Changes from plenary report to adopted text

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;

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;