European Union Disability Policies after 2020: Back to the Future – Easy to Read Version

Social Structures

Easy to Read Version

Author: Delia Ferri – Co-Director of the ALL Institute, Department of Law, Maynooth University. EtR Translation Hilary Hooks

Ireland is one of a group of countries in Europe called the European Union. 

The European Union works to make Europe better.

In 2010 The European Union made a plan to promote the rights of people with disabilities.

This plan is called the European Disability Strategy 2010-2020 (EDS).

It was a plan for 10 years.   The plan is now coming to an end.

It is time to think about what has changed for the better and what the next plan should include.   

Now is a good time to think about this because the 3^rd of December is the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

The United Nations (UN) is an organisation made up of many countries working together. It works to make the world a safer and better place.

The United Nations approved an agreement that lists a number of things countries could do to make the lives of people with disabilities better. 

The agreement is called the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).

The European Union agreed to implement the CRPD.

The EDS was intended to put the CRPD into practice and to help countries of the European Union to follow the CRPD.

The EDS plan said that there were 8 areas where countries should make changes:

1. Making sure that people with disabilities are able to access things
2. Ensuring that people take part in society
3. Ensuring that people with disabilities are treated fairly and equally
4. Making sure that people with disabilities get a job
5. Ensure that people with disabilities can go to school and get training
6. Helping people with disabilities get through difficult times
7. Making sure that people with disabilities can have access to the health service
8. Helping people outside the European Union.

The European Commission is a group of people in charge of setting up policies for the European Union. 

The European Commission has agreed to make changes in each area of the EDS plan.

The EDS plan also includes some new tools to help countries in the European Union work together.

An important item on the CRPD list is ensuring that people with disabilities know what their rights are.

The EDS plan and the CRPD both say that is important to get good information before they make any decisions.

The EDS has not made as many of these improvements as we hoped.

More improvements are needed in most areas.

The EDS plan needed to be bigger, better and have more money given to it.

A report about the EDS plan says what people think about the plan.

The report says:

1. There have been some good changes.
2. The EDS plan was not broad enough to be able to help with everything on the CRPD.
3. Some countries in the European Union were happier with the EDS plan than others.

To make the next plan to help people with disabilities a good one, we need to

1. Include the views of people with disabilities on what is important
2. Make this plan fit with each countries’ own plans
3. Use tools to help countries work with each other and with the European Union.

Right now, we are living through a pandemic, the coronavirus.

People with disabilities have been badly affected.

Even when the pandemic ends, the world will be different because of it.

This 3^rd of December 2020 is not like any previous International Day of Persons with Disabilities. 

Everything has been different this year because of the pandemic.

The pandemic has made it especially unfair for people with disabilities. 

Everyday things have become even more difficult. 

Some people have not been treated well or given medical care because of disabilities. 

The next European Union plan should include plans to help people with disabilities in the time of a pandemic.

The European Commissions has an event every year to mark the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

This year the event is looking at the how the pandemic has affected persons with disabilities.

The pandemic has given the countries in the European Union a reason to work more closely together. 

Perhaps they might work more closely in the future for people with disabilities too.  This would be a good thing.

One way to do this is to make a European Health Union.

The European Health Union is the idea that countries in the European Union come together to look after the health of all Europeans.