The impact of the European Union on the rights of people with disabilities

There was a conference in Brussels for people with disabilities. Marianne Thyssen spoke during the opening ceremony. She is the European Commissioner for Social Affairs. Thyssen said that the European Union (EU) can protect the rights of people with disabilities. The EU has created a plan for protecting their rights, containing many initiatives. For example a system of disability cards for all EU-citizens with a disability. With such a disability card, a person could get the same services in every country in the EU, such as medical care and access to public transport. However, it is difficult for the EU to create the same quality of life for people with disabilities within every EU country. This is because every country has its own national government, that has more decision power than the EU. Also, not every country has the same amount of money than other countries. Therefore, the situation of people with disabilities across Europe is very different depending on the country.

During the opening ceremony of the 6th edition of the ‘In der Begegnung’- conference in May 2015, organized for people with special needs, European Commissioner for Social Affairs Marianne Thyssen held a speech on how the European Union will further safeguard the rights of European citizens with disabilities during the next few years.

In the wake of the EU ratifying the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities, the European Commission has developed ‘The European Disability Strategy 2010-2020’.
Thyssen presented a few ‘powerful political instruments’ from this strategy, saying that with these, the EU is very much able to improve the situation of people with disabilities within European communities.

Amongst one of the initiatives that will, according to Thyssen, lead to results, is the European disability card. The system entails a mutual validation of disability cards in every EU member state, meaning that holders would have the same rights wherever they go across the EU, such as a right to proper care and accessible public transport.
Another initiative that the EU is planning to take on, is to organize specific curricula for architects and engineers stimulating them include accessibility within future planning and construction projects.

Although the Strategy was applauded, Thyssen also stressed that it could take much time before improvements would become visible, as the road towards common rights within every EU member state tends to be long and complicated.
Even though the national governments still hold much of their political power, Thyssen stated, the EU should still be able to push through certain standards.

Questions could be raised on what exactly these standards will be, if the EU will succeed in decreasing the gap between several EU member states when it comes to the quality of life of people with disabilities, and whether or not all the targets of the European Disability Strategy will be effectively met by 2020.

To read more about the European Disability Strategy 2010-2020, click here.
To find out more about the ‘In der Begegnung’- conference, click here.