On 7th October 2021, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on the protection of persons with disabilities based on the petitions submitted by citizens.
By 579 votes in favor, 92 abstentions and 12 votes against, this resolution called on the European Commission to structurally integrate the European Disability Strategy 2021-2030 into the European Semester process, one of the most effective ways to influence national policies. By doing so, this would strengthen the inclusiveness of society and would support the employment and social protection of persons with disabilities.
Among others, the report also recommends:
- Member States to ensure that persons with disabilities are involved in the policymaking process without any constraints;
- that persons with disabilities must be able to participate in elections and decision-making processes on an equal basis with others;
- the Commission and Member States to establish an EU-wide Disability Card which ensures mutual recognition of disability across EU countries, and facilitates the free movement of persons with disabilities, and,
- the Commission to ensure that the Member States provide facilitated naturalisation or specific exemptions from naturalisation exams for persons with disabilities to guarantee their access to citizenship.
This report led by MEP Agius Saliba, with the participation of many Disability Intergroup members from different parliamentary committees, has been drafted taking into consideration the petitions concerning disability rights sent by citizens to the Petitions Committee of the European Parliament. You can submit a petition and read a summary of the submitted petitions in this web portal.