On Thursday 7 October, MEPs adopted – by 579 votes for, 12 against and 92 abstentions – a resolution on the protection of persons with disabilities in the EU, based on contributions and testimonies received by the European Parliament’s Committee on Petitions (PETI).
The plenary debates on the text were an opportunity for MEPs to denounce the lack of inclusiveness within European institutions, including the Parliament, “where a disabled person, like me, in a wheelchair, cannot come to the central lectern to speak, as other colleagues do”, said Greek MEP Stelios Kympouropoulos (EPP).
“This is a disgrace to the Assembly!”, said Katrin Langensiepen (Germany) on the topic. Speaking on behalf of the Greens/EFA group, the MEP also noted her regret at the lack of international sign language interpretation at last month’s State of the Union address.
“Just one week before Ursula von der Leyen’s annual State of the Union address in the European Parliament, I learned that there was to be no sign language interpreting. I immediately went to the translation service and asked for an interpreter”, explained the MEP. She noted regretfully that her request had not been successful, but did thank the President of the Parliament for having pleaded on her behalf.
“Shouldn't people with hearing loss also be informed and involved in political processes?”, asked Langensiepen, as well as calling on her colleagues, the European Commission and the EU Council to respond.
“We have to start with ourselves”, argued Milan Brglez (S&D, Slovenia), while insisting on the need to make Parliament’s petition mechanism both visible and accessible, including a version in sign language.
“Only 1% of all petitions received each year by the Committee on Petitions relate to disability issues, although there are approximately 87 million disabled people in the EU. This fact should encourage us to exhaust all efforts to raise awareness of this tool”, added Kympouropoulos.
This position was also expressed by the MEP who tabled the resolution, Alex Agius Saliba (S&D, Malta).
“Citizens regularly get in touch to express their concerns on accessibility, social protection and also employment rights”, said the MEP, when summarising the content of those petitions received by the European Parliament on the subject of disability.
Mr Agius Saliba also highlighted those problems that were linked to the lack of recognition between EU Member States of the status of people with disabilities. This is a problem that the European Commission intends to tackle.
They have promised to create a European disability card by 2023 (see EUROPE 12670/4). The launch of the project and the date for when it would finish, were confirmed by the Commissioner for Equality Helena Dalli in the Chamber on Monday and were formally welcomed by MEPs in their resolution.
To consult it: https://bit.ly/3oGhfJJ (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki)