European Expert Group on the transition from institutions to community-based support

The European Expert Group on the transition from institutions to community-based support is a coalition of organisations advocating to replace institutionalisation with family- and community-based support.

The EEG consists of organisations, representing:

  • Children and their families;
  • People with disabilities and their families;
  • People experiencing homelessness;
  • People experiencing mental health problems;
  • Service providers;
  • Public authorities;
  • UN organisations

The EEG works at the EU-level to advocate for the transition from institutions to community-based support (deinstitutionalisation).

We focus on the use of EU funds and their role in facilitating the transitions.

The EEG:

What we do

The EEG advocates to replace institutionalisation with family- and community-based support. The EEG reminds the EU and member states of their obligation to stop funding and to replace institutionalisation with family- and community-based support; based on:

  • United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities,
  • United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
  • The UN Guidelines on the Use and Conditions of Alternative Care for Children
  • European Fundamental Rights Charter.

The EEG provides expertise on the transition from institutionalisation to family- and community-based support. We focus on how EU funding, law and policy should be used to facilitate the transition:

  • no spending on institutionalisation;
  • resources available to expand capacity and quality of family- and community-based support;
  • resources available to facilitate access to housing, early child care, inclusive education and accessible general public services and built environment;
  • resources available for monitoring of reforms at national level.

The EEG facilitates development of quality family- and community-based support; by quality we mean support that is:

  • respecting human rights of all people with care or support needs;
  • person-centred;

EEG page on LinkedIn.

EEG history

The European Expert Group on the transition from institutions to community-based support, formerly known as the Ad Hoc Expert Group on the transition from institutional to community-based care, was convened in February 2009 by the then European Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs Vladimir Špidla in order to address the issues of institutional care reform in the European Union.

EEG members come together because we believe institutionalisation of people must end.

Institutional is any residential care where:

  • residents are isolated from the broader community and/or compelled to live together;
  • residents do not have enough control over their lives and over decisions which affect them;
  • and requirements of the organisation itself tend to take precedence over the residents’ individual needs.

First convened in 2009, the EEG is a broad coalition gathering stakeholders representing people with care or support needs including children, people with disabilities, people experiencing mental health problems, families, people experiencing homelessness; as well as service providers, public authorities and intergovernmental organisations.