When Elena called me on the morning of Wednesday, May 20, I quickly told her I didn’t have time and had pleased her she should be short. This is my standard response to phone calls when I draw. “Wait, I HAVE to tell you that. Emil died tonight. ”At that moment, I collapsed and a…
My pathway to disability research was not a straightforward one but it’s certainly an interesting one. Originally, I had studied international economics at the University of Novi Sad, Serbia, and obtained a master’s degree there but I’ve never seen myself as the practitioner in the field of finance. What’s more, I didn’t exhibit much interest…
COVID has been restricting our travel ability for a while now. To make sure we do not forget the good old time when we could travel through much of Europe without border controls, I will share with you my experience of booking a train and train assistance for a journey from Brussels (Belgium) to Rennes…
We are the FREEkey. We are a team of disabled and non-disabled people. The aim of our bottom-up initiative is to provide services that allow persons with disabilities to live in a self-determined way. This means we want to control our lives, to be able to decide on issues that concern us and are important…
At the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the disabled people’s independent living movement in Scotland had been making progress, influencing national policy making with the Scottish Government and other strategic policy makers, in a variety of ways. Principally, among such progress, the national pan-disability organisation – Inclusion Scotland – had just started to support a…
When people ask me how I started to work with disabled people’s organisations, my usual answer is that it was an accidental choice. As a skint university student of Hungarian literature and linguistics in Budapest in 1999, I needed a job so I ended up working as a part-time personal assistant to people with severe…
Brussels, 3 April – Advice from governments, in light of COVID 19, has been for people to stay at home. For people belonging to high risk groups, including many persons with disabilities, the message to self-isolate and to stay at a distance from other people has been even clearer, or imposed by law. However, for…
Spain is among the countries most affected by the corona virus (COVID-19) pandemic. We asked the Forum for Independent Living in Spain for their account of what is going on in their country, and how it is impacting disabled people in the community and in institutions. “From the start, with the surprise and the limited…
On 29 January 2020, the European Commission published its 2020 workplan. ENIL has analysed it and decided to highlight some of the most promising initiatives in the area of social policy. Please read on for an overview of what to expect from the EU’s social front this and next year. Green Pillar? Remember the European…
As we schedule our ‘out of office’ replies at the European Network on Independent Living and start counting down to the end of yet another year, I would like to briefly reflect on 2019 and what it meant for us. Firstly, we will remember this year by turning 30 and taking the first steps into…
Being a member of ENIL for four years, and half of that time using the chance to be part of ENIL Youth Network Board gave me the opportunity to become its representative at Advisory Council on Youth of Council of Europe. It is a privilege and an honor for one disability rights activist. My mandate…
On 17 October, ENIL’s Advocacy Officer, Frank Sioen, represented ENIL at the conference “ICavi Models of Independent Living” in Porto. The aim of the conference was to collect feedback on the current Pilot Personal Assistance (PA) legislation in view of the upcoming review of this pilot project. The conference started with an overview of the…
The Disability High Level Group held its second meeting on 23rd October in Brussels, bringing together representatives of the social welfare Ministries from the Member States, EU-level NGOs and the staff of the Disability Unit at DG Employment (at the European Commission). On the agenda was the CRPD implementation, the European Disability Strategy, the UN…
ENIL’s regional members’ meeting took place in Warsaw on 9 and 10 September. The meeting was organized in cooperation with our Polish member – the Independent Living Institute from Warsaw. The meeting provided an opportunity for our members (around 35 participants), from Belgium, Belarus, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Norway, Russia, Slovenia, and Sweden, to…
ENIL is pleased to launch a briefing paper on the Freedom of Movement, which explores what this means for disabled people in the European Union (EU). The paper starts by discussing the concepts and the legal basis for the right of free movement in the EU. It goes on to look at existing initiatives linked to…
On 12 August, the European Network on Independent Living and the Alliance for Inclusive Education (ALLFIE), from the UK, submitted written comments to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), in the case of M.C. and others. v. Romania. ENIL and ALLFIE decided to intervene in the case to help the European Court understand that…
In November 2018, the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities adopted the General Comment No. 7 on the participation of persons with disabilities, including children with disabilities, through their representative organisations, in the implementation and monitoring of the Convention. This most recent General Comment is significant, among others, because it clarifies which organisations…
The European Commission has launched a public consultation on the European Disability Strategy (EDS) 2010-2020, which is the EU’s main policy document in the field of disability. It sets out objectives and actions for implementing disability policy at the EU level. EDS will end in 2020, which is why the European Commission is now evaluating…
Ruling against Ştefan Stoian fails to protect the right to education of learners with disabilities, and blames their parents instead. For years Ştefan Stoain was carried on his mother’s back so he could attend his class in a second-floor classroom. On several occasions Ştefan was refused support by the school to access the bathroom, leaving…
The European Network on Independent Living (ENIL) is looking for a 6 – 9 months European Solidarity Corps volunteer. ENIL is an NGO run by and for disabled people. Our main goals are to promote the right of all disabled people to live independently and to be included in the community. As a European Solidarity…
