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Like every year, EBU participated in the European Day Of Persons with Disabilities conference (“EDPD”), co-organised by the European Commission’s DG JUST and our umbrella organisation the European Disability Forum. This year’s event, on 4-5 December, focused on 3 very topical issues:
- The European Disability Rights Strategy 2021-2030 – We had welcomed the confirmation, earlier this year, that the new Commission would update the Strategy at the halfway stage with new initiatives anchored in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (“CRPD”). The Commission is extensively consulting civil society organisations, and the EDPD25 is part of this process. Participants underlined the importance of having measurable targets, as well as tools (namely data on disability) for the monitoring of progress. Also highlighted by several speakers is the persistent discrimination for persons with disabilities in the exercise of their fundamental right to free movement in Europe, due to differences in the assessment of their disability—something that the future European Disability Card fails to address beyond short-term travel abroad.
- The Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), the EU 7-year budget – The next MFF will cover the period 2028-2034. The Commission is currently negotiating its proposal with the European Parliament and the European Council. Our concern, of course, is the part in that budget for promoting the inclusion of persons with disabilities. The issues around the MFF are very technical. In short, the core issue for us, as well put by speakers, is whether we prefer more potential funding for our cause than in the current budget, but without the current guarantees on spending, or on the contrary insist on earmarking of social spending, but with a likely lower budget part. In any case, one crucial marker of successful advocacy for the MFF is whether the reference to the CRPD will be kept in the horizontal principles for the use of EU funds. Worryingly, this is not the case in the Commission’s proposal, which only refers far more loosely to the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.
- Preparedness and crisis management – There was general agreement that persons with disabilities remain largely unprotected, namely because representative organisations are not involved in emergency plans and rescues. This resonates, of course, in the context of climate changes and the war in Ukraine. And the accessibility defaults of the European emergency number 112 were again discussed.
As always, there was a slot in the EDPD conference for the Access City Award, which rewards best practices in how local authorities make cities more accessible. Interestingly, Valencia (Spain) received the special mention award on crisis preparedness.
On phase II of the current Disability Rights Strategy, we further participated in a European Commission Strategic Dialogue meeting with civil society organisations, to stress our main demands. The consultation process will continue in early 2026 with a proper public consultation.
Regarding the MFF, solicited through the European Association of Service providers (EASPD), we joined a Fundacion ONCE “EUFund4SocialCoalition” initiative of a letter to the European Council. This follows up on the joint statement of October "100 billion Euros for social spending? The devil's in the details".
Employment
We have now finalised our background note on the compatibility of disability benefits with employment and stand ready to use it in advocacy in the new year for the next European Semester process.
Inclusive design
We responded to the Commission’s call for evidence for evaluation and impact assessment of Audiovisual Media Services Directive, and published our contribution as a statement.
We responded positively to our Spanish member organisation’s (ONCE) call for support by way of a joint letter with EDF and EASPD to the European Commission’s Executive Vice-President for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy, about the following deep concern: due to the Commission's recent objection to the draft Spanish Royal Decree on accessible labelling of consumer products, Spain is being forced to withdraw the initiative, despite its relevance to the protection of consumer health and safety and the effective exercise of the fundamental rights of persons with visual impairments. A worrying case of “smooth running of the EU Single Market” arguments hindering the emergence of best practices for accessibility. If anything, the Commission should promote best practices within the Single Market, we argue. Our recommendation to refer to the positive example of PharmaBraille was followed by ONCE. The EBU Advocacy Committee will likely be alerted to this development in the new year.
Mobility
The Commission announced for the first quarter of 2026 a call for evidence on the European Social Security Pass, which will simplify how EU citizens moving to or working in other EU countries interact with relevant authorities or service providers in the context of social security. If appropriate, we will take this opportunity to push our arguments about recognition of disability status in mobility within Europe.
Miscellaneous
We were solicited by the European Broadcasting Union to join their position to defend Public Service Broadcasting in the context of the mid-term evaluation of the Broadcasting Communication. We declined their offer in the absence of an advocacy angle relevant to our mission.