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The Polish Presidency of the EU made a declaration on raising awareness about the rights of persons with disabilities, endorsed by all Member States except Finland and Sweden. The declaration includes commitments related to the Disability Employment Package and the European Accessibility Act (EAA). EBU members in the EU were asked to communicate on this and to monitor the delivery on commitments.
We responded to a public consultation by the European Commission’s Directorate General for Employment and Social Affairs (DG EMPL) on the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan.
We were consulted by the Council of Europe Steering Committee on Democracy, on the draft parameters for the implementation of the Reykjavik Principles for democracy, focusing for our part on accessible elections and equality and inclusion.
The summer was marked by continued preparation of the annual Advocacy Committee meeting, taking place in Vilnius, Lithuania, on 18-19 October.
Employment
We continued the work on a note for the European Semester process on the compatibility of disability benefits with employment. Members were chased for input, namely by way of response to a questionnaire and comments on a draft note.
We were invited by DG EMPL to speak at the Zero Project Conference (Vienna, 18-20 February) on the use of ICT in the provision of reasonable accommodation in employment, to give the perspective of visually impaired people. Our Board Member and Employment and Training Working Group member Anja Ursic will represent EBU.
DG EMPL also solicited us to provide volunteers for a Europass accessibility testing exercise. We passed on the call for expressions of interest to the members of the Accessibility and Digitalisation Working Groups members and received a significant number of positive responses.
Inclusive design
The AccessibleEU event on the accessibility of banking services, in collaboration with EBU and European Banking Federation, with participation of the European Disability Forum (EDF) and the AGE Platform, took place on July 1st. This was one of our deliverables under CERV funding for 2025. We used it as an opportunity to communicate on our recommendations for payment terminals, among other things.
We also attended another AccessibleEU event, on the entry into effect of the EAA. Some EBU experts actively participated, namely from Belgium and Estonia.
We responded to a European Commission call for evidence on the review of EU Standardisation Regulation. Further, we exchanged information with EDF about the future proper consultation on the same matter.
Mobility
Our French member has been very active in recent months in providing input to EDF for their response on the consultation by European Railway Agency on the upcoming revision of the TSI-PRM (rail accessibility standard).
Miscellaneous
The Sports Working Group, on our request, provided an advance text for response to an announced European Commission call for evidence on sport, which will be a first of consultation before a proper public consultation on Inclusive Sport.
Good news! It was leaked in the news and confirmed by EDF from bilateral contacts: the European Commission has decided to reverse its decision to withdraw its proposal for an Equal Treatment Directive. We await official confirmation to communicate on this result of the loud lobbying of disability organisations. It now falls on the Danish and subsequent presidencies of the EU to overcome the opposition of Germany, Italy and Czechia.
We responded to a DG EMPL consultation on the EU Anti-Poverty Strategy, essentially to put across our message about disability benefits, and access to education and employment.