02/02/2017 (Agence Europe) – On Thursday 2 February, the European Commission published its Progress Report on the implementation of the European Disability Strategy 2010-2020. The premise of the report is that the strategy is still highly appropriate and it suggests eight areas in which progress has been made: accessibility, participation, equality, employment, education and training, social protection, health and external action. Some of the challenges identified include the current legislative initiatives such as the accessibility act and the directive for equal treatment, which are being negotiated very poorly at the Council. As the EU population gets older, the number of Europeans who are disabled increases significantly and employment rates remain very much below that of people without disabilities (48.7% compared to 72.5%), points out the Commission. 30% of persons with disabilities are also exposed to the risk of falling into poverty or social exclusion, as opposed to 21.5% of people without disabilities. The report is available at: https://goo.gl/yZMCEJ (JK)