The EU wants to see the death penalty become a thing of the past everywhere on the planet. Its campaign is based on respect for people's dignity, regardless of their actions, as enshrined in the charter of fundamental rights.

As part of this campaign, the EU commission is proposing that 10 October be not only the world day against the death penalty, but a European day too.

At the international conference to be held in Lisbon on 9 October, a joint declaration is to be signed by the EU and the Council of Europe to promote the universal abolition of the death penalty.

The EU is campaigning worldwide to bolster opposition to the death penalty and urge those countries who still apply it to drop the practice. This public commitment is backed up by financial support for specific projects under the European instrument for democracy and human rights. These projects aim not only to stimulate debate, educate and encourage alternatives to the death penalty as a way of reducing crime, but also to enhance the rights of the condemned and train those responsible for their defence.

On 31 January 2007, the European parliament adopted a resolution calling for the universal abolition of the death penalty to be made one of the fundamental objectives of the European Union. The foreign ministers of the EU countries have also decided to propose a resolution against the death penalty at the next meeting of the general assembly of the United Nations.

According to Amnesty International, 1 591 people were executed worldwide in 2006. The countries still applying the death penalty include China, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Sudan and the United States.

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