From Monday 26 to Wednesday 28 September, the European Network on Independent Living (ENIL), a European network of disability organisations, invited members, activists, stakeholders and allies to gather in Brussels for the Freedom Drive. Objective: to raise awareness about the exclusion of people with disabilities relegated to institutional settings (hospitals, nursing homes, etc.).
In this context, ENIL met on Tuesday 27 September with the European Commissioner for Equality, Helena Dalli, as well as MEPs Marisa Matias (GUE/NGL, Portuguese) and José Gusmão (GUE/NGL, Portuguese). This was an opportunity for the network to make its voice heard on a series of recommendations to the European institutions.
The ENIL calls in particular for improved access to proximity services, and in particular to personal assistants in the Member States. It also calls for strategies to be developed at European level to move people with disabilities out of institutional care. The network claims that European funds should be allocated to local services and aid.
Finally, ENIL insists on the need to promote the employment of people with disabilities. For the network, the Framework Directive on equal treatment in employment and occupation (EU Council Directive 2000/78/EC) should be revised to include guidelines on discrimination and reasonable accommodation and measures in case of non-compliance.
The biennial Freedom Drive campaign is taking place this year in the context of the revision of the EU Framework for the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) and the start of the implementation of the EU Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2021-2030 (see EUROPE 12670/4). (Original version in French by Hélène Seynaeve)