On 30 November, the European Parliament Committee on Petitions hosted a workshop on the EU Disability Card.
The workshop included interventions from policymakers, experts and persons with disabilities.
EU Commissioner for Equality, Helena Dalli, presented the plans for the upcoming proposal, which will be presented at the end of 2023:
- Ambition to expand beyond current areas (Transport, culture, leisure, sport) to other areas covered by the EU internal market competencies;
- However, social protection, security and assessment will remain under national competence;
She called on EU citizens and organisations to share their views on the initiative until 21 December.
Views from stakeholders
Mark Priestley, an expert from the University of Leeds, presented the just-launched European parliament’s study “ Disability assessment, mutual recognition and the EU Disability Card (PDF)”. He identified three main areas of concern for free movement for persons with disabilities:
- Variation in methods of assessment in EU countries means disability status is often not valid; the use of different models of disability, often not in line with human rights, is an issue.
- Determination of criteria to assess, which results in persons with disabilities being recognised as disabled in some countries and not others:
- The assessment of disability status not being recognised across borders;
EU Ombudsman, Emilly O’Reilly, expanded on issues affecting persons with disabilities:
- EU funds are still used to prolong the life of residential institutions – which is against rules and still happens in many countries;
- All communication from the EU, including websites, must be accessible;
- Persons with disabilities must be involved in all decisions;
Robert Jah-Uhl, Project manager for the CRPD Framework from the EU Fundamental Rights Agency, added that:
- Freedom of movement is also curtailed inside countries, such as getting housing when moving between regions;
- Persons with disabilities face outsized discrimination and difficulties in accessing everyday services, including transportation.
Martina Stepakonva, Deputy Minister for EU funds and EU affairs, representing the Czech Presidency of the Council, added that while it’s too soon for the Council to be involved, they will read the proposal with interest. She added that the Presidency favours this initiative but details need to be debated;
Inmaculada Placencia Porrero, representing the Disability Unit of the European Commission, clarified that the proposal will be presented between September and December 2023 and will expand the Card to all EU Member States. She assured that persons with disabilities, and their representative organisations, would be fully involved in the process.
Views from the disability movement
Thorkild Olesen, our executive committee member, was not able to attend due to technical difficulties; however, our main points for decision-makers included:
- The Card needs to be based on binding legislation which ensures the same implementation across EU countries.
- The Card has to be ambitious in its scope and go beyond advantages in the fields of culture, and leisure. It should cover every aspect and service – transport in particular.
- The Card should cover all EU Member States and has to provide for mutual recognition of disability status.
- The Card should also ensure that, when a person is moving to another EU country to study or work, the Disability Card must also grant them with all the necessary support they need, at least on a temporary basis.
Opinions from Members of the European Parliament
The presentations were followed by an exchange of views with members of the European Parliament, which highlighted;
- The need to ensure the legislative act is the strongest possible – in this case that it takes the form of a Regulation;
- The need to advance mutual recognition of disability status in the EU;
- The need to remove barriers to free movement within the EU;
- The need to expand the Card to cover commercial benefits, education and employment;
- That this initiative must be coupled with strong action to ensure accessibility of public, private and digital spaces.