Sittings · Document
EU strategy for the rights of persons with disabilities post-2024
P10_TA(2025)0308
EU strategy for the rights of persons with disabilities post-2024
Committee on Employment and Social Affairs
PE773.058
European Parliament resolution of 27 November 2025 on the EU strategy for the rights of persons with disabilities post-2024 (2025/2057(INI))
The European Parliament,
– having regard to the Treaty on European Union, in particular Articles 2 and 3(3) thereof,
– having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, in particular Articles 2, 9, 10, 19 and 216(2) thereof,
– having regard to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, in particular Articles 3, 6, 8, 11, 15, 20, 21, 23, 25, 26, 35, 40 and 47 thereof,
– having regard to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), which entered into force for the EU on 22 January 2011 in accordance with Council Decision 2010/48/EC of 26 November 2009 concerning the conclusion, by the European Community, of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and which was ratified by the EU on 23 December 2010 and by all Member States individually,
– having regard to the UN Optional Protocol to the UNCRPD, which has been ratified by 22 Member States, and to the General Comments on the UNCRPD and the concluding observations issued by the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to the EU, in particular on the combined second and third periodic reports of the European Union, published on 21 March 2025,
– having regard to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child,
– having regard to the Commission communication of 7 June 2023 entitled ‘A comprehensive approach to mental health’ (COM(2023)0298),
– having regard to the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR), proclaimed and signed by the Council, Parliament and the Commission on 17 November 2017, and to the Commission communication of 4 March 2021 entitled ‘The European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan’ (COM(2021)0102) and its proposed 2030 headline targets on employment, training and reducing poverty,
– having regard to the Commission communication of 3 March 2021 entitled ‘Union of Equality: Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2021-2030’ (COM(2021)0101),
– having regard to Directive (EU) 2024/2841 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2024 establishing the European Disability Card and the European Parking Card for persons with disabilities,
– having regard to Council Directive (EU) 2024/1499 of 7 May 2024 on standards for equality bodies in the field of equal treatment between persons irrespective of their racial or ethnic origin, equal treatment in matters of employment and occupation between persons irrespective of their religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation, equal treatment between women and men in matters of social security and in the access to and supply of goods and services, and amending Directives 2000/43/EC and 2004/113/EC,
– having regard to Regulation (EU) 2021/1057 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 June 2021 establishing the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) and repealing Regulation (EU) No 1296/2013,
– having regard to Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 June 2021 laying down common provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund Plus, the Cohesion Fund, the Just Transition Fund and the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund and financial rules for those and for the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund, the Internal Security Fund and the Instrument for Financial Support for Border Management and Visa Policy (Common Provisions Regulation),
– having regard to Directive (EU) 2019/882 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 April 2019 on the accessibility requirements for products and services (European Accessibility Act),
– having regard to Directive (EU) 2016/2102 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 October 2016 on the accessibility of websites and mobile applications of public sector bodies,
– having regard to Regulation (EU) 2021/782 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2021 on rail passengers’ rights and obligations,
– having regard to Directive 2011/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 March 2011 on the application of patients’ rights in cross-border healthcare,
– having regard to Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000 establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation,
– having regard to the Commission proposal for a Council directive on implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation (COM(2008)0426) and Parliament’s position of 2 April 2009 thereon,
– having regard to the Commission communication of 5 March 2025 entitled ‘The Union of Skills’ (COM(2025)0090),
– having regard to the Commission communication of 9 December 2021 entitled ‘Building an economy that works for people: an action plan for the social economy’ (COM(2021)0778),
– having regard to the Commission notice of 29 November 2024 entitled ‘Guidance on independent living and inclusion in the community of persons with disabilities in the context of EU funding’ (C(2024)7897),
– having regard to the Commission staff working document of 6 December 2023 entitled ‘Guide of good electoral practices in Member States addressing the participation of citizens with disabilities in the electoral process’ (SWD(2023)0408),
– having regard to the concluding observations of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD Committee) of 2 October 2015 on the initial report of the EU, to the list of issues submitted by the UNCRPD Committee of 20 April 2022, prior to submission of the second and third periodic reports of the European Union, and the concluding observations on the combined second and third periodic reports of the European Union of the UNCRPD Committee of 21 March 2025,
– having regard to European Court of Auditors special report 20/2023 of 12 October 2023 entitled ‘Supporting persons with disabilities – Practical impact of EU action is limited’,
– having regard to Council Recommendation (EU) 2021/1004 of 14 June 2021 establishing a European Child Guarantee,
– having regard to the EU Gender Equality Strategy and the EU Roadmap for Women’s Rights,
– having regard to the briefing entitled ‘The EU Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2021-2030 – Achievements and perspectives’, published by the European Parliament’s Directorate-General for Internal Policies in November 2024,
– having regard to the study entitled ‘Targeted measures for persons with disabilities to cope with the cost-of-living crisis’, published by its Directorate-General for Internal Policies in November 2023,
– having regard to the study entitled ‘Disability assessment, mutual recognition and the EU Disability Card – Progress and opportunities’, published by its Directorate-General for Internal Policies in November 2022,
– having regard to the study entitled ‘The Post-2020 European disability strategy’, published by its Directorate-General for Internal Policies in July 2020,
– having regard to the study by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound) of 25 October 2024 entitled ‘Paths towards independent living and social inclusion in Europe’,
– having regard to the Eurofound policy brief of 21 March 2022 entitled ‘People with disabilities and the COVID-19 pandemic: Findings from the Living, working and COVID-19 e-survey’,
– having regard to the Eurofound research report of 19 April 2021 entitled ‘Disability and labour market integration: Policy trends and support in EU Member States’,
– having regard to the Eurofound policy brief of 30 November 2018 entitled ‘Social and employment situation of people with disabilities’,
– having regard to its resolution of 13 December 2022 towards equal rights for persons with disabilities,
– having regard to its resolution of 4 October 2022 on AccessibleEU Centre in support of accessibility policies in the EU internal market,
– having regard to its resolution of 7 October 2021 on the protection of persons with disabilities through petitions: lessons learnt,
– having regard to its resolution of 10 March 2021 on the implementation of Council Directive 2000/78/EC establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation in light of the CRPD,
– having regard to its resolution of 8 July 2020 on the rights of persons with intellectual disabilities and their families in the COVID-19 crisis,
– having regard to its resolution of 18 June 2020 on the European Disability Strategy post‑2020,
– having regard to the World Health Organization European Framework for action 2022-2030 to achieve the highest attainable standard of health for persons with disabilities 2022-2030, and in particular to the barriers faced in accessing and utilising healthcare services, as well as the objectives, targets and specific actions,
– having regard to its resolution of 4 October 2023 on harmonising the rights of autistic persons,
– having regard to the European Disability Forum manifesto adopted during the fifth European Parliament of Persons with Disabilities on 23 May 2023,
– having regard to the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women of 18 December 1979,
– having regard to the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Istanbul Convention) of 11 May 2011, which entered into force for the EU on 1 October 2023,
– having regard to the report of 2 August 2022 of the fifteenth session of the Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and to the note by the Secretariat to the fifteenth session of the Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities,
– having regard to the Charter on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action,
– having regard to Directive (EU) 2019/1158 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on work-life balance for parents and carers and repealing Council Directive 2010/18/EU,
– having regard to its resolution of 29 November 2018 on the situation of women with disabilities,
– having regard to Rule 55 of its Rules of Procedure,
– having regard to the opinions of the Committee on Public Health, the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, the Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality and the Committee on Petitions,
– having regard to the report of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs (A10-0211/2025),
A. whereas, on 3 March 2021, the Commission put forward the strategy for the rights of persons with disabilities 2021-2030 (the strategy) with the aim of promoting equal opportunities and full inclusion of persons with disabilities in Europe and around the world;
B. whereas the strategy contained a number of actions and flagship initiatives for the period up until 2024, the majority of which have been completed; whereas the current strategy runs until 2030 and requires new and ambitious flagship initiatives and concrete actions to continue delivering on the EU’s commitments to ensure the rights of persons with disabilities;
C. whereas in 2023, according to Eurostat estimates, 27 % of the EU’s population over the age of 16 had some form of disability, amounting to 101 million people or one in four adults in the EU;
D. whereas the strategy forms the policy framework for the implementation of the UNCRPD; whereas the strategy is also part of the implementation of the EPSR, in particular principle 17 on the inclusion of persons with disabilities;
E. whereas the UNCRPD recognises the right of persons with disabilities to work on an equal basis with others, choose freely, be accepted and work in an open, inclusive and accessible work environment;
F. whereas persons with disabilities in all their diversity are entitled to enjoy their fundamental rights on an equal basis with others; whereas the full and effective participation of persons with disabilities in all areas of life and society is crucial for the enjoyment of their fundamental rights;
G. whereas, as recognised in the Commission communication on the Union of Skills, persons with disabilities continue to face persistent challenges accessing quality jobs and training, with existing programmes often falling short in terms of adequately addressing their needs and lack sufficient flexibility and practical measures to ensure accessibility in all sectors of employment; whereas persons with disabilities or chronic diseases can require individualised support and workplace adaptation;
H. whereas persons with disabilities’ equal access to employment is often hindered by barriers in both the workplace and the built environment, limiting the opportunities for persons with disabilities to participate in the open labour market;
I. whereas among the working-age population (20-64 years), gender disparities remain substantial, with 46,8 % of women with disabilities being economically inactive compared to 42,9 % of their male counterparts;
J. whereas every child with a disability has the right to education on equal terms with other children in their community; whereas to achieve this, it is vital that Member States ensure tailored assistance for the individual needs of children with disabilities in line with Article 24 of the UNCRPD and the European Child Guarantee and, importantly, accessible digital tools used in education; whereas children with disabilities continue to face many barriers due to a lack of qualified teachers and staff, reasonable accommodations, accessible school buildings and curricula that take into account the particular needs of learners with disabilities;
K. whereas persons with disabilities face barriers to accessing traineeships, including lack of reasonable accommodations, inaccessible physical and digital environments, and the risk of losing disability allowances; whereas tailored support and inclusive traineeships are crucial for their transition to quality employment;
L. whereas educational materials are often not fully accessible to persons with disabilities, such as persons who are blind or visually impaired; whereas the lack of accessible learning content is a key driver of educational disadvantage and contributes to persistent inequalities in access to further education, training, and employment opportunities;
M. whereas the digital transformation should benefit all citizens equally; whereas previous studies have demonstrated that the proportion of individuals without access to a computer decreases significantly with higher levels of education; whereas similar patterns are observed regarding digital skills and internet connectivity; whereas statistics for the EU-27 in 2022 indicate that only 81,2 % of persons with disabilities used the internet in the past 12 months, compared to 93,4 % of persons without disabilities, highlighting a persistent digital divide that must be addressed to ensure full inclusion and equal participation in the digital society;
N. whereas only 51,3 % of active, working-age persons with disabilities in the EU are in paid employment, significantly lower than the 75,6 % of persons without disabilities; whereas the resulting ‘disability employment gap’ stands at 24,4 % with some Member States having even lower percentages than the average; whereas the employment rate of young persons and women with disabilities in the EU is particularly low, at only 47,4 % and 49 % respectively; whereas there is a 21,5 percentage point gap between the employment rates of young people with and without disabilities;
O. whereas in 2023, 28,84 % of persons with disabilities lived in or were at risk of poverty or social exclusion, compared to 18,04 % of persons without disabilities; whereas persons with disabilities face a disproportionate risk of homelessness as well as additional physical, financial and informational barriers to accessing affordable and sustainable housing of adequate quality;
P. whereas persons with disabilities experience significantly higher rates of mental distress compared to adults without disabilities; whereas targeted, inclusive interventions, programmes and policies that facilitate access to timely mental health screening, appropriate care, and comprehensive support services, including inclusive education, supported employment and quality jobs, social participation, and protection against discrimination and violence, are essential to effectively reduce mental distress and promote overall well-being among persons with disabilities;
Q. whereas persons with non-visible disabilities, including neurodevelopmental and psychological disorders, are often excluded from eligibility criteria and support mechanisms due to a lack of visible impairments;
R. whereas participation in cultural, educational and sporting life is a fundamental right and an essential element of social inclusion, personal development and well-being for persons with disabilities;
S. whereas in the EU-27 in 2022, only around 20 % of persons with disabilities aged 25 to 64 participated in education and training over the previous 12 months, compared to 26,7 % of persons without disabilities, revealing a persistent gap in access to lifelong learning; whereas this gap hinders the development of skills and employability among persons with disabilities and undermines the EU’s ambition, set out in the EPSR Action Plan, to ensure that at least 60 % of all adults participate in training each year by 2030;
T. whereas persons with disabilities have higher unmet medical needs, poorer self-reported health status, and higher mortality than persons without disabilities; whereas persons with disabilities continue to face systemic and structural barriers in access to universal, affordable healthcare, such as discriminatory practices, inaccessible services, and exclusion from preventive, reactive, sexual and reproductive, and mental healthcare; whereas persons with disabilities have the right to reach the highest possible attainable state of health without discrimination;
U. whereas an estimated 1,4 million children and adults with disabilities under the age of 65 are residing in segregated institutions and whereas 13 EU Member States have more persons with disabilities in institutions now than they did 10 years ago;
V. whereas women with disabilities constitute 29,2 % of the female population in the EU; whereas women are disproportionately impacted by certain disabling conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis, depression, and autoimmune diseases such as lupus and multiple sclerosis; whereas women’s symptoms are often normalised or dismissed, leading to delayed diagnosis and inadequate treatment; whereas women with disabilities face exclusion and discrimination in all areas of life, including limited access to education, employment, healthcare and justice, as well as high rates of violence, including domestic violence and forms of violence specific to disability, with women with disabilities being two to five times more likely to experience violence than women without disabilities, including gender-based, sexual and domestic violence and disability-specific forms of violence such as forced sterilisation and forced abortion; whereas 34 % of women with health problems or disabilities have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by a partner at some point in their lifetime; whereas such violence leads to severe health consequences, psychological trauma and social and economic exclusion; whereas, in this regard, current measures to protect the rights of persons with disabilities, including victims of crime – particularly minors – are often inaccessible or fail to provide the necessary adequate and reasonable accommodations;
W. whereas research has shown that specific vulnerable groups face substantially increased risks of sexual violence; whereas according to a growing number of large-scale studies, women with disabilities are at significantly higher risk of experiencing sexual violence than women without disabilities; whereas such violence leads to severe health consequences, psychological trauma, and social and economic exclusion, and constitutes a grave violation of women’s rights;
X. whereas only 20 % of women with disabilities in the EU work full time while 48 % of women without disabilities work full time, creating a substantial employment disparity for women with disabilities in the EU;
Y. whereas, according to the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, legal provisions in some Member States strip persons with disabilities of their voting rights;
Z. whereas older persons with disabilities face specific challenges resulting from the intersectional discrimination linked to both age and disability, highlighting the interconnection of ageism and ableism and the need for targeted policies to address their unique situations;
AA. whereas the situation of persons with disabilities is shaped by intersectional factors, including gender, sexual orientation, age, socio-economic status, ethnicity, religion or belief, national origin and migration status, which can amplify discrimination and exclusion and must be explicitly addressed in all policies;
AB. whereas the protection and promotion of the fundamental rights of persons with disabilities must be ensured across the Union; whereas the EU and its Member States share responsibility in areas such as employment, transport and the single market, while in areas such as health, social protection, education and culture, the EU mainly supports the actions of the Member States; whereas the Member States are responsible for designing their own disability policies in line with their obligations under the UNCRPD and EU rules; whereas the UNCRPD is the first human rights convention to which the EU itself has become a party and whereas the EU is also bound by its provisions;
AC. whereas the announcement of the intention to withdraw the proposal for a horizontal anti-discrimination directive in the Commission’s 2025 work programme was a matter of great concern; whereas this withdrawal would have been a significant setback for the ‘Union of Equality’;
AD. whereas the transposition deadline for the European Accessibility Act was on 28 June 2022; whereas, however, there are open proceedings against all Member States either for late transposition or for omitting to transpose the directive despite post-deadline warnings, or for partial or incorrect transposition; whereas the Commission decided to refer Member States to the Court of Justice of the European Union for failing to incorporate the European Accessibility Act into national law in July 2024; whereas this corroborates a need for coordinated action across the Commission to better monitor the implementation of existing laws and policies in the Member States and their impact on the lives of persons with disabilities;
AE. whereas in the Council’s recommendation of 2021for a European Child Guarantee , Member States are recommended to adapt their national strategies to guarantee access to key services for children in need, particularly taking into account children with disabilities;
AF. whereas the European Court of Auditors assessed in a special report published in October 2023 whether the Commission had taken effective action to support persons with disabilities, and concluded that the ‘practical impact of EU action was limited’ and that ‘the key indicators had not significantly improved’;
AG. whereas the majority of assistive products and prototype equipment falls outside the scope of the Medical Devices Regulation, creating legal uncertainty and safety risks; whereas a dedicated framework would bridge the regulatory gap without overburdening the production of low-risk aids;
AH. whereas, following the adoption of Directive (EU) 2024/2841establishing the European Disability Card and the European Parking card for persons with disabilities, the Member States have until 2028 to ensure the full operational implementation of the European Disability Card and European Parking Card for persons with disabilities;
Assessment of the implementation of the strategy for the rights of persons with disabilities 2021-2030 and main challenges faced by persons with disabilities
1. Acknowledges that the strategy sets EU objectives and priorities for action in several policy areas including employment, education, non-discrimination and social protection; notes that the strategy addresses most of the shortcomings identified in the 2010-2020 European disability strategy; calls on the Commission to put forward a common EU-wide definition of ‘disability’ in line with the UNCRPD, to help ensure that all EU citizens with all kinds of disabilities are granted equal rights;
2. Notes that the Commission has completed six out of seven flagship initiatives (AccessibleEU, the European Disability Card, Guidance on independent living and inclusion in the community, the Disability Employment Package, the Disability Platform, renewed Commission human resources strategy); calls on the Commission to come forward with new flagship initiative proposals for the remainder of the strategy’s tenure;
3. Underlines that across Europe, persons with disabilities – particularly women and girls with disabilities and persons with high support needs – still face considerable barriers when it comes to respect for their fundamental rights, acknowledgement of their disabilities throughout the EU, equal and inclusive access to justice, public and political life, healthcare and care, transport and digital services and infrastructure, freedom of movement, independent living and accessible housing, education, training and skills development, employment, social inclusion and adequate standards of living, and recognises that intersectional discrimination leads to additional barriers; highlights that many persons with disabilities also lack access to the necessary community-based services and personal assistance that would enable them to live independently and be included in the community, as enshrined in Article 19 of the UNCRPD and reaffirmed in the European strategy for the rights of persons with disabilities 2021-2030;
4. Recognises the importance of community-based services for persons with intellectual disabilities, especially their role in supporting their right to be included and live independently; underlines the need for sufficient investment in such services;
5. Underlines that, while employment leads to multiple positive outcomes for persons with disabilities, such as higher incomes, improved quality of life and increased social inclusion, participation in the open labour market remains a major challenge, and persons with disabilities – particularly those with high support needs – therefore continue to face a higher risk of poverty and social exclusion; recognises that women with disabilities face additional challenges and barriers to entering and remaining in the labour market;
6. Notes that Directive (EU) 2024/2841 on the European Disability Card and the European Parking Card for persons with disabilities does not guarantee the mutual recognition of disability status but only recognises that card holders enjoy the same access to its benefits as national card holders for a period of no longer than three months, except in the case of participation in an EU mobility programme in another Member State; underlines also that it does not ensure the portability of social security benefits and services for persons with disabilities among Member States, thus failing to fully guarantee the right to freedom of movement on equal terms with others;
7. Underlines that it remains necessary to continue efforts to address the remaining gaps relating to the free movement of persons with disabilities and the mutual recognition of disability rights across the EU, in particular faster disability assessment, assistance and protection when moving from one Member State to another; recalls the Commission’s obligation to assess such gaps under Article 20.3 of Directive (EU) 2024/2841 and encourages it to deliver the assessment as soon as possible;
8. Underlines that, to reach the EU targets of reducing the number of persons at risk of poverty or social exclusion by at least 15 million, it will be necessary to increase the employment rate of persons with disabilities, notably through support measures to facilitate access to jobs in an open labour market, including support for employers and persons with disabilities, and the promotion of work-based learning and apprenticeships together with the implementation of reasonable accommodation measures in the workplace; calls on the Commission and the Member States to address the issue of disproportional under-representation of persons with disabilities in the labour market by introducing specific measures, including adequate incentives and support measures for employers and companies that recruit persons with disabilities, and enforceable public and private sector workplace quotas for persons with disabilities, taking into account the capacity of micro and small companies and in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity; stresses the need to promote the employment of persons with disabilities also within small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and through self-employment, by means of targeted incentives and training paths tailored to the needs of persons with disabilities;
9. Is deeply concerned by the ample evidence that reveals the continuing plight of persons with disabilities who are often unable to fully avail themselves of their EU rights; is concerned that, despite progress at policy level, persons with disabilities are left behind in many aspects, continue to experience exclusion in various domains of life and are often deprived of equal access to everyday freedoms and mobility enjoyed by other EU citizens, such as their right to full political participation, including due to the persistence of discriminatory legal provisions in Member States that still prevent them from voting or engaging fully in political life and limit the accessibility of electoral processes, education and housing, which are key drivers of social and professional integration; recognises that intersectional discrimination leads to additional barriers in contravention of the principles enshrined in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the UNCRPD; stresses that an updated EU strategy for the rights of persons with disabilities must tackle all the obstacles they face;
10. Is concerned that some groups of persons with disabilities are at greater risk of being victims of multiple and intersectional discrimination and violence; calls on the Commission and the Member States to address the specific challenges, rights and needs of these persons to ensure their fundamental rights are respected, and to guarantee their access to victim support services, protection measures and mechanisms for reporting violence;
11. Considers that some of the policy areas covered in the strategy have received insufficient attention, such as equal access to social protection, healthcare and care services, transport, education, digital accessibility, housing, and new skills and access to quality jobs; regrets that there were no flagship initiatives under the policy area of equal access and non-discrimination, and that the European disability and parking cards were the only legislative proposals put forward by the Commission under the strategy; stresses that policies should not exclusively focus on labour market activation; calls on the Commission to urgently develop new flagship initiatives addressing neglected areas such as accessible housing, healthcare, education, in-work poverty and digital services, and to implement robust measures to combat multiple and intersectional forms of discrimination; calls on the Commission to closely monitor the correct transposition and implementation of both existing and future EU legislation that affects the rights of persons with disabilities, and to ensure that Member States fully comply with these obligations;
12. Calls on the Commission to undertake a comprehensive mid-term evaluation of the strategy, including a detailed report of the flagship initiatives implemented in each Member State and a comprehensive review of all Union legislation, policies and practices to ensure their compatibility with the UNCRPD and to establish mechanisms to ensure that all new legislative and policy proposals adhere to the Convention, in line with its UNCRPD obligations; stresses that the effective implementation of disability rights depends on the systematic and meaningful consultation of organisations representing persons with disabilities at all stages of policymaking at EU and national level, and calls for improved frameworks to guarantee this participation; underlines the urgent need for disaggregated data collection by gender, age, type of disability, and rural or urban location, to better assess progress and tailor policies that address the specific needs of persons with disabilities across different groups;
13. Calls on the Commission to include clear and measurable targets and indicators in the updated strategy in order to reinforce the monitoring of its implementation by the Member States;
Call for an updated strategy for the rights of persons with disabilities post-2024
14. Stresses that, given that the specific actions and measures contained in the strategy ended in 2024 and considering the persistent challenges persons with disabilities face, there are obvious gaps where more EU action is needed post-2024; calls on the Commission, in close cooperation with persons with disabilities and their representative organisations, therefore, to put forward an updated strategy for the rights of persons with disabilities for the period 2025-2030 without delay and to include new and ambitious flagship initiatives and concrete actions in line with the recommendations of this report and the recent concluding observations of the UNCRPD Committee to address remaining gaps; calls on the Commission to place greater emphasis on the fight against discrimination and hate speech against persons with disabilities;
15. Believes that the strategy for the rights of persons with disabilities post-2024 should aim at improving all existing participatory mechanisms at EU level concerning legislation, policy and programming, by making them fully representative of persons with disabilities, ensuring that they are accessible to persons with disabilities and that all participants are fully informed about the consultations and their time frames, modalities and outcomes;
16. Calls on the Commission to include concrete and binding measures, including legal instruments, where appropriate, in the updated strategy to ensure uniform protection of disability rights across the Union;
17. Believes that the strategy for the rights of persons with disabilities post-2024 should lay down that all EU institutions, bodies, offices and agencies must ensure the full and consistent implementation of all the Ombudsman’s recommendations in order to underline the Ombudsman’s paramount role in protecting the rights of persons with disabilities;
18. Calls on the Commission, as part of the implementation of the strategy, to include the rights of persons with disabilities in the post-2027 multiannual financial framework regulation, where relevant, especially by supporting civil society and organisations representing persons with disabilities and disability service providers through funding grants under the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Programme (CERV), ensuring robust cohesion funding, along with maintaining the horizontal and thematic enabling condition on the implementation of the UNCRPD supported by effective mechanisms to monitor and evaluate their implementation; calls on the Commission to explore solutions such as dedicated earmarked funding lines specifically targeting the inclusion of persons with disabilities, to guarantee that sufficient resources are allocated to their rights and inclusion;
19. Stresses that the upcoming ESF+ should continue to prioritise independent living and the transition from institutional care to community-based care, and facilitate home support and personal assistance schemes; calls for the ESF+ to deliver on the European disability rights strategy 2021-2030, and in particular to facilitate the implementation of the upcoming Framework on Social Services of Excellence for Persons with Disabilities, the EU Guidance on Independent Living and Inclusion in the Community and the Disability Employment Package;
20. Calls on the Commission to ensure that the post-2024 update of the strategy for the rights of persons with disabilities is drafted in coordination with the upcoming EU gender equality strategy, the EU anti-poverty strategy, as well as the post-2025 EU anti-racism action plan and the post-2025 LGBTIQ equality strategy; emphasises the need for these frameworks to integrate an intersectional approach into policymaking, to propose further actions and flagship initiatives, and to specifically address the poverty and social exclusion experienced by women and girls with disabilities;
21. Calls on the Member States to implement measures to compensate for the extra cost of living faced by persons with disabilities and to counter their heightened risk of in-work poverty; to that end, strongly encourages the Member States to maintain disability allowances regardless of employment situation, marital status or inheritance and to review their tax structures and state supports to ensure that persons with disabilities are not disadvantaged or disincentivised from taking up employment;
22. Calls on the Commission to guarantee in the strategy for the rights of persons with disabilities post-2024 a commitment to full transparency and full public access to documents and information concerning ongoing and closed EU pilot and infringement procedures, so as to ensure full understanding of actions by the EU institutions and Member States’ authorities to solve violations of EU law that undermine the rights of persons with disabilities; notes that this disclosure is also beneficial for the follow-up of open petitions;
23. Stresses that the updated strategy post-2024 must include measurable targets, clear timelines, and dedicated EU funding to ensure effective implementation, rather than relying solely on national voluntary measures;
Accessibility
24. Calls for the European accessibility centre AccessibleEU to be strengthened through the creation of a dedicated permanent regulatory agency to support the implementation and monitoring of accessibility legislation in the EU and to promote a more accessible Europe; underlines the need to ensure the full and effective implementation of current legislation aimed at promoting the equal participation of persons with disabilities in society, such as the European Accessibility Act, through regular monitoring;
25. Calls for the research and development of new technologies, including medical devices, and AI tools, to ensure accessibility, and for the participation of persons with disabilities in all phases of design, development and implementation of technologies, following the co-creation principles, in order to mitigate any risk of discrimination; recalls that persons with disabilities continue to face systemic barriers in accessing essential digital services, for example e-government, telehealth, online banking, digital education and consumer platforms;
26. Recalls the need for an EU directive regulating the use of algorithms for managing, monitoring and recruiting workers that would address the risks of discrimination that candidates and employees with disabilities often face from AI algorithms;
27. Calls on the Commission to support the expansion of independent, non-profit assistive technology (AT) centres across EU Member States to improve access, inclusion, and independence for persons with disabilities, build EU capacity through knowledge exchange, good practice sharing, training, and implementation support to develop and sustain these centres, which should provide tailored and unbiased services;
28. Calls on the Commission to develop legislation to guarantee a true single market for assistive devices and technologies, ensuring availability and affordability for persons with disabilities, tackling the issue of national certification schemes preventing persons with disabilities from accessing the assistive devices and technology best suited to them and establishing a joint mechanism for the mutual certification of relevant assistive devices and technologies across Member States, as well as supporting research on innovative assistive solutions to ensure persons with disabilities benefit from emerging technologies;
29. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure the full and timely implementation and enforcement of the Web Accessibility Directive and the European Accessibility Act; urges the Member States to go beyond the minimum legal requirements, setting ambitious national standards and policies for digital accessibility; stresses that it is also necessary to ensure access to essential services offline; reminds the Commission to fulfil the ambitions set out in the web accessibility action plan, and calls for the EU institutions to update communication policies and citizens’ engagement platforms to ensure the application of web accessibility standards for everybody with disabilities, including deaf persons, across all EU institution websites and online platforms; calls for a post-2025 web accessibility action plan;
30. Urges the Member States to ensure accessible healthcare communication for deaf, hearing-impaired, and deafblind persons, including the provision of sign language interpreters, real-time captioning and support technologies in all public health facilities, in line with Article 25 of the UNCRPD and national legislation;
31. Highlights that persons with disabilities, especially older persons with disabilities, face increased financial exclusion due to inaccessible banking services and infrastructure; therefore calls for action to counter stigma, promote inclusive service design, provide financial education, and guarantee the availability of accessible in-person banking services at no extra charge; highlights that persons with disabilities, especially older persons with disabilities, face a higher risk of falling victim to online scams, therefore insists on the importance of reinforcing accessible technological literacy to enhance their protection;
32. Calls for the full implementation and strengthening of the European Accessibility Act, including the extension of its scope to cover all relevant goods and services in the single market, ensuring equal access for all consumers, and clear EU guidelines on universal design and inclusive access modes in services; stresses the importance of ensuring that digitalisation, including in banking and public services, does not reduce accessibility for persons with disabilities; highlights that persons with disabilities, especially older persons with disabilities, face increased financial exclusion due to inaccessible banking services and infrastructure, and higher risk of falling victim to online scams; therefore calls for action to counter stigma, promote inclusive service design, provide financial education, guarantee the availability of accessible and free of charge in-person banking services as well as reinforcing accessible technological literacy to enhance their protection;
33. Stresses, based on petitions submitted to Parliament on disability-related issues, the need to improve and enforce accessibility standards in the built environment; emphasises the need for compliance with standard EN 17210:2021 on ‘Accessibility and usability of the built environment – Functional requirements’, developed by CEN-CLC/JTC 11, which establishes common minimum functional requirements based on design for all / universal design principles; regrets the prolonged standardisation process, noting that this key standard for accessible built infrastructure was only adopted in 2021;
34. Recognises the importance of early detection and coordinated prenatal and postnatal care, including medical and social support, and highlights the need to reinforce the EU4Health programme, of which access to diagnosis is a key component; calls on the Member States and the Commission to strengthen and harmonise newborn screening programmes to ensure early detection and timely intervention in the case of rare diseases and conditions that may lead to lifelong disabilities; calls on the Commission to collect and publish integrated and disaggregated data on families with dependent children with disabilities, including variables such as household composition, per capita income, officially recognised degree of disability and publicly supported dependency-related expenditure, in order to be able to develop more targeted support measures; calls, furthermore, on the Commission to promote national frameworks that guarantee free and timely access to essential therapies for children and young adults with disabilities, including speech therapy, physiotherapy, mental health therapy and occupational therapy;
35. Recognises the lack of legal requirements for accessible labelling of products and goods sold in the single market and underlines that persons with disabilities should have access to all the necessary product information to allow them to make informed purchasing decisions; calls for a comprehensive study of possibilities for such accessible labelling while recognising that different needs are associated with different types of disabilities;
36. Calls on the Commission to ensure that the Member States render their emergency communications – especially answering calls to the single European emergency number 112 – accessible through both real-time text and total conversation, as part of their obligations under the European Electronic Communications Code, the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/444, and the European Accessibility Act;
37. Highlights the need to fully apply accessibility criteria already enshrined in EU legislation and to revise existing EU legislation on the accessibility of transport infrastructure and vehicles such as trains, buses, planes and boats; stresses the importance of ensuring that the revision of Regulation (EC) No 1107/2006 strengthens passenger rights and introduces enforceable provisions to prevent discrimination against and mishandling of mobility equipment; insists that the forthcoming single digital booking and ticketing regulation must comply fully with EU accessibility standards and guarantee the passenger rights of persons with disabilities and ensure the safety, dignity and autonomy of persons with disabilities throughout the entire travel experience across all Member States to ensure freedom of movement;
38. Calls on all EU institutions, including the Commission, Parliament and the Council and EU Agencies, to render their information and official interactions fully accessible to all persons with disabilities, including through international sign language together with solutions such as automatic speech-to-text;
39. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure that all information related to public services, health, education, employment and EU-funded programmes is made fully accessible to all persons with disabilities;
40. Calls for the establishment of clear sanctions and penalties for public authorities and private actors that fail to meet EU accessibility obligations, to guarantee that rights are effectively upheld;
41. Stresses the need to find an ambitious agreement on Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 on air passenger rights; notes, furthermore, that international organisations, such as the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), are working on global accessibility guidelines for the aviation sector; calls on the Commission, in its role as ad hoc observer to the ICAO, in coordination with the Member States, to actively and consistently prioritise the issue of the rights of persons with disabilities and the need for universal accessibility, with a view to establishing binding minimum standards;
42. Urges the Commission to revise Regulation (EU) No 1300/2014 on the accessibility of rail infrastructure for persons with disabilities in order to address and prevent the persistent challenges and discrimination faced by persons with disabilities when travelling within the EU;
43. Underlines that the swift implementation of the European Disability Card and European Parking Card should be accompanied by improved accessibility of transport infrastructure and public transport; stresses, in particular, the importance of ensuring that transport-related facilities, including service stations and rest areas along highways, are equipped with accessible facilities for persons with disabilities, including persons with high support needs; calls on the Commission to revise and harmonise accessibility standards for public transport, including rural and cross-border mobility, and to ensure full participation of disability organisations in the design, monitoring and evaluation of such systems;
44. Highlights that segregation in access to mainstream education for children with disabilities remains a challenge across the EU; calls on the Member States to ensure accessibility of education for children with disabilities, both in terms of physical infrastructure and educational resources, in order to guarantee equal opportunities for all pupils; highlights the potential of affordable assistive technologies and artificial intelligence in improving inclusive teaching methods for pupils with disabilities, by providing tailored educational support, adaptive learning tools and improved communication; encourages the Member States to invest in the development and deployment of these technologies, while ensuring that teachers are properly trained to integrate them into their teaching practices; further calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure robust safeguards against the misdiagnosis of Roma children as having mental disabilities or special educational needs, and to prevent the misuse of such diagnoses as a tool for educational segregation; stresses the importance of non-discriminatory assessment practices, as well as inclusive education policies that uphold the rights and dignity of all children; highlights the need for enhanced accessibility of built environments, including education infrastructure;
45. Calls on the Commission to recognise invisible disabilities that bring about long-term and substantial limitations; calls for the publication of a toolkit on invisible disabilities, in line with the strategy’s commitment to accessibility, inclusive health, employment and participation in society;
46. Stresses the importance of inclusive planning for patient pathways, treatment and integrated long-term care, particularly for individuals affected by chronic diseases such as migraines, diabetes, mental health conditions, cardiovascular, rheumatic, musculoskeletal, kidney and respiratory diseases, and cancer; calls on the Commission to undertake additional research to quantify the impact of disabilities and chronic diseases on European productivity and competitiveness, and to officially recognise chronic illnesses and long-term health conditions as forms of disability under EU non-discrimination law when functional limitations persist; recalls that collective bargaining agreements are vital tools for retaining workers with chronic diseases; calls for workplace adjustments for persons working with chronic or incurable diseases, and for adequate support for persons facing financial hardship due to such diseases or treatment thereof;
47. Calls on the Commission to develop guidelines and a dedicated support programme that provides for recommendations, best practices and tools to assist Member States in leveraging public procurement procedures and State aid to improve labour market outcomes for persons with disabilities; underlines that this should include support for the transition from sheltered to regular employment, as well as the promotion of good working conditions and the protection of labour rights for workers in sheltered workshops; underlines, additionally, that accessibility requirements should be integrated across relevant EU funding instruments and procurement practices;
Enjoying EU rights
48. Welcomes the Commission’s guide on good electoral practices in Member States addressing the participation of citizens with disabilities in the electoral process, published in 2023 ahead of the 2024 European elections; asks the Commission to assess the results of the 2024 European elections and to take the necessary legislative initiatives to ensure the equal right to vote and to stand for election of persons with disabilities; calls on the Member States to remove all discriminatory legal provisions and practical barriers that continue to prevent persons with disabilities from exercising their right to vote and to participate fully in political life, resulting in the under-representation of persons with disabilities in politics;
49. Welcomes the Commission’s decision not to withdraw the horizontal equal treatment directive from its 2025 work programme so as to fill the remaining gaps; urges the Commission to build on Parliament’s position and continue its efforts to achieve a Union of Equality and unblock this file; urges the Member States to reach a compromise agreement as soon as possible; reaffirms its support for proposals on anti-discrimination legislation to protect the right to equality of persons with disabilities in all areas of life;
50. Calls on the Commission to propose specific actions to support Member States’ efforts to transition from substitute decision-making to supported decision-making for the exercise of legal capacity, and to support training on supported decision-making for persons with disabilities, public officials, families, service providers and relevant stakeholders;
51. Calls for plenary debates in Parliament to be made available in International Sign Language in order to increase the participation of persons with disabilities in EU democratic processes, together with solutions such as automatic speech-to-text software;
52. Calls for the ESF+ to boost the effective implementation of the European care strategy in all Member States by investing in quality community-based and home care services and infrastructure, long-term care and support for persons with disabilities and quality early childhood education and care through community-based, child- and person-centred, high-quality, affordable and accessible public care systems that promote the autonomy of persons in need of care as well as their dignity and that of carers; calls for further investment in support for carers, both formal and informal, while at the same time ensuring decent working conditions for workers in the care sector, including adequate salaries, via a care deal; calls on the Member States to make full use of ESF+ funds to reinforce and finalise the deinstitutionalisation process so as to ensure that everybody can live in a family or community environment;
53. Urges the Commission to ensure that accessible, timely and effective complaint and redress mechanisms are made available and accessible to persons with disabilities in cases of employment discrimination or unlawful dismissal; stresses the need for legal aid and procedural accommodations in tribunals and national authorities;
Decent quality of life and independent living
54. Recognises that persons with disabilities encounter obstacles in accessing education and employment; calls for the Union of Skills and cohesion funds to enable greater investment in inclusive education, adaptations and accessibility in digital and vocational training, as well as to provide support in the transition to employment through adapted training and reasonable accommodations in the workplace, including flexible working conditions and return-to-work programmes; highlights the need to actively work towards a transition from sheltered workshops to open labour market employment; calls for the promotion of inclusive, accessible and non-discriminatory learning environments at all levels of education, lifelong learning and skills in accordance with Article 24 of the UNCRPD; believes that workers in sheltered workshops should at least receive adequate minimum wages and those specified in the collective agreements applicable to the sector; insists that these facilities be adequately equipped to provide professional counselling and training to their workers;
55. Calls on the Commission to ensure that all flagship initiatives and actions under the Union of Skills are inclusive of persons with disabilities and have a strong disability and gender equality dimension;
56. Insists on the importance of enhancing young persons with disabilities’ participation in mobility programmes such as Erasmus+, the European Solidarity Corps, DiscoverEU and European Universities Alliances, and in studying abroad in general;
57. Stresses that new distance learning and e-learning systems should be designed in an accessible manner and not replace in-person education, and that children should receive the support and accessible transport required to attend school, in line with Article 24 of the UNCRPD; calls on the Commission to reinforce the provision of inclusive education by developing EU guidelines to support Member States in establishing coherent policy and legislative frameworks, moving away from segregated education systems, and ensuring reasonable accommodations, training, teacher support and curricular adaptation to ensure inclusive education from early childhood education and care through to higher education;
58. Recalls the provision of Article 5 of Council Directive 2000/78/EC regarding reasonable accommodations for workers with disabilities; acknowledges the work of social partners in engaging in collective bargaining and social dialogue to negotiate and implement measures for reasonable accommodations in the workplace for persons with disabilities; calls on the Commission to strengthen the family and informal carer dimension of the European Disability Strategy post-2024 through a new flagship initiative that would include EU-funded actions aimed at facilitating access for informal carers and family members with disabilities to community and in-home support services, non-segregated housing, respite care, training and guidance;
59. Recognises that disability entitlements are fundamental support systems providing for the additional costs associated with disabilities; calls on the Member States to ensure the continuity and compatibility of such entitlements with wages and to guarantee that the lump sum of disability-specific welfare allowances are equal in value to at least the minimum wage envisaged in the relevant Member State, in order to maintain a decent quality of life;
60. Recognises the importance of the precautionary principle, as enshrined in the EU’s occupational safety and health acquis, which makes it mandatory for employers to conduct a risk assessment of the workplace and implement preventive measures to ensure safety and health at work; calls on employers to comply with their obligations regarding the prevention of occupational accidents and diseases, as established under the European occupational health and safety legislative acquis, including consultation with trade unions and adherence to the hierarchy of preventive measures; recognises that collective bargaining and social dialogue remain indispensable in supplementing these preventive efforts; reminds that collective bargaining agreements are vital tools for retaining workers with disabilities and chronic diseases and for preventing occupational health risks; stresses that disability caused by occupational accidents should be included in this updated Strategy, aligned with the EU Strategic Framework on Health and Safety at Work, with a special provision for the creation of an occupational risk insurance fund in the Member States; notes that, among other things, this fund should cover hospitalisation, medication, rehabilitation, disability aid tools, disability entitlements and compensation for accidents at work;
61. Calls on the Commission to establish an EU-funded employment and skills guarantee for persons with disabilities, without age restrictions, drawing inspiration from successful initiatives such as the Youth Guarantee, aimed at increasing the participation of persons with disabilities in the open labour market and facilitating access to employment, training and further education, and to ensure that all programmes are fully accessible and designed to support the transition from sheltered employment to regular employment, including guaranteeing the right of persons with disabilities to reasonable accommodation measures, where relevant;
62. Considers that this guarantee should be developed in close consultation with organisations representing persons with disabilities to ensure effective inclusion and prevent any form of discrimination or exclusion; considers that for this initiative to be successful, it is necessary to adopt a holistic approach including the mapping of beneficiaries and available services, outreach measures, personalised support towards employment, as well as strong cooperation with and incentives for private and public sector employers;
63. Underlines that persons with autism and other neurodevelopmental conditions face one of the highest rates of unemployment in Europe, standing at 90 %; calls for autism-specific employment programmes to be made available to ensure positive action recruitment programmes and to lead to tangible employment opportunities;
64. Calls on the Commission to ensure that persons with disabilities have equal access to paid and quality traineeships and apprenticeships and to propose a plan to develop the skills of persons with disabilities through internships, through targeted outreach, through mentorship schemes and through accessible application processes, as well as reasonable accommodations, including adaptations to physical and digital work environments, flexible training schedules and personalised support, particularly for those who rarely benefit from positive internship programmes, such as persons with intellectual disabilities; stresses that no one should be excluded on account of accessibility barriers or penalised by the loss of disability allowances or essential support; underlines that inclusive traineeships must form part of the transition pathways to quality employment;
65. Urges the Commission and the Member States to take the necessary steps to harmonise and expedite the recognition of severe neurological disorders and severe neurodivergent cases that encompass a wide range of conditions affecting the brain, nerves and spinal cord, such as autism and other spectrum disorders, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), dementia and chronic pain, ensuring access to social protection mechanisms, assistive technologies, personal assistance and palliative care, where appropriate and without administrative delays; calls on the Member States to ensure that persons with lifelong intellectual disabilities, such as Down Syndrome, retain the recognition of disability status and related rights upon reaching adulthood, avoiding unnecessary reassessments that lead to exclusion and emotional harm; calls for support for the development of EU-wide ‘migraine-friendly’ accessibility standards, including adjustable lighting, quiet zones, screen-filtering tools and remote participation options;
66. Stresses the need to promote inclusion, diversity and equality activities, such as guidelines and training for employers and fellow employees in order to support persons with disabilities in the open labour market and to phase out placements in sheltered workshops;
67. Calls on the Commission to develop a European disability employment and skills guarantee, building on the guidance and recommendations from the Disability Employment Package; calls, furthermore, for good working conditions and labour rights for workers in sheltered workshops to be ensured and for the transition from sheltered to regular employment to be supported;
68. Insists, in the context of the 2025 review of the EPSR and its action plan and of the update to the Disability Employment Package, on the explicit recognition of all employment models for persons with disabilities, including for persons with a chronic illness or post-treatment disabilities, respecting dignity and labour rights in line with the UNCRPD and ensuring fair and accessible working conditions for persons with disabilities;
69. Calls for the establishment of EU guidelines for inclusive workplace environments, including mandatory training for employers on disability inclusion, mental health, reasonable accommodations and anti-harassment protocols; supports the introduction of workplace accessibility audits and disability employment targets within public institutions;
70. Recognises the vital role of the social economy in promoting social inclusion and cohesion, addressing current challenges and reducing inequalities at all ages by generating quality employment opportunities for under-represented groups in the labour market, such as persons with disabilities;
71. Recalls the essential role of the ESF+ in supporting actions for persons with disabilities and insists that the ESF+ should be maintained as the main instrument for social cohesion and social inclusion; notes, however, that there is no special earmarking to address the needs of persons with disabilities under the ESF+ and calls for such provision in the next multiannual financial framework; underlines that the Member States must use this fund in compliance with the UNCRPD; underlines that the ESF+ is a key tool to support deinstitutionalisation in the Member States; notes that the take-up of ESF+ funding by organisations representing persons with disabilities and disability service providers should be fostered through capacity-building;
72. Recognises the accessibility challenges faced by persons with disabilities and their families, especially in rural and remote regions, and therefore calls for better coordination between the ESF+ and the European Regional Development Fund in order to improve access for persons with disabilities to healthcare services and long-term care in underserved regions, especially rural and remote areas; calls for a more efficient use of the ESF+ to support investment in long-term care services for persons with disabilities, provide training for caregivers and advance the implementation of the European Care Strategy;
73. Considers that access to quality affordable and accessible housing represents a challenge in the EU, in particular for persons with disabilities, to live independently and feel included socially; calls, therefore, for support for housing, in line with the principle of subsidiarity, including through existing support for renovation, and for the establishment of a fund within the framework of EU cohesion policy to support accessible and disability-inclusive social housing, including housing adaptation for individuals under rehabilitation or undergoing intensive treatment and promoting the development of housing that is well equipped for persons with disabilities or older people in the context of the European Affordable Housing Plan; stresses that the lack of accessible and inclusive housing options, along with insufficient community-based services, undermine the right to independent living and inclusion in the community as enshrined in Article 19 of the UNCRPD, and can lead to inadequate housing or lack of support; stresses the role of assistive technologies and innovative accessible technological solutions in supporting independent living;
74. Underlines the need to develop a holistic EU strategy on the transition from institutions to independent living and community-based services, linked to the Guidance on Independent Living and to the upcoming Framework for Social Services of Excellence; notes that this strategy should support Member States with this transition, starting from preventative measures such as family support, foster care and early childhood interventions, and should also address the upskilling and reskilling of support workers to offer more personalised assistance in line with the UNCRPD; highlights that the strategy should also include monitoring mechanisms, the development of community-based and support services, data collection on the number of persons living in institutions and the number of institutions, and opportunities for mutual learning and exchange of good practices to raise awareness among Member States and stakeholders;
75. Urges the Commission and the Member States to develop harmonised indicators and monitoring tools to track progress on accessibility, affordability and adequacy of housing for persons with disabilities in line with the EPSR and the UNCRPD; calls for periodic public reporting and disaggregated data collection, including through the EU Statistics on Income and Living Conditions and Urban Audit mechanisms;
76. Recalls the EU objective of transitioning from institutional to community- or family-based care; calls on the Commission to put forward an EU action plan on deinstitutionalisation for persons with disabilities in line with the UNCRPD, strengthening the sector of service provision for persons with disabilities, including children with disabilities, supporting families of persons with disabilities and including national strategic frameworks for deinstitutionalisation among the deliverables; stresses that the closure of an institution should go hand in hand with the development of community services;
77. Highlights the need to adopt a disability-inclusive approach to urban and rural development, with particular attention to independent living arrangements and inclusive public spaces; calls for stronger integration of disability considerations into EU cohesion policy, the Renovation Wave and national housing strategies;
78. Recognises the vital importance of integrating mental health considerations in all policy areas; acknowledges that persons with disabilities face significantly higher rates of mental distress compared to persons without disabilities; calls on the Commission to systematically take this into account in the forthcoming EU strategy for the rights of persons with disabilities and to mainstream mental health support across all relevant policies and programmes;
79. Calls on the Commission to publish EU guidelines to foster the development of high-quality family-centred early childhood intervention services, which are key to preventing segregation and foster inclusion for the next generation;
80. Stresses that persons with disabilities must be able to participate fully in cultural life not only as audiences, but also as creators, including as both amateur and professional artists; urges the Commission and the Member States to fully recognise and promote the creative contributions of artists with disabilities when designing and implementing relevant EU funding programmes; supports increased access to audiovisual services and content across the EU through a more harmonised and ambitious approach to implementing the accessibility provisions of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive;
81. Calls on the Commission to thoroughly research, monitor and assess the impact of algorithms deployed by large digital platforms on persons with disabilities, and to ensure the effective implementation of the relevant provisions of the Digital Services Actto tackle addictive and self-destructive algorithmic content, particularly where it disproportionately affects persons with disabilities; underlines the importance of including targeted measures for persons with disabilities in future legislative initiatives during this term, such as the upcoming action plan against cyberbullying and the digital fairness act; calls further on the Commission and the Member States to strengthen digital literacy and promote critical online awareness among persons with disabilities;
82. Insists that the Commission’s new Guidance on independent living and inclusion in the community in the context of EU funding be referenced in the funding regulations for the next multiannual financial framework, particularly the ESF+, the European Regional Development Fund and the Common Provisions Regulation;
83. Warns against the replication of institutional practices in community settings, or the replacement of large-scale institutional settings with smaller ones where the conditions for independent living and inclusion in the community are not met; stresses, in this regard, the importance of flexibility, choice, participation and inclusion of persons with disabilities as defining criteria for quality services; recommends that Member States establish clear national quality standards for care and support services, with a robust inspection system and outcome-based evaluation mechanisms;
84. Recognises the significant physical, mental and social benefits of sports for persons with disabilities and calls for the inclusion of persons with disabilities in sporting activities at all levels, from amateur to elite, to the fullest extent possible; calls on the Commission and the Member States to promote the development and accessibility of adapted sports by supporting inclusive sporting infrastructure, training of specialised staff and the participation of persons with disabilities;
85. Welcomes, in this regard, the Commission Guidance on independent living and inclusion in the community of persons with disabilities in the context of EU funding; calls on the Commission to launch an open method of coordination on deinstitutionalisation in order to move towards the development of common approaches to achieve the objectives outlined in the Guidance and assess the national measures adopted following the Council conclusions on enhancing community-based support and care for independent living;
86. Calls on the Commission to propose EU-level guidelines to support Member States in introducing high-quality standards for care settings, in line with the principles of dignity, safety and respect for human rights, not only covering the adequacy and accessibility of physical facilities, but also ensuring sufficient and well-trained staff, safe working conditions and person-centred care practices;
87. Calls on the Commission to issue a recommendation that all Member States align their national laws with the UNCRPD; calls for the EU and the remaining Member States who have not yet done so to ratify the UNCRPD Optional Protocol to allow for an individual complaints mechanism and better monitoring of the UNCRPD’s implementation;
88. Highlights that children with disabilities are among the target groups of the European Child Guarantee; calls on the Member States to step up their efforts to implement this instrument; stresses that the objectives of the Child Guarantee cannot be achieved without an ambitious dedicated budget at both EU and national level and reiterates in this context its call for the allocation of a substantial dedicated budget for the European Child Guarantee; calls further on the Commission to provide an ambitious budget for the Child Guarantee in the next multiannual financial framework in order to respond to the growing challenge of child poverty and social exclusion, especially for children with disabilities;
89. Recalls that the Council recommendation of December 2022 on early childhood education and care recommends that the Member States introduce targeted measures to increase participation in early childhood education and care of children with disabilities and support training programmes for early childhood education and care staff to ensure the provision of high-quality services for children with disabilities; regrets that the measures put in place by the Member States have not yet resulted in the closure of the participation gap in early childhood education and care between children with disabilities and the overall population of children; considers that the accessibility of high-quality early childhood education and care for children with disabilities is necessary for their overall development and for their parents to re-enter the labour market;
Equal access and non-discrimination
90. Recognises the challenges faced by women and girls with disabilities and notes that women with disabilities face higher rates of violence against women and cyber and domestic violence including cases of forced sterilisation, forced abortion and physical restraint; calls on all EU Member States to ratify the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence;
91. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to prioritise the prevention of gender-based violence against women with disabilities, both offline and online, in future legislation and strategies, including cases of forced sterilisation; calls on the Commission, in this regard, to criminalise the forced sterilisation of persons with disabilities with no exception based on disability or legal capacity, and to ensure equal access to sexual and reproductive healthcare, justice and compensation for victims;
92. Emphasises the need to ensure full access to justice for persons with disabilities through effective procedural accommodations, including but not limited to the provision of sign language interpretation, video testimony, documents in Braille and easy-to-read formats, and improved training for judicial and legal personnel; calls for strengthened legal awareness, aid and guidance for particularly vulnerable victims of crime, including children, women and older persons with disabilities, through accessible information both online and offline, including dedicated websites and information leaflets;
93. Emphasises the importance of promoting equal opportunities for women with disabilities, including supporting initiatives aimed at improving their access to leadership and decision-making roles across all sectors, so that the value of their work is also fairly recognised and rewarded in higher positions; calls on the Commission and the Member States to invest in accessible, inclusive and targeted EU-wide learning tools and training programmes specifically designed to support leadership development among women with disabilities, taking into account intersecting barriers and ensuring availability in accessible formats (e.g. Braille, sign language, easy-to-read, etc.);
94. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to address the invisibility of violence against women and girls with disabilities, particularly those with intellectual, cognitive or psychosocial disabilities; recalls that under Directive (EU) 2024/1385 on combating violence against women, Member States are required to provide specific support for women with disabilities who are victims of violence, to take into account their specific circumstances when assessing their protection needs, recognising the intersection between certain forms of violence against women such as female genital mutilation and disability, and to take targeted preventive measures in accessible formats in order to prioritise the prevention of violence against women with disabilities, both offline and online, in future legislation and strategies;
95. Emphasises that persons with disabilities are at higher risk of being the victims of hate speech and hate crime; welcomes the Commission proposal to extend the list of EU crimes to hate speech and hate crime; urges the Council to take measures in order to reach an outcome on this process;
96. Recalls the need to give visibility to the rights of women with disabilities and their role as active participants in society; emphasises the importance of promoting equal opportunities for women with disabilities, including supporting initiatives aimed at improving their access to leadership and decision-making roles across all sectors, so that the value of their work is fairly recognised and rewarded in higher positions; calls on the Commission and the Member States to actively promote the political participation of women with disabilities by removing structural barriers, ensuring accessibility in electoral and decision-making processes, supporting leadership training and fostering inclusive representation in political parties, institutions and advisory bodies;
97. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to address, at EU level, the barriers to accessing high-quality healthcare and care services for women in all their diversity, including barriers faced by women and girls with disabilities; notes with concern that persons with disabilities, including women and girls with disabilities, face barriers to accessing comprehensive healthcare and violations of their equal right to healthcare; calls on the Commission to make progress on its commitment to provide guidance to the Member States on equal access to healthcare, including sexual and reproductive healthcare, for persons with disabilities, based on inclusive, accessible and person-centred healthcare, free and informed consent as announced in the strategy, as well as mental health, gynaecological care, perinatal support and support in crisis situations, such as domestic violence;
98. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to strengthen their efforts to address discrimination faced by women with disabilities, who continue to face high unemployment rates and lower pay;
99. Highlights the role of the media in increasing the representation of persons with disabilities, their rights and perspectives, and spreading disability-sensitive messages, which can contribute to raising public awareness about disabilities and, in particular, about the skills and capabilities of persons with disabilities; supports inclusive and accessible communication campaigns that focus on the promotion of inclusion, diversity and equality around disability issues, both general and specific in scope, as regards less known disabilities such as deafblindness; stresses that without such awareness, persons with disabilities can face barriers and feel invisible in their communities and social environments, thus affecting their participation therein; encourages the development of awareness-raising campaigns at national and EU level to combat harmful stereotypes and prejudices about disabilities that also affect women with disabilities, with an emphasis on empowering messages and representation, and greater visibility in the media;
100. Recalls the Commission’s commitment to launch a study to evaluate the implementation of Article 30 of the UNCRPD to support Member States in developing policies to increase the participation of and support for persons with disabilities in sports, culture, art and leisure activities;
101. Stresses the need to continue strengthening the protection of persons with disabilities against discrimination by facilitating access to equality bodies and ensuring the implementation of relevant provisions of the directives on standards for equality bodies;
Support for the families and carers of persons with disabilities
102. Recognises that persons with disabilities, in particular those with complex support needs, may rely on their families to provide daily care and support, especially when there is a lack of available services in their community; acknowledges the fundamental and often invisible role played by families, in particular parents and other informal carers – disproportionally women in both cases – in providing daily care and support to persons with disabilities;
103. Highlights the importance of developing robust systems for independent living support, including personal assistance schemes, so that persons with disabilities are not solely reliant on family members for care and can live autonomously; calls for targeted support for young and young adult carers, including access to equitable educational arrangements, mental health services and formal recognition of their caregiving responsibilities to prevent social and educational exclusion;
104. Calls for an EU strategy on the transition from institutions to community-based care that includes family, in order to finalise the process of shifting the provision of care from institutions to community-based services that promote independent living, in line with the UNCRPD;
105. Stresses the need to support and recognise the essential role played by caregivers and families in the lives of persons with disabilities, including by addressing the specific needs of informal carers; calls on all Member States to fully and effectively implement Directive (EU) 2019/1158 on work-life balance for parents and carers, ensuring adequate leave, flexible working arrangements and social protections for caregivers; emphasises the gender dimension of caregiving and calls for policies that promote gender equality in care roles, including measures to ensure that caregiving responsibilities are more equally shared between caregivers;
106. Recognises, furthermore, the fundamental role of professionals in the care and support sector – including personal assistants, support workers, social workers, nurses and other front-line care staff – in enabling persons with disabilities to live with dignity and autonomy in the community; highlights also the urgent need to ensure that families and informal carers are supported through access to high-quality respite care services, enabling them to rest, work and participate fully in social life without compromising the health, stability or well-being of the persons with disabilities they support;
107. Recalls that both the EU and the Member States should step up their efforts to ensure the implementation of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the UNCRPD and to strengthen rights protection, while respecting their respective competences; urges the Commission to provide the necessary support to Member States to ensure that sufficient resources are allocated to the bodies designated pursuant to Article 33(2) of the UNCRPD so they can fulfil their tasks effectively and efficiently;
108. Calls on the Commission to ensure that EU cultural and creative programmes such as Creative Europe, Erasmus+ and the New European Bauhaus are fully inclusive of artists with disabilities, by introducing accessibility requirements and technical assistance to ensure the participation of artists with disabilities, including those with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities;
109. Emphasises the need to provide psychological and emotional support to families and informal carers, including counselling and peer support programmes, recognising the mental health burden often carried by those who provide long-term care under difficult conditions;
110. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to improve the working conditions in the care and support sector by ensuring fair wages, access to continuous professional training, adequate staffing levels and social protection, including healthcare, sick leave and pension rights; emphasises the need to ensure decent wages and collective bargaining rights for all care workers and to support the transition from informal care roles to formal employment for family caregivers;
111. Calls on the Commission to swiftly present the announced European Care Deal, recognising long-term care as a social responsibility rather than a private one;
Promoting the rights of persons with disabilities globally
112. Insists that the EU should support candidate countries in undertaking concrete measures to align with the EU’s accessibility standards prior to their accession to the EU, with particular attention to services used by women and girls;
113. Underlines that the EU should further mainstream a disability rights dimension in its external action and cooperation policies, including in relation to armed conflicts, humanitarian emergencies and natural disasters, and, in particular, in the gender action plan and the human rights and democracy action plan; calls on the Commission to present an EU disability action plan for external action;
114. Welcomes the inclusion of persons with disabilities in the EU Global Health Strategy; calls on the Commission to ensure that the EU Preparedness Union Strategy fully addresses the needs of persons with disabilities and that emergency responses uphold their dignity, autonomy and safety, including through the distribution of accessible alerts and communications, including advanced mobile location and total conversation for all emergency numbers, mobility accommodations and the training of emergency personnel to respectfully and effectively assist persons with a range of disabilities;
115. Considers it necessary to include persons with disabilities in the design of EU-funded humanitarian aid to ensure that there is an inclusive, accessible and effective approach; demands that all EU-funded humanitarian aid operations apply the humanitarian inclusion standards for persons with disabilities, ensuring inclusive, accessible and non-discriminatory support in crisis situations;
Awareness, governance and measuring progress
116. Recalls that, according to the strategy, EU institutions should make selection, recruitment, employment and retention processes disability-inclusive, and should improve the accessibility of buildings and communication technologies;
117. Asks the Commission to include Parliament at a political level in the Disability Platform and to establish an interinstitutional structured dialogue to follow up on, monitor and evaluate the inclusion of persons with disabilities in Member States in all areas and in all policies, sharing best practice and providing recommendations; asks the Commission, additionally, to regularly report to Parliament on the progress made in disability mainstreaming across all EU policies and programmes, ensuring democratic oversight, accountability, structured political dialogue and participatory governance on disability rights across the EU; recommends that persons with disabilities and their representatives be involved in drafting and monitoring the regulations affecting their rights, given their direct experience and expertise;
118. Stresses that petitions received by Parliament are a valuable tool for identifying critical, possible and justifiable shortcomings in the implementation of the UNCRPD or legislation relating to the rights of persons with disabilities; calls, therefore, on the Commission and the Member States to systematically take into account the findings and concerns raised through petitions when monitoring and reviewing disability-related legislation and funding programmes; calls for greater involvement of persons with disabilities in policymaking under the principle of ‘nothing about us without us’; urges the establishment of structured interinstitutional dialogue to monitor and evaluate the implementation of the EU’s strategy for the rights of persons with disabilities;
119. Calls on the Commission, in cooperation with Parliament’s Committee on Petitions, to publish an annual report summarising trends, issues and follow-up actions related to disability-focused petitions submitted to Parliament, such that this report should feed into the mid-term and final evaluations of the EU strategy for the rights of persons with disabilities;
120. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to include ‘equal access and non-discrimination for persons with disabilities’ as a dedicated priority theme within the EU Urban Agenda, in order to foster inclusive urban development and facilitate the exchange of best practices between cities, recognising that accessibility, inclusive housing and awareness-raising begin at the level of local governance;
121. Calls on the Member States to develop strategies to combat bullying and harassment directed against children and young persons with disabilities, including in educational contexts and online, and that these strategies recognise disability as a basis for discrimination;
122. Invites the Commission to present evaluation reports on the implementation of regulations and directives related to persons with disabilities, following the end of the transposition period, and to take any necessary actions; calls on the Member States to transpose said directives within the set time limits and with the highest possible level of ambition;
123. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to improve the collection of data on institutionalised populations and deinstitutionalisation efforts, disaggregated by age, gender and setting, and to report this data annually;
124. Calls on the EU institutions to develop programmes under their internal staff policies for traineeship and apprenticeship opportunities for persons with disabilities;
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125. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission.