On 26 November, ENIL met with Katrin Langensiepen MEP to discuss the European Disability card.
Policy officer Florian Sanden talked to Langensiepen about the proposal for a directive that will bring in the Disability card and European Parking card for all Member States. Together considering the scope of the directive, Sanden pointed to the directives potential to advance the rights of people with disabilities to freedom of movement by providing temporary protection to those who move to a different member state for work or study.
This temporary protection would allow people with disabilities to benefit from essential services such as personal assistance until their disability can be reassessed in their new country of residence.
Further points raised were the matter of including people with disabilities in the consultancy process of the directive. ENIL supports the Co-production framework for involving citizens with disabilities in the creation of legislation directly effecting them.
MEP Langensiepen welcomed the ENIL recommendations and agreed to continue cooperating to achieve a useful disability card.
During the meeting Langensiepen took the time to engage with ENIL’s current ESC volunteer, Fionn Crombie Angus. Fionn conducted a short interview which will be one in a series with various EU Officials. Fionn wants to discover what disability rights mean and matter to the decision makers within the EU.
ENIL looks forward to seeing what the Parliament puts forward in its Amendments and hope our calls are reflected.
