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Good news: the updated EU Strategy for the rights of persons with disabilities (Enhancing the strategy for the rights of persons with disabilities up to 2030) has been included in the Commission’s 2026 work programme, as a non-legislative initiative, with adoption date in the second quarter of 2026. After consultation meetings within the EU Disability Platform, a call for evidence and an open public consultation will be launched as soon as possible, likely in the course of November. The Commission aims to adopt its Disability Strategy progress report in 2026 (no earlier) together with a set of new actions for its phase II. Of influence will be the consultations with Member States, and CSOs as well as the positions of the European Parliament, EU Council, and ECOSOC.
About the Strategy, there was an EU Disability Platform plenary ad hoc consultation meeting on CSO’s priorities for continued Disability Rights Strategy. Asked to indicate up to 5 priorities, connecting them to the 8 defined priority areas of the Strategy, with concrete recommendations, EBU pointed out:
- Mobility: a new initiative, complementary to European Disability Card, to cover persons with disabilities moving their residence to another Member State, at least in transition between two social security systems;
- Political participation: use the dialogue with Member States to support a reform of the EU electoral law along the lines of the European Parliament’s own-initiative legislative resolution;
- Employment: address, as part of the Disability Employment Package, the “disability benefits trap” issue and engage Member States to support reforms of social protection;
- Accessibility and Access to culture: after ongoing review, achieve a revision of the EU Marrakesh Treaty Directive that will get rid of the possibility for Member States to provide for compensation for rights-holders; and
- Measuring progress: support Eurostat efforts to evolve toward data disaggregated by type of disability, beyond employment.
In reaction to the various interventions, the European Commission pinpointed some demands already, including our points about disability benefits trap and disability status in mobility, as well as two important points raised by EDF: an initiative on affordability of assistive technologies and an “omnibus on transport” flagship initiative. COM also underlined the relevance of the European Semester process where the key responsibility lies with Member States, as well as the importance of the next long-term EU budget) as that determines where and how EU money is spent.
Invited to provide follow-up written input, we sent to the Commission’s DG JUST a written recap and fine-tuning of our 5 top priorities, and added the revision of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive, top strengthen its Article 7 on Accessibility.
The EBU Advocacy Committee held its annual in-person meeting in Vilnius, on 18-19 October. This, as usual, was a moment to take stock of advocacy outcomes and discuss future activities with member organisations. The meeting started with a discussion with Ms Svajūnė Sirvydytė, Vice-Chair of the Lithuanian Commission for the Coordination of Accessibility of Products and Services, about the implementation of the European Accessibility Act. The agenda of the meeting included, inter alia:
- A brainstorming about a future EBU awareness-raising campaign on the accessibility of household appliances
- Exchanges about the EBU background note for the European Semester process on the compatibility of disability benefits in cash with earnings from work
- Updates and discussions around on AVAS for silent cars, making payment terminals accessible under the EAA, the EU policy on sports, the promotion of braille with UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, and the accessibility of Euro notes.
- The opening of an EBU branch office in Brussels in 2026 was also discussed.
At the EU Disability Platform plenary meeting, the Danish Presidency of EU said they not only pursues progress at the EU Council on the Equal Treatment Directive proposal, but beyond that, would like to engage Member States in a discussion about what to do concretely to tackle discrimination. The update of the Disability Rights Strategy and the European Accessibility Act were also on the agenda—see above and below.
We took part in a joint statement (EASP initiative) on ESF+ in the next long-term EU budget. The statement flags that crucial safeguards are still missing in the €100 billion promised for social spending.
Employment
We continued our work on drafting a note for the European Semester process. Based on further analysis and feedback received from our members, and after presentation at Advocacy Committee meeting in Vilnius, a revised draft was sent again to our members in the EU for another round of proof-reading.
Inclusive design
At the Disability Platform plenary, the European Commission reacted to criticism by Austria that it is impossible to implement the EAA if the relevant standards are not ready: importantly, the Commission stressed that the Directive is directly applicable and sufficient in detail by itself. The 3 European standards to be reviewed and the 2 new standards to be adopted will only be voluntary and bring, if followed, a presumption of conformity of products and services. While it is true that the European standardisation bodies are late, that is no excuse for implementing and complying with the EAA. Its provisions are at least as detailed as the equivalent standards in the US, for example.
We also attended the EDF-Microsoft European Accessibility Summit 2025, the which agenda covered the EAA, AI, public procurement, inclusive training, and digital skills.
We were invited to a Digital Europe workshop aiming to validate their study carried out on behalf of AccessibleEU, on how companies across the EU (both large enterprises and SMEs) approach accessibility. The study looks at awareness and perceptions, as well as the design, development, and delivery of accessible products and services. Its objective is to identify what support is needed to strengthen accessibility practices across sectors and Member States. Jakob Rosin (Estonia) represented EBU, building on input from the Advocacy Committee and Accessibility and Digitalisation working groups.
Mobility
We took part in a European Commission consultation meeting on the features of the physical versions of the future European Disability Card and European Parking Card for persons with disabilities. Thanks to input from several of our members and with the participation of our French member, we answered 3 key questions raised by the Commission:
- On security features against fraud,
- On the “A” letter for assistant (Disability Card), and
- On the connection with a car licence plate (Parking Card).
Our French member sent written elements to the Commission, in follow-up to the meeting, in concertation with EBU.
Miscellaneous
The Commission opened its call for evidence on a Communication on “A Strategic Vision for Sport in Europe: Reinforcing the European Sport Model” - Sports Taskforce informed and asked whether they want to add to their advance written contribution (deadline 8 December). Passed on to leader of Sport Taskforce, who reacted with additional text for the EBU response in light of the background paper.
We received from the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights a call for input on equal participation of persons with disabilities in political life (as actors, not voters), to inform the report of the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to the Human Rights Council (March 2026). We forwarded this call to the Advocacy Committee and Accessibility Working Group, for direct input from our members. Solicited directly by the same Special Rapporteur, we aim to also respond to her call for inputs. Her report will raise awareness of existing barriers and formulate practical recommendations to ensure persons with disabilities have equal opportunities to stand in elections and hold public office, particularly in local and national elections.