Speech of our President during the European Day of Persons with Disabilities 2025:
Dear Commissioner, distinguished guests, dear friends and colleagues,
On behalf of the European Disability Forum, it is my honour to welcome you to this important gathering for the European disability movement. The European Day of Persons with Disabilities is not merely a space for reflection; it must be a space for direction. A space where we take stock, but also take responsibility. A space where we acknowledge the realities that persons with disabilities face, but also where we gather our collective strength, and commit to action. Because the challenges before us demand nothing less.
2025 has been a crucial year for the disability movement. The EU has been reviewed for the second time by the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The European Commission has unveiled its proposal for the next EU budget. And we have finally received confirmation that the second half of the EU Disability Rights Strategy will move forward with new initiatives, something EDF and all our members have demanded time and time again since the current Commission took office.
The Commission has called this a “year of reflection”, but Europe no longer has the luxury of reflection without action. Not when 100 million Europeans with disabilities still face systemic exclusion. Not when the rights enshrined in the CRPD are still far from a reality in the daily lives of millions. If the EU and its Member States are serious about fulfilling their obligations, then those commitments must be at the heart of their political priorities and in their budgets. Because words do not implement rights. Funding, legislation, enforcement, and political will, these turn rights into reality.
Barriers for persons with disabilities
The truth is that despite progress, the barriers we face remain deeply entrenched.
The employment gap remains stalled, leaving too many persons with disabilities locked out of the labour market. Almost one third of persons with disabilities are at risk of poverty and social exclusion. Freedom of movement, a cornerstone of European citizenship, is still not a reality for many, due to inaccessible transport, fragmented support systems, and bureaucratic obstacles. Discrimination, both direct and systemic, remains widespread. And in a number of EU countries we still witness an increase in institutionalisation of persons with disabilities, as well as inhumane practices, such as forced sterilisation, that violate human dignity and breach the CRPD in the most fundamental way.
And every barrier I have named is even more extreme for persons with disabilities facing multiple and intersecting forms of discrimination: women with disabilities, people with disabilities who are Roma, or from a migration background, the community of LGBTI+ people with disabilities, children with disabilities and older persons. And, colleagues, we shall not forget our brothers and sisters with disabilities living in war situations all around the world, including very close to home, in Ukraine, and in Gaza.
Disability Rights Strategy
This is why we demand both the Commission and Member States to deliver ambitious actions and flagship initiatives, not symbolic gestures, not “pilot projects”, not another political declaration or recommendation. Ambitious, structural, enforceable measures that transform lives. The second phase of the Disability Rights Strategy must be bold, anchored in the Convention, and created in close cooperation with disability organisations. It needs to fill the gaps left by the first half of the strategy. It needs to change people’s lives for the better. We need to directly feel the impact of this strategy and be able to confidently say that things have improved, because the European Union stands alongside us in protecting our rights.
Anything less would be a collective failure, and a win for those who undermine the European project, those who are at war against diversity and equality, and those who put other interests before the ones of Europe’s population.
EU Budget
This brings me to the Multiannual Financial Framework, the EU budget. We must speak clearly: the MFF is not just an accounting exercise. It is a declaration of priorities. It is a political compass. It is one of the most powerful tools the EU has to shape societies.
We hoped for a clear sign of support from the Commission to EU’s social objectives. But what we received instead was a regression. A restructuring and centralising of funds representing less social investment and compromising the obligation to comply with the Convention.
In the current budget, 25% of social funds are reserved for social inclusion. This is crucial to ensure funding for disability inclusion. In the proposed MFF after 2027, this 25% earmarking has disappeared, meaning these investments will simply evaporate in many Member States, especially those that already underinvest in social rights. In other words, there will no longer be a safeguard for spending that supports persons with disabilities. It will be up to the Member States.
And then comes perhaps the most serious concern: the abandonment of enabling conditions for the use of EU funds. These conditions were not perfect, but they were our last defence against the misuse of EU funds. They allowed civil society to hold national governments accountable when public money was used to maintain segregating institutions, practices that the CRPD Committee has repeatedly condemned.
And last but not least, it was extremely disappointing to see that the UN CRPD was nowhere to be found in the articles setting the horizontal principles for the funds. And colleagues, this is not a technical oversight. It is a political choice that we should all revert working together with the Parliament and ally Member States.
Preparedness
Beyond the budget and the disability strategy, we will also discuss preparedness for persons with disabilities. Crises, whether natural disasters, health emergencies, or conflicts, are becoming more frequent. And still, persons with disabilities remain dangerously unprotected. Too often, emergency plans are written without us, evacuation procedures ignore us, and humanitarian responses arrive too late or not at all. Preparedness is not an optional dimension of inclusion. It is a matter of life, safety, and dignity.
Disability Movement
And now, colleagues, allow me to move to a more personal reflection, as this will be my last intervention at this conference as President of the European Disability Forum.
We took to the streets to ensure that disability was recognised in the Amsterdam Treaty. Since EDF was created in 1997, I have witnessed the extraordinary evolution of our movement. We achieved victories many considered impossible. The decisive contributions of the European disability movement to the final text of the CRPD, and the historic ratification of the Convention by the European Union, prooves that advocacy grounded in human rights and led by us can change the very direction of Europe.
Together we marched through Brussels with over one million signatures calling for an anti-discrimination legislation for people with disabilities. Our movement was supportive of every EU’s enlargement as a means to advance on disability rights. And we have put disability issues high in the political agenda of EU leaders with the European year on persons with disabilities in 2003, the series of European Parliament of Persons with Disabilities, and the State of the Union on disability in 2011 with the participation of the Presidents of the European Council, Parliament and Commission.
During all these years we have proven that our active involvement in policy making brings and will keep bringing rights and protection to persons with disabilities. For example, the Employment Equality Directive. The European Accessibility Act, or the European Disability Card, to name a few. And we have done so being ambitious, critical and constructive.
We also faced political, economic and social challenges, such as the financial crisis, the austerity measures, the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, the cost-of-living crisis, and at every consequence of the climate emergency. In all of these situations, persons with disabilities were amongst the most affected, and the disability movement always remained united and instrumental in raising the specific situation of persons with disabilities and proposals for change.
Fighting against a new era of exclusion
But we must also acknowledge that the current political environment around us has shifted. The era that celebrated equality, diversity, inclusion, and rights is being replaced by one of exclusion, division and deregulation. Reactionary narratives are gaining ground. Civil society is being silenced in some countries, where funding and civic space is being cut. Civil society is being suffocated.
And let us be honest: while this backlash may appear to target other groups and causes first, it affects us too. It creates a climate in which disability organisations may feel pressure to stay quiet.
But colleagues, remember our history: we will not be silent. Because silence is surrender. And the disability movement has never been a movement of surrender.
We have always shown resilience. But resilience must be met with responsibility. So, we should not retreat. It is time to protect our rights through impactful advocacy. It is time to strengthen our capacity to act together and firmer than ever. Colleagues, it is time to show leadership and the power of collective action.
I therefore wish us all courage and fruitful discussions leading to actions to pave the way for the inclusive Europe we all aspire and deserve.
Thank you for your attention.