Children could pick their own gender under new European Union proposals that would scrap age limits on legal recognition and outlaw therapies aimed at testing whether children really want to transition.

The proposals would introduce "self-identification", meaning people could change their legal gender by declaration alone — without medical, court, or age requirements — affecting official IDs, services, and cross-border recognition.

Member states that challenge gender ideology could be punished under the European Commission's "LGBTIQ+ Equality Strategy 2026-2030", including the blocking of funds from "discriminating regions", with the strategy also backing stronger equality bodies.

In a document released on Oct 8, the commission, which is the executive arm of the EU, states it will "support the development of legal gender recognition procedures based on self-determination that are free from age restrictions".

It adds: "Requirements for legal gender recognition vary significantly across member states. While a number of member states have adopted self-identification models, others impose medical procedures, which the European Court of Human Rights has found may infringe human rights."

Under the new rules, governments that set age limits or resist a shift from sex-based to gender-based equality could face action in the European Court of Justice, which can assert the primacy of EU law over national legislation.

Across the EU's 27 member states, only nine allow self-identification, while 12 still require medical steps to confirm a legal gender change.

The proposed measures have alarmed women's rights campaigners, who say the institution is shifting its focus from same-sex equality toward gender identity, reported The Times newspaper.

The Athena Forum, a European women's rights group, said women were being "silenced".

Faika El-Nagashi, a former Austrian Green MP who heads the forum, says the group's goal is to challenge EU gender policy.

El-Nagashi argued that the commission was smearing "any form of criticism of the strategy — even when it comes from long-standing feminist and lesbian campaigners".

She added: "It follows a broader pattern used by trans-activist lobby groups to vilify, smear, delegitimize and erase legitimate critique from human rights defenders and organizations."

The commission's proposals, which are still awaiting approval by national governments, criticize countries such as the United Kingdom that require a doctor's approval before someone can identify as the opposite sex, reported The Daily Mail newspaper.

Sex-based rights campaigners in the UK have called the strategy "chilling", sharpening the British angle to the EU row. British feminists and campaigners accuse the EU of undermining women's and gay rights, and say Brexit shields the UK from the new measures.

Maya Forstater, who leads the sex-based rights charity Sex Matters, said: "European bureaucrats are waving rainbow flags but denying what it means to be same-sex attracted. It is a mercy that British campaigners for sex-based rights don't have to deal with this sinister strategy and the pernicious capture of EU institutions, on top of our own challenges."