Commissioner for Equality Helena Dalli issued today the following statement on the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

“Today, as we celebrate the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, we are reminded that persons with disabilities face innumerable difficulties in their daily life. Together, we must lift those barriers so that all of us can enjoy equal rights and opportunities.

Last year, we launched the EU Strategy on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2021-2030 to ensure that everyone can fully participate in our societies and to combat discrimination.

As one of the seven flagship initiatives announced in the Strategy, the Commission adopted the Disability Employment Package this year to provide guidance to employers and public authorities and further promote the inclusion of persons with disabilities in the labour market.  

Today, we want to pay special attention to persons with disabilities who have fled Russia’s unjustified war of aggression against Ukraine and who have found a safe haven in the EU.

Under the Temporary Protection Directive, the Commission has set up a Solidarity Platform to coordinate with Member States the reception of persons with disabilities coming from Ukraine, their social inclusion and their access to the job market. Our support for persons with disabilities fleeing Ukraine illustrates the progress we have made together on our way towards a Union of equality. However, there is still a lot to do.

We encourage Member States to continue their efforts, for instance by fully implementing the European Accessibility Act.

The Commission will step up its work with new initiatives: we will launch the AccessibleEU resource centre to increase coherence in accessibility policies and facilitate access to relevant knowledge.

We will also propose a European Disability Card to grant equal access to benefits across borders for persons with disabilities, mainly in culture, leisure, sport and transport.

Let us continue working together to build a fair and inclusive society for all.”

Background

In 2011, the EU and all its Member States committed to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to ensure the rights of the 87 million persons with disabilities in Europe. The inclusion of people with disabilities is enshrined as principle 17 of the European Pillar of Social Rights.

The European Commission is currently running the Together for Rights awareness-raising campaign to promote the rights of persons with disabilities across Europe and beyond.

The campaign is part of the Commission's Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, published in March 2021.