Europe. For 35 years MHE has been actively promoting mental health and advocating for the protection of the rights of people with mental health problems. We have developed comprehensive programs to combat social exclusion, stigma and prejudices that people with mental health problems often face and supported the development of quality human rights-based community services. Mental Health Europe is a member of the European Disability Forum (EDF). MHE’s work is underlined and guided by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD), which states that people with disabilities, including people with psychosocial disabilities, must fully enjoy their human rights. As part of our work, we monitor and provide expert advice on the implementation of the UN CRPD by the EU. It is crucial that European policies reflect and respect the obligations to which the EU committed when it ratified the UN CRPD in 2010 and the subsequent recommendations it received from the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. As a member of EDF, MHE endorses the recommendations made by EDF. It supports the notion that the EU has the ability to be a leading driver to the full realisation of the UN CRPD, aligning with EU treaties and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In order to be ambitious yet realistic, the strategy should be comprehensive and include clear objectives, timelines, resource allocation, a governance and accountability mechanism, and should be equipped with sufficient budgeting. Full participation of persons with disabilities and their representative organisations, including persons with psychosocial disabilities, needs to be ensured throughout the implementation up to the evaluation of the strategy. In the supporting document, MHE summarizes key recommendations on the EU`s role in addressing the situations of persons with psychosocial disabilities to ensure their rights being enjoyed on an equal basis with others. Key areas include: - Education and Employment -Deinstitutionalisation and Independent Living -Equality and non-discrimination, in particular - Legal Capacity - Access to Justice, and -Further civil rights under Articles 14-16 UN CRPD – ending coercion in the EU -Humanitarian Action
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Meeting with Helena Dalli (Commissioner)

21 Apr 2020 · Mental health and disability issues

Response to Gender equality in the EU

10 Feb 2020

Mental Health Europe (MHE) is a European non-governmental network organisation committed to the promotion of positive mental health and the protection of the rights of (ex)users of mental health services, persons with psychosocial disabilities, their families and carers. MHE welcomes the roadmap for the European Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2024 as the Strategy, if ambitious and sufficiently resourced, has the potential to improve the rights of women and girls with psychosocial disabilities in the EU. Gender is a critical factor influencing mental health since it determines the ‘differential power and control men and women have over the socioeconomic determinants of their mental health and lives, their social position, status and treatment in society and their susceptibility and exposure to specific mental health risks’ (WHO). In line with MHE’s previous submission, MHE recommends the Strategy to be based on rights set out in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with disabilities to which the EU and all its member states are party. It should implement the 2015 Concluding Observations from the CRPD Committee to the EU among which (1) the mainstreaming of a women and girls with disabilities perspective in its forthcoming gender equality strategy, policies and programmes, and a gender perspective in its disability strategies, as well as (2) the Accession to the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention). MHE further recommends the EU to specifically address: -social determinants of mental health such as housing, employment and education, and providing women an equal access to community-based services, including mental health services; -the promotion of positive mental health and wellbeing of women through work-life balance measures that ensure that women and men become equal-earners-equal-carers throughout their lives. In this respect, the transposition of the 2019 European Work-life Balance Directive is of key importance, and needs to be supported by adequate budgetary and informational measures from the EU; - the inclusion in the labour market of women with psychosocial disabilities, and the need to provide them with reasonable accommodations as set out in the CRPD; -the particular vulnerability of migrant women and their risk of experiencing mental distress, as for example climate refugees.
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Response to European Disability Strategy (2010-2020) – evaluation

26 Oct 2018

Mental Health Europe (MHE) is a European non-governmental network organisation committed to the promotion of positive mental health, the prevention of mental distress, the improvement of care, advocacy for social inclusion and the protection of the rights of (ex)users of mental health services, persons with psychosocial disabilities, their families and carers. MHE welcomes the evaluation roadmap for the European Disability strategy 2010-2020 (EDS), allowing for timely feedback and effective participation of all stakeholders in consultation activities regarding the EDS. The open online public consultation complemented by targeted consultations, should give relevant stakeholders, in particular persons with psychosocial disabilities and their representative organisations, the opportunity to provide for in-depth feedback through interviews and meetings. MHE calls for an evaluative review which examines how the EDS and its actions address the needs of and barriers faced by persons with psychosocial disabilities in Europe. This would allow MHE, as well as its members, to evaluate the impact of the EDS on the ground in Member States, and how such impact can be monitored in the future. A comprehensive evaluation of the EDS should fully reflect developments since its adoption, including the recommendations received by the EU from the CRPD Committee, the implementation of the Social Pillar of Rights and the European Framework for Action on Mental Health and Wellbeing. MHE emphasizes the need for the consultation to be in accordance with accessibility requirements for all persons with disabilities. In addition, when developing the online consultation, persons with disabilities should be consulted on the drafting of the questionnaire. This will ensure that the right questions are asked and that more space is given to adequately respond to such an important review process. MHE looks forward contributing to the evaluation of the 2010-2020 Strategy and to building the future European Disability Strategy post 2020.
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