A delegation led by European Disability Forum’s President Yannis Vardakastanis met with the Secretary-General of the ALDE Party, Didrik de Schaetzen, on the 12 December to share the disability movement’s demands for the European Elections.
During the meeting, the delegation from the Forum:
- Discussed the need to ensure accessible election campaigns and presented a self-assessment tool to improve accessibility.
- Presented the demands included in the EDF Manifesto on the European Elections 2024: “Building an inclusive future for persons with disabilities in the EU“.
- Discussed plans to support candidates with disabilities.
- Discussed the need to re-establish the European Parliament’s Disability Intergroup after the European Elections.
Specific points discussed included:
- The need to ensure an accessible reconstruction of Ukraine and support organisations of persons with disabilities to engage in the accession process.
- Establish strong services focusing on disability rights in EU Institutions: a new Directorate-General for Equality and Fundamental Rights, under the leadership of the EU Commissioner for Equality.
- Establish a Disability Employment and Skills Guarantee to ensure persons with disabilities can participate in the open labour market.
- Create a new European agency for accessibility.
- Stop EU Funds to segregating institutions.
The delegations discussed further collaboration to guarantee campaign accessibility and a possible meeting with the lead candidate of the ALDE Party. They also discussed a possible showcasing of ALDE’s politicians with disabilities.
Yannis Vardakastanis, President of the European Disability Forum, stated:
“We thank Mr De Schaetzen and the ALDE Party for this productive discussion. We underlined that having and supporting candidates with disabilities is the best way to ensure that the European Union fulfils our rights.”