The aim of this toolkit is to provide persons with disabilities and their representative organisations with an overview of the remedy mechanisms that they can use when they experience or identify a breach of their rights as contained in EU Law and clarify which one is the most appropriate for each circumstance. Since enforcement is a combined effort of both European and National bodies, this toolkit makes a distinction between these two administrative and judicial levels.
Why do we need enforcement
Due to its binding nature, legislation is one of the strongest tools that we have at hand to build inclusive societies, remove existing barriers and combat discrimination. For this reason, Article 4 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) obliges state parties to adopt legislative measures to implement its provisions.
An important feature of the European Union (EU), which does not exist in similar regional organisations, is that it has the capacity to adopt laws that give legal persons specific rights and obligations.
Our report Your Rights in the European Union (2021) explains how an increasing number of EU laws have a direct impact on the life of persons with disabilities. To name a few, European legislation currently forbids discrimination on the basis of disability in employment and vocational training, obliges that public websites and mobile applications are accessible and grants the right to receive appropriate assistance when traveling.
Unfortunately, having a right enshrined in a law is not enough to ensure compliance. Disability-based discrimination still takes place and accessibility is not always guaranteed. When laws are not respected, they need to be enforced. By enforcement, we mean the process of making a Member State, a company, an organisation or an individual to obey a certain law. In other words, to make sure that they do what is required by law.
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