“I want to empower people. Be loud. Don’t be nice. If you are nice, you will get nothing”, Katrin Langensiepen (Greens/EFA, German) - one of the few MEPs with a visible disability - hammered home on Wednesday 31 January at a reception organised at the European Parliament by the European Disability Forum (EDF), in the presence of members of the European Parliament’s Disability Intergroup.
These words set the tone for the event, which was intended to launch an appeal to “advance the rights of over 100 million people”. The association’s president, Ioannis Vardakastanis, urged future elected representatives to sign the ‘Pledge for candidates in the EU elections 2024: Building an inclusive future for persons with disabilities’.
“The cooperation of the disability movement with the EU institutions has enabled progress to be made (...) in 2019”, said Mr Vardakastanis, who believes that “we must continue to work together”.
The Pledge is based on the demands of a manifesto issued by EDF and adopted in May 2023 (see EUROPE 13186/29).
Two main actions are highlighted. Firstly, the renewal of the European Parliament’s Disability Intergroup during its next term of office. In addition, the European Commission is due to revise the ‘Disability Rights Strategy 2021-2030’ , adopted in March 2021, to include more initiatives.
These include the establishment of a new Directorate-General for Equality and Fundamental Rights within the Commission, a new European Parliament Disability Committee and the creation of a European employment and skills guarantee for people with disabilities.
The EDF also wants legislation to guarantee the availability and affordability of assistive technologies for people with disabilities.
Finally, specific initiatives to protect women with disabilities, who are particularly vulnerable to gender-based violence (see EUROPE 13304/9), are expected.
The Manifesto: https://aeur.eu/f/aor
The Pledge: https://aeur.eu/f/aos (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)