The European Network on Independent Living – ENIL is excited to announce that the 2019 Freedom Drive will take place on 1 – 3 October 2019, in Brussels.
The 2019 Freedom Drive will be special, because ENIL will be celebrating its 30thbirthday! We will also have the new European Parliament and the European Commission, so it will be an opportunity to follow up on all of the commitments made during the elections, meet new MEPs and Commission officials.
In addition to the protest march and the meeting with MEPs and the Commission, we expect to have a number of workshops, a conference, our General Assembly and, of course, a birthday party.
We are thankful to the Bente Foundation for funding a part of the Freedom Drive costs and will be seeking to raise additional funds from the Brussels city and the region. In the coming months, we will be coming out with ideas for fundraising at the national level, to make sure we have a good representation from all our members and allies.
Thank you to all those who responded to our Freedom Drive survey – the vote was split between Brussels and other cities. In the end, the ENIL Board decided to have the 2019 Freedom Drive in Brussels, because the opportunity to meet with MEPs, permanent representations and other policy and decision makers is such an important part of the event. Also, the Board felt that having a new Parliament in place is a great opportunity to raise awareness of Independent Living and to advocate for our rights. We have chosen the first week in October 2019, because hotel prices are lower and the Parliament is in session.
Please mark the dates in your diary and start planning your trips to Brussels! We hope to see many of you next year. Please look out for future regular updates on our website and the social media. If you haven’t done so already, do like our Freedom Drive Facebook page.
For more information, please contact secretariat@enil.eu.
NOTE: This post was edited on 16 October 2018 and the date was changed to 1 – 3 October 2019. This the final date for the 2019 Freedom Drive.
