ETUI  reports the difficulties persons with disabilities face to move from one EU country to another

ETUI  reports the difficulties persons with disabilities face to move from one EU country to another

In September 2025, the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI), published a policy brief examining the barriers that hinder the cross-border mobility of people with disabilities within Member States and EU policy efforts to comply with the UN Convention for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD). It also provides policy suggestions for the effective implementation of benefit portability and points to further policy actions aimed at guaranteeing their rights.

The Policy Brief provides several policy recommendations:

• People with disabilities who move from one European Union (EU) Member State to another need both to revalidate their disability status and apply for social benefits in their new place of residence. This means, de facto, that it can take years before their disability is recognised and their social benefits secured.
• There should be cross-border recognition of disability status and exportability of social benefits for work or study in all EU countries. To this end, disability assessment methods should be standardised in all Member States and national procedures for accessing disability benefits should not be required when the latter have already been granted in another EU country.
• It is essential to make all mobility-related goods and services accessible, including transport systems, documentation and ticketing, assistance services and information and communication technologies (ICT).
• A reliable and up-to-date database on the mobility of people with disabilities should be established to calculate how many people with disabilities move between EU countries annually, to differentiate the reasons for cross-border mobility and to identify the number of workers with disabilities who have been able to export their social benefits legally and effectively.

ETUI Policy Brief “Mobility for people with disabilities in the EU: next steps” available here.