At its June 2025 plenary session, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) adopted a forward-looking opinion on the future of the EU Strategy on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, calling for a more ambitious and binding approach for the 2025–2030 period.
believes it is crucial to include persons with disabilities throughout the process of designing, developing, assessing and implementing new technologies and AI-based applications. This involvement is key to mitigating potential discriminatory risks;
invites the Member States and the EU to audit and evaluate to what extent AI applications are inclusive in critical fields;
believes further follow-up is required to protect persons with disabilities from the harmful application of supposedly limited risk systems, particularly in the field of employment and recruitment;
underlines the importance of ensuring the general accessibility of services and goods that apply new technologies and AI based solutions
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) held a debate to celebrate both the International Day of Persons with Disabilities and Olympic spirit during its plenary session on 5 December in Brussels.
The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), has adopted an opinion supporting the inclusion of persons with disabilities in the open labour market, calling for the promotion of measures and policies (including the setup of a joint fund between Member States) that would buttress these efforts.
regrets that exclusion from the labour market is still a widespread issue, especially affecting women with disabilities and people with the most severe disabilities and believes that solutions such as sheltered employment often end up perpetrating segregation;
urges Member States to promote policies and measures that strengthen access to the open labour market and the Commission to implement the related policy actions under the Disability Employment Package;
calls on the Member States to step up the employment of persons with disabilities, for example through a joint fund for reasonable accommodation. Such fund would be financed by private and public employers who fall short of any set quotas.
Only nine EU countries criminalise forced sterilisation as a distinct offence, while 13 allow it to be performed on persons with disabilities – and in three of those countries that includes minors. When it comes to the sexual and reproductive health rights of women with disabilities, the EU is far from being a union of equality, an EESC hearing revealed
The EESC is calling for the scope of the Commission proposal for a European Disability Card to be expanded to cover longer stays for work and study, with the goal of fully achieving freedom of movement of persons with disabilities in the EU
On International Day of Persons with Disabilities, we spoke to the EESC's Vice President for Budget, Krzysztof Pater, who authored the 2019 information report on the rights of persons with disabilities to vote in European elections
One of the top priorities of the disability movement, called for for many years, the European Disability Card will enable people with disabilities to exercise their fundamental right to freedom of movement in the EU on the same footing as people without disabilities.
Persistent health inequalities are a huge factor behind the twofold higher mortality rate of people with disabilities, who on average die 10 to 20 years earlier than people without a disability. At the top of the list of barriers creating such inequalities are exorbitant treatment costs, inaccessible transport and health facilities, and stigma – but also a healthcare workforce that lacks proper training on disability issues.
