"End 'no go' areas for disabled people" - appeal from new European Parliament Group
A new pledge has been made this week to ensure a promised European Union law to require access for disabled people to shops, work places and transport in Britain and across Europe is finally lodged in the European Parliament.
The 'final push' to ensure publication of the draft law which was left pending during the changeover between the former and current European Commission will to be a 'top priority' of the new All-Party Disability Rights Group in the European Parliament, according to its newly elected Co-President Richard Howitt MEP.
The British Labour Euro MP who is a former President of the Group in previous parliamentary terms and worked as a disability rights campaigner before being first elected to the European Parliament, said the absolute promise to bring forward the pending accessibility legislation must not be forgotten by the new European Commission.
Speaking after his election as Co-President to the Group which held its constitutive meeting at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, Richard Howitt MEP said:
"Although I am proud of the progress we have made in forging European access rules in relation to the installation of lifts, for some public transport and on the Internet, the bitter truth is that the large swathe of the built environment remains a 'no go' area to disabled people.
"The re-formation of an all-party group in the European Parliament provides the opportunity to build widespread support to ensure the promised EU accessibility act is agreed.
"But it has to be published to be agreed, and that's why an appeal to the new European Commission to do just that, is one of our first demands."
The Act would complement Britain's Disability Discrimination Act by making existing voluntary European access standards mandatory across the European Union.
European Commissioner Thyssen committed to proposing a legislative proposal for the European Accessibility Act during the parliamentary hearings. The preparatory work and impact assessments have been completed but the proposal was not specifically included in the Commission's Work Programme.
ENDS.
NOTE TO EDITORS:
The All-Party Disability Group or Intergroup of the European Parliament is an informal grouping of Members of the European Parliament from all nationalities and most political groups who are committed to promoting disability rights in their work in the European Parliament.
Richard Howitt MEP is one of four co-presidents, where he represents Labour's Euro MPs.
For more information please contact Jason Stein in Richard Howitt MEP's office on 07921 959656 (mobile) or 01223 240202 (office).