Changes from report parliamentary committee draft to plenary report

Added60. 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;

Added61. 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;

Added62. 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;

Added63. 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;

Added64. 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;

Added65. 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;

Added66. 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;

Added67. 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;

Added68. 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;

Added69. 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;

Added70. 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;

Added71. 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;

Added72. 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;

Added73. 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;

Added74. 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;

Added75. 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;

Added76. 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;

Added77. 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;

Added78. Calls on the Commission to publish EU guidelines to foster the development of high-quality family-centred early childhood intervention services, which are key to preventing segregation and foster inclusion for the next generation;

Added79. Stresses that persons with disabilities must be able to participate fully in cultural life not only as audiences, but also as creators, including as both amateur and professional artists; urges the Commission and the Member States to fully recognise and promote the creative contributions of artists with disabilities when designing and implementing relevant EU funding programmes; supports increased access to audiovisual services and content across the EU through a more harmonised and ambitious approach to implementing the accessibility provisions of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive;

Added80. Calls on the Commission to thoroughly research, monitor and assess the impact of algorithms deployed by large digital platforms on persons with disabilities, and to ensure the effective implementation of the relevant provisions of the Digital Services Actto tackle addictive and self-destructive algorithmic content, particularly where it disproportionately affects persons with disabilities; underlines the importance of including targeted measures for persons with disabilities in future legislative initiatives during this term, such as the upcoming action plan against cyberbullying and the digital fairness act; calls further on the Commission and the Member States to strengthen digital literacy and promote critical online awareness among persons with disabilities;

Added81. Insists that the Commission’s new Guidance on independent living and inclusion in the community in the context of EU funding be referenced in the funding regulations for the next multiannual financial framework, particularly the ESF+, the European Regional Development Fund and the Common Provisions Regulation;

Added82. Warns against the replication of institutional practices in community settings, or the replacement of large-scale institutional settings with smaller ones where the conditions for independent living and inclusion in the community are not met; stresses, in this regard, the importance of flexibility, choice, participation and inclusion of persons with disabilities as defining criteria for quality services; recommends that Member States establish clear national quality standards for care and support services, with a robust inspection system and outcome-based evaluation mechanisms;

Added83. Recognises the significant physical, mental and social benefits of sports for persons with disabilities and calls for the inclusion of persons with disabilities in sporting activities at all levels, from amateur to elite, to the fullest extent possible; calls on the Commission and the Member States to promote the development and accessibility of adapted sports by supporting inclusive sporting infrastructure, training of specialised staff and the participation of persons with disabilities;

Added84. Welcomes, in this regard, the Commission Guidance on independent living and inclusion in the community of persons with disabilities in the context of EU funding; calls on the Commission to launch an open method of coordination on deinstitutionalisation in order to move towards the development of common approaches to achieve the objectives outlined in the Guidance and assess the national measures adopted following the Council conclusions on enhancing community-based support and care for independent living;

Added85. Calls on the Commission to propose EU-level guidelines to support Member States in introducing high-quality standards for care settings, in line with the principles of dignity, safety and respect for human rights, not only covering the adequacy and accessibility of physical facilities, but also ensuring sufficient and well-trained staff, safe working conditions and person-centred care practices;

Added86. Calls on the Commission to issue a recommendation that all Member States align their national laws with the UNCRPD; calls for the EU and the remaining Member States who have not yet done so to ratify the UNCRPD Optional Protocol to allow for an individual complaints mechanism and better monitoring of the UNCRPD’s implementation;

Added87. Highlights that children with disabilities are among the target groups of the European Child Guarantee; calls on the Member States to step up their efforts to implement this instrument; stresses that the objectives of the Child Guarantee cannot be achieved without an ambitious dedicated budget at both EU and national level and reiterates in this context its call for a dedicated budget of at least EUR 20 billion for the European Child Guarantee; calls further on the Commission to provide an ambitious budget for the Child Guarantee in the next multiannual financial framework in order to respond to the growing challenge of child poverty and social exclusion, especially for children with disabilities;

Added88. Recalls that the Council recommendation of December 2022 on early childhood education and care recommends that the Member States introduce targeted measures to increase participation in early childhood education and care of children with disabilities and support training programmes for early childhood education and care staff to ensure the provision of high-quality services for children with disabilities; regrets that the measures put in place by the Member States have not yet resulted in the closure of the participation gap in early childhood education and care between children with disabilities and the overall population of children; considers that the accessibility of high-quality early childhood education and care for children with disabilities is necessary for their overall development and for their parents to re-enter the labour market;

Equal access and non-discrimination

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Changed22.89. Recognises the challenges faced by women and girls with disabilities and notes that women with disabilities face higher rates of violence against women and cyber and domestic violence including cases of forced sterilisation, forced abortion and physical restraint; calls on all EU Member States to ratify the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence;

Change 12

Removed23. Recalls the need to give visibility to the rights of women with disabilities and their role as active participants in society;

Added90. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to prioritise the prevention of gender-based violence against women with disabilities, both offline and online, in future legislation and strategies, including cases of forced sterilisation; calls on the Commission, in this regard, to criminalise the forced sterilisation of persons with disabilities with no exception based on disability or legal capacity, and to ensure equal access to sexual and reproductive healthcare, justice and compensation for victims;

Removed24. Calls on the Commission to address, at EU level, the barriers to accessing healthcare for women in all their diversity, including barriers faced by women and girls with disabilities;

Added91. Emphasises the need to ensure full access to justice for persons with disabilities through effective procedural accommodations, including but not limited to the provision of sign language interpretation, video testimony, documents in Braille and easy-to-read formats, and improved training for judicial and legal personnel; calls for strengthened legal awareness, aid and guidance for particularly vulnerable victims of crime, including children, women and older persons with disabilities, through accessible information both online and offline, including dedicated websites and information leaflets;

Removed25. Calls on the Commission to strengthen its efforts to address discrimination faced by women with disabilities, who continue to face high unemployment rates and lower pay;

Added92. Emphasises the importance of promoting equal opportunities for women with disabilities, including supporting initiatives aimed at improving their access to leadership and decision-making roles across all sectors, so that the value of their work is also fairly recognised and rewarded in higher positions; calls on the Commission and the Member States to invest in accessible, inclusive and targeted EU-wide learning tools and training programmes specifically designed to support leadership development among women with disabilities, taking into account intersecting barriers and ensuring availability in accessible formats (e.g. Braille, sign language, easy-to-read, etc.);

Added93. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to address the invisibility of violence against women and girls with disabilities, particularly those with intellectual, cognitive or psychosocial disabilities; recalls that under Directive (EU) 2024/1385 on combating violence against women, Member States are required to provide specific support for women with disabilities who are victims of violence, to take into account their specific circumstances when assessing their protection needs, recognising the intersection between certain forms of violence against women such as female genital mutilation and disability, and to take targeted preventive measures in accessible formats in order to prioritise the prevention of violence against women with disabilities, both offline and online, in future legislation and strategies;

Added94. Emphasises that persons with disabilities are at higher risk of being the victims of hate speech and hate crime; welcomes the Commission proposal to extend the list of EU crimes to hate speech and hate crime; urges the Council to take measures in order to reach an outcome on this process;

Added95. Recalls the need to give visibility to the rights of women with disabilities and their role as active participants in society; emphasises the importance of promoting equal opportunities for women with disabilities, including supporting initiatives aimed at improving their access to leadership and decision-making roles across all sectors, so that the value of their work is fairly recognised and rewarded in higher positions; calls on the Commission and the Member States to actively promote the political participation of women with disabilities by removing structural barriers, ensuring accessibility in electoral and decision-making processes, supporting leadership training and fostering inclusive representation in political parties, institutions and advisory bodies;

Added96. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to address, at EU level, the barriers to accessing high-quality healthcare and care services for women in all their diversity, including barriers faced by women and girls with disabilities; notes with concern that persons with disabilities, including women and girls with disabilities, face barriers to accessing comprehensive healthcare and violations of their equal right to healthcare; calls on the Commission to make progress on its commitment to provide guidance to the Member States on equal access to healthcare, including sexual and reproductive healthcare, for persons with disabilities, based on inclusive, accessible and person-centred healthcare, free and informed consent as announced in the strategy, as well as mental health, gynaecological care, perinatal support and support in crisis situations, such as domestic violence;

Added97. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to strengthen their efforts to address discrimination faced by women with disabilities, who continue to face high unemployment rates and lower pay;

Added98. Highlights the role of the media in increasing the representation of persons with disabilities, their rights and perspectives, and spreading disability-sensitive messages, which can contribute to raising public awareness about disabilities and, in particular, about the skills and capabilities of persons with disabilities; supports inclusive and accessible communication campaigns that focus on the promotion of inclusion, diversity and equality around disability issues, both general and specific in scope, as regards less known disabilities such as deafblindness; stresses that without such awareness, persons with disabilities can face barriers and feel invisible in their communities and social environments, thus affecting their participation therein; encourages the development of awareness-raising campaigns at national and EU level to combat harmful stereotypes and prejudices about disabilities that also affect women with disabilities, with an emphasis on empowering messages and representation, and greater visibility in the media;

Added99. Recalls the Commission’s commitment to launch a study to evaluate the implementation of Article 30 of the UNCRPD to support Member States in developing policies to increase the participation of and support for persons with disabilities in sports, culture, art and leisure activities;

Added100. Stresses the need to continue strengthening the protection of persons with disabilities against discrimination by facilitating access to equality bodies and ensuring the implementation of relevant provisions of the directives on standards for equality bodies;

AddedSupport for the families and carers of persons with disabilities

Added101. Recognises that persons with disabilities, in particular those with complex support needs, may rely on their families to provide daily care and support, especially when there is a lack of available services in their community; acknowledges the fundamental and often invisible role played by families, in particular parents and other informal carers – disproportionally women in both cases – in providing daily care and support to persons with disabilities;

Added102. Highlights the importance of developing robust systems for independent living support, including personal assistance schemes, so that persons with disabilities are not solely reliant on family members for care and can live autonomously; calls for targeted support for young and young adult carers, including access to equitable educational arrangements, mental health services and formal recognition of their caregiving responsibilities to prevent social and educational exclusion;

Added103. Calls for an EU strategy on the transition from institutions to community-based care that includes family, in order to finalise the process of shifting the provision of care from institutions to community-based services that promote independent living, in line with the UNCRPD;

Added104. Stresses the need to support and recognise the essential role played by caregivers and families in the lives of persons with disabilities, including by addressing the specific needs of informal carers; calls on all Member States to fully and effectively implement Directive (EU) 2019/1158 on work-life balance for parents and carers, ensuring adequate leave, flexible working arrangements and social protections for caregivers; emphasises the gender dimension of caregiving and calls for policies that promote gender equality in care roles, including measures to ensure that caregiving responsibilities are more equally shared between caregivers;

Added105. Recognises, furthermore, the fundamental role of professionals in the care and support sector – including personal assistants, support workers, social workers, nurses and other front-line care staff – in enabling persons with disabilities to live with dignity and autonomy in the community; highlights also the urgent need to ensure that families and informal carers are supported through access to high-quality respite care services, enabling them to rest, work and participate fully in social life without compromising the health, stability or well-being of the persons with disabilities they support;

Added106. Recalls that both the EU and the Member States should step up their efforts to ensure the implementation of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the UNCRPD and to strengthen rights protection, while respecting their respective competences; urges the Commission to provide the necessary support to Member States to ensure that sufficient resources are allocated to the bodies designated pursuant to Article 33(2) of the UNCRPD so they can fulfil their tasks effectively and efficiently;

Added107. Calls on the Commission to ensure that EU cultural and creative programmes such as Creative Europe, Erasmus+ and the New European Bauhaus are fully inclusive of artists with disabilities, by introducing accessibility requirements and technical assistance to ensure the participation of artists with disabilities, including those with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities;

Added108. Emphasises the need to provide psychological and emotional support to families and informal carers, including counselling and peer support programmes, recognising the mental health burden often carried by those who provide long-term care under difficult conditions;

Added109. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to improve the working conditions in the care and support sector by ensuring fair wages, access to continuous professional training, adequate staffing levels and social protection, including healthcare, sick leave and pension rights; emphasises the need to ensure decent wages and collective bargaining rights for all care workers and to support the transition from informal care roles to formal employment for family caregivers;

Added110. Calls on the Commission to swiftly present the announced European Care Deal, recognising long-term care as a social responsibility rather than a private one;

Promoting the rights of persons with disabilities globally

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Changed26.111. Insists that the EU should support candidate countries toin undertakeundertaking concrete measures to align with the EU’s accessibility standards prior to their accession;accession to the EU, with particular attention to services used by women and girls;

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Changed27.112. Underlines that the UnionEU should further mainstream thea disability rights dimension in its external action and cooperation policies, including in particularrelation to armed conflicts, humanitarian emergencies and natural disasters, and, in particular, in the gender action plan and the human rights and democracy action plan, andplan; calls on the Commission to present an EU disability action plan for external action;

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Removed28. Considers it necessary to include persons with disabilities in EU-funded humanitarian aid to ensure that there is an inclusive, accessible and effective approach;