Europe in Action

In Valencia on December 15, 2015 ENIL with partners hosted a successful event on Personal Assistance as a tool for full participation in society and for leaving institutions behind.

In the framework of advocacy ENIL is represented at many events and meetings. Some of the December ones are reported below. In the second part of this article you will find an update with interesting news from other NGOs and the European institutions.

To celebrate the International Day of persons with disabilities the European Commission, in cooperation with the European Disability Forum (EDF), organized a conference under the theme “2015: Growing Together In a Barrier-Free Europe” on 7th and 8th December in Brussels.

ENIL brings the latest news from the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe with great pleasure. During their 1241st meeting on 24th-26th November 2015 the Committee adopted the nomination of 30 new members of the Advisory Council on Youth (CCJ) for the period 2016-2017. The ENIL Youth Network board member Agnes Fazekas is one of the nominees.

On the day after the celebrations ENIL makes an overview of the numerous and exciting events that happened throughout Europe. The list of events below is by no means exhaustive, it only gives a flavour of the tremendous excitement that could be felt thanks to all independent living and human rights activist!

In honor of the 2015 International Day of Persons with Disabilities, the European Network on Independent Living (ENIL) launches the Independent Living Research Network.

On the 2nd December, right before the International Day of persons with disabilities, the EU Alliance against disability cuts held an open meeting in the European Parliament hosted by MEP Richard Howitt (S&D, UK).

As a run up to the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, the European Commission published the first draft of the long anticipated European Accessibility Act (EAA).

On 27th November Miro Griffiths (former ENIL Board member and current supporter) was speaking at the first annual Rushton Social Justice Lecture at Liverpool town hall, organised by the user-led disability arts organisation DaDaFest.

Almost two months have passed after the huge and successful ENIL Brussels Freedom Drive 2015! Herewith we present you with some of the important follow-ups of the event.

On 3rd December we celebrate the International Day of Disabled People. Join ENIL on this day and share with us what you plan to do!

Precisely 3 months ago (on 18th August) ENIL published an article informing the wide public about one of our activities this year. ENIL is updating the information about Personal Assistance (PA) services available across Europe which was initially collected and analysed in 2013.

In Control is a UK national charity working for an inclusive society where everyone has the support they need to live a good life and make a valued contribution.

The international and domestic economies started to implode in 2008 in what has become known as the ‘Great Recession’. Ireland was particularly badly affected by the crisis and had to be bailed out by Europe and the International Monetary Fund.

On 4th November around 10 000 disabled people and their supporters gathered in the center of Athens, Greece, to protest about the impact of the crisis on disabled persons’ lives in Greece.

In their October 2015 newsletter our friends from Learning Disability Alliance Scotland (LDAS) highlighted that people with learning disabilities die earlier than most people and generally enjoy poorer health.

The independent living activist from Northern Ireland Michael Holden shares with us what it is to go back to your home country and instead of feeling warmly welcomed, to meet the cold barriers of the physical environment that isolate you from normal life in the community.

STIL, the founders of Independent Living in Sweden, yesterday issued a statement claiming that the Swedish government is pitting marginalized groups against each another.

UNAPEI, a French organisation defending the rights of disabled people , delivers today a black book to the French Social Security to denounce the exile of disabled French citizens placed in Belgium institutions.

Deinstitutionalisation (DI) is among the most painful topics in the fight for independent living. Still neglected. Still misused. We still face re-institutionalisation instead of the actual DI process and this affects the lives of thousands of people across Europe while governments claim that measures are taken and problems are resolved.