On the occasion of 2011 Freedom Drive, ENIL launched a Proposal for a Resolution of the European Parliament on the effect of cuts in public spending on persons with disabilities in the European Union. This Resolution outlines measures that should be taken by the Member States, the European Council and the European Commission to ensure that cuts in public spending do not lead to further social exclusion and institutionalisation of people with disabilities. ENIL argues that doing so is everyone’s responsibility under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
ENIL has received information from many of its members about the way cuts are affecting Independent Living services for people with disabilities, such as personal assistance and direct payments. Some of the examples are listed in the Background note accompanying the Proposal.
The Proposal was presented to Members of the European Parliament at the Disability Intergroup meeting on 15 September 2011. Following that, ENIL has continued with a series of lobbying activities, in order to get the needed support for the Resolution from MEPs. If you are in favour of the Resolution, we would like to encourage you to support us! Here are some of the things you can do:
- Lobby your MEPs – send them a copy of the Proposed Resolution and write a letter; explain in a meeting why they should support the Proposed Resolution. (You can find the names and e-mails of your MEPs here)
- Approach other organisations in your country and ask them to join your lobbying activities;
- Carry out awareness-raising activities among other people with disabilities and the wider public, on the effect of cuts on Independent Living;
- If you have been affected by the cuts, please let us know and we can bring this to the attention of MEPs during our lobbying activities;
- Check http://www.enil.eu for updates and other ways to get involved.
For more information, please contact Ines Bulic, ENIL Policy officer and Regional Teams Manager at ines.bulic@enil.eu.
Download the full text of the proposal in English (DOC)
Download the Background note in English (DOC)
Another EU Languages:
Full text of the proposal in Swedish (DOC)
Full text of the proposal in Bulgarian (DOC)
Full text of the proposal in Norwegian (DOC)
Full text of the proposal in Greek (DOC)
Full text of the proposal in German (DOC)
Full text of the proposal in Czech (DOC)
Full text of the proposal in Spanish (DOC)
Full text of the proposal in Slovenian (DOC)
Background note in Slovenian (DOC)
Full text of the proposal in Dutch (DOC)
Full text of the proposal in French (DOC)
if you cannot find your language and you are interested in collaborate with the translation, please contact us: secretariat@enil.eu
Personal budgets taken away from 117.000 people in the Netherlands! 
Since the beginning of this week we hear rumors about serious slashing in the personal budgets in Holland. 90% of the persons who organize their support and care with a personal budget would loose it … it seemed to be a bad joke. Sadly it’s a bitter reality!
