European Parliament and European Economic and Social Committee publish their views on upcoming actions of the disability strategy

European Parliament and European Economic and Social Committee publish their views on upcoming actions of the disability strategy

In February and October 2025 respectively, the European Economic and Social Committee, and the European Parliament published their positions regarding the upcoming actions of the European Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The main points raised by both institutions in their reports include the following:

• The Commission should work on ensuring the adoption of the Equal Treatment Directive, which has been stuck in Council negotiations since 2009 (background available in previous EPR articles here, here and here).
• The Commission should establish an EU-funded employment and skills guarantee for persons with disabilities, without age restrictions, drawing inspiration from 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.
• The Commission should develop legislation that will guarantee the availability and affordability of assistive technologies for persons with disabilities in the EU single market. Legislation should tackle the issue of national certification schemes preventing persons with disabilities from accessing the assistive technology best suited to them, and ensure that economic operators and users take full advantage of the EU single market and benefit from the free movement of products and services.
• The Commission should develop a holistic EU strategy for the transition from institutions to independent living and community-based services.
• The Commission should propose legislation 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.
• The Commission should monitor the implementation of the first half of the Strategy, and assess whether a post-2030 Strategy is needed and the issues to be addressed.
• The need for ambitious funding in the upcoming long-term EU Budget (the 2028-2034 Multiannual Financial Framework) for social cohesion to complement and implement the Disability Strategy.

European Parliament Report on the EU strategy for the rights of persons with disabilities post-2024 available here.

EESC Opinion The future of the EU Strategy on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities post-2025 available here.