Europe in Action

At the end of 2015, the European Commission launched a public consultation on the European Disability Strategy 2010 – 2020.

The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) and Zero Project announce their call for nominations of exceptional and innovative best practices in accessible and inclusive urban development.

“Open House” is a world-wide project that enables visitors to experience outstanding and unique architecture from around the world.

On 26th January 2016, ENIL submitted a position paper to the European Commission with the aim to outline the strengths of the proposed European Accessibility Act (EAA) and to propose changes that will ensure EAA is suited to the needs of all disabled EU citizens.

On 19th April 2016, the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities will hold a Day of General Discussion (DGD) on Article 19 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) – the right of persons with disabilities to live independently and be included in the community.

The report from the conference celebrating the Day of Persons with Disabilities on 7-8 December 2015 – “Growing together in a barrier-free Europe” has just been released.

On Tuesday, 16th February strong and adamant Independent Living activists from the Centre for Independent Living in Firenze-Toscana (Italy) occupied the headquarters of the Regional Parliament protesting against the budget cuts implied by the state on independent living funds for disabled people.

ENIL, through Jamie Bolling, visited APF – l’Association des Paralysés de France in Paris in January 2016. APF is an organisation for disabled people with many activities including the running of institutions.

The Zero Project 2016 conference happened. In Vienna, February 10th – 12th, the Zero Project 2016 Conference with over 500 persons had a flowing energy with networking at a high.

ENIL informs you that the European Commission will soon publish 28 country reports assessing the economic, social and employment situation in its Member states.

The Independent Living organization of Greece “i-living” was founded in December 2014 and is the only Greek organization that promotes Independent Living. “i-living” is a disabled people’s organization which follows the trend of modern human rights advocacy.

Three years ago disabled people in Latvia received fantastic news – personal assistance (PA) legislation was to be introduced in Latvia. The legislation came into effect on 1st January 2013. In short, disabled people could apply for personal assistance funded through the national government and administrated by the local municipalities. It did not take long…

Since 2014 ENIL, along with its members and supporters, celebrate Independent Living and its philosophy on May 5th – the European Day for Independent Living. Join us this year again!

The final events of the Independent Living Network (ILNET) project took place in December 2015 – January 2016.

Thursday, 21st January 2016, will be remembered as the day when the Netherlands finally has adopted the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD). With this action the Netherlands becomes one of the last countries in Europe which officially recognises disabled persons’ human rights.

Happy 2016 to all ENIL members and supporters! I hope the holidays have been peaceful and a time to recharge batteries for a great year to come. Looking back 2015 was a fruitful year…

Lancaster University’s Centre for Disability Research announces its 8th Disability Studies conference. It will take place between 6th and 8th September 2016.

A little more than a year ago ENIL published a Myth Buster on Independent Living dealing with some of the most common misconceptions about disabled people, independent living and personal assistance…

ENIL’s advisory panel member Raffaello Belli recently wrote an article as a reaction to the commonplace excuses of the authority figures in Italy when it comes to lack of funding for personal assistance. ENIL is perseveringly working in the area and next week a report on the situation of the personal assistance in Europe will be published.

The International Foundation for Applied Disability Research (FIRAH) today opens its 2016 Call for Projects for applied research on disabilities and an Autism and New Technologies Call for Projects.