PAREA – Press Release: Celebrating the co-launch of new MEP AG and the PsychedeliCare Initiative at the European Parliament

Yesterday, February 6, we partnered with PsychedeliCare at the European Parliament to co-launch their European Citizen’s Initiative and our re-established MEP Action Group on Psychedelics in Healthcare, focused on driving policy change towards evidence-based mental health innovation.

With impactful opening and closing by host MEP Tilly Metz (Greens/EFA) and co-host MEP Tomislav Sokol (EPP), there were presentations covering the background and latest research on psychedelic therapies, and an impactful testimonial by a patient having undergone LSD therapy after being diagnosed with cancer. PAREA was well represented, with our Treasurer Frédéric Destrebecq as moderator and team member Francisca Silva presenting on unmet medical needs in mental health and the PsyPal project.

In addition to re-launching PAREA’s MEP Action Group on Psychedelics in Healthcare, the event marked the beginning of PsychedeliCare’s year-long campaign to collect one million signatures to bring their calls for advancing psychedelic therapies to the European Commission. These include the development of standards of care for psychedelic therapies in Europe, the enhancement of EU-funded research on the therapeutic application of psychedelics, and the adoption of pragmatic positions on the global scheduling of these substances.

You can add your signature to the PsychedeliCare Initiative here. Together, we will continue to generate awareness and build momentum for innovative and science-based mental health approaches in the EU.

During the week of February 3rd in Brussels, we held several policy meetings to further the conversation on psychedelic research and innovation.

At the European Commission, we engaged with the Director General for Research, who oversees the €100 billion Horizon Europe programme, already supporting psychedelic research. We met with the Unit Combatting Disease team, including Head of Unit Kasia Jurczak, Deputy Head Petra Goyens, and colleagues Alessandra Martini, Tim Raemaekers, and Nika Merkus. The discussions highlighted the Commission’s openness to better understanding the therapeutic potential of psychedelics. We explored how Europe compares to the U.S. in this field and examined how public funding could accelerate the adoption of psychedelic-assisted therapies in the EU.

In the European Parliament, we had productive meetings with Polish MEPs Bogdan Zdrojewski and Dariusz Joński, who expressed genuine interest in supporting psychedelic research.