On 8 and 9 October 2025, the European Network on Independent Living (ENIL) took part in the kick-off meeting of the StratAGEic Project, a new EU-funded initiative aiming to tackle ageism and promote the use of strategic litigation and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights in protecting the rights of older people.
The meeting, hosted in Brussels by project coordinator AGE Platform Europe, brought together partners from across the EU to plan the next steps. The consortium includes APRe! from Portugal, Bonum Vitae Foundation from Poland, Cyprus Third Age Observatory (CTAO), People Behind from Greece, and ENIL.
ENIL contributes to the project as a European-level partner with a particular focus on strategic litigation and capacity-building. During the first day of the meeting, ENIL’s Project Coordinator, Adela Santos Lavigne, introduced the concept of strategic litigation and how it is becoming an increasingly central part of ENIL’s work. Drawing on cases such as Kiss v. Hungary, Stanev v. Bulgaria, and Espoo v. Finland, she explained how legal action can be used not only to solve individual cases, but also to expose systemic issues, influence policy, and create lasting change.
Her presentation also made connections between disability and ageing, showing how older persons with disabilities often sit at the intersection of multiple forms of discrimination. When combined with activism and policy work, strategic litigation offers a way to challenge exclusion in areas like healthcare, housing, and independent living — and to give full effect to the rights guaranteed by the Charter.
The second day of the meeting focused on defining each partner’s role. ENIL leads the project’s work on knowledge transfer, which will involve developing training materials and peer-learning activities to support legal professionals, human rights defenders, and community organisations. The goal is to equip more people with the tools to use the Charter in practice — especially through litigation and legal advocacy.
ENIL will also coordinate the creation of accessible materials in plain language and Easy-to-Read formats, to ensure that the project’s outputs can truly reach and empower those most affected by age-based discrimination. These resources will help guarantee that the three key actors in this process — civil society organisations, older persons themselves, and legal professionals — can engage meaningfully and confidently throughout the project.
ENIL’s journey into strategic litigation began the T-613/19 case, a legal action brought by ENIL, Validity Foundation and CIL Sofia concerning the use of EU funds to support institutional settings. While the case was ultimately dismissed, it marked a turning point in ENIL’s strategy and helped inspire further initiatives and partnerships like the LITI-GATE project and the FURI project, aimed at monitoring EU fund allocations.
The StratAGEic project will run until the end of September 2027. In the coming months, partners will begin national research and mapping activities, while ENIL prepares to launch the first phase of its training programme.
ENIL is proud to help bring the ageing and disability movements closer together — building stronger alliances and ensuring that the rights of older persons are not only recognised, but enforced.
