European Commission vows to make Europe accessible for people with disabilities

Published connected 07/05/2026 - 11:59 GMT+2•Updated 12:00

Around 90 cardinal radical successful the European Union unrecorded with a disability.

“It could beryllium you, it could beryllium me,” Hadja Lahbib, European Commissioner for Equality, told Euronews’s flagship greeting show, Europe Today.

Lahbib presented the European Commission’s “Enhancing the Strategy for the rights of persons with disabilities up to 2030” communication, a halfway cheque of its 2021-2030 Strategy for the Rights of persons with disabilities.

“We person achieved a batch successful the 5 erstwhile years, but determination are a batch of things that request to beryllium fixed,” said Lahbib.

The reinforced EU strategy, presented connected Wednesday, aims to enactment a “stronger absorption connected implementation, transportation connected the crushed and existent interaction for people’s lives.”

Lahbib said the strategy listens to the needs of radical with disabilities, aiming to mainstream accessibility from exertion and artificial quality to antiauthoritarian information successful elections.

“Now we are alert that their archetypal requests are 3 things: they privation to beryllium much included successful the labour market, much autarkic living, and much accessibility successful general,” she added.

Push for autarkic surviving and inclusion successful the labour market

The enhanced strategy includes launching an Alliance for Independent Living to regenerate institutions with community-based services.

Lahbib stressed that everyone should determine for themselves with whom and wherever they privation to live.

“That is what we telephone deinstitutionalisation, to beryllium definite that a idiosyncratic with disabilities tin unrecorded their ain beingness independently, and it is astir their dignity and their choice,” she said.

The Commission’s connection besides strengthens its efforts to amended the labour marketplace and accessibility for radical with disabilities.

One of the renewed objectives includes improving the implementation of the Disability Employment Package.

For disablement groups crossed Europe, the Commission's inaugural lacks ambition.

“The Disability Strategy has the close words, but it lacks teeth and strength," Yannis Vardakastanis, president of the European Disability Forum, said successful a statement.

We renew our telephone for stronger measures, dedicated funding, and for the Commission to enactment the Union of Equality backmost connected its governmental agenda,” helium added.