Yesterday, the European Commission launched procedures against 7 countries (Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Spain) for infringing disability-related rules.
The decision was announced during the presentation of the monthly package of infringement decisions, when the Commission unveils in which cases will pursue legal action against Member States for failing to comply with their obligations under EU law.
Bulgaria and Ireland are pursued for failing to notify the full transposition of the EU Web Accessibility Directive.
Croatia, Czechia, Greece, and Spain are pursued “after they failed to effectively implement the rules on the 112 emergency number (Directive 2002/22/EC), in particular by ensuring equivalent access for users with disabilities.”
Germany is pursued in both cases above.
Both the Web Accessibility Directive and rules on 112 emergency number were important achievements of the disability movement, obtained after intensive, years-long, advocacy. It is essential that these 7 countries implement them as soon as possible.
These decisions are among several key infringement decisions that the European Commission took in July, which span the entirety of its competences.