Autism-Europe is asking candidates to the European Parliament to sign its pledge to cooperate for autism-friendly policies in the European Union during the next mandate of the European Parliament from 2019 to 2024.
AE has also highlighted the priorities of autistic people in Europe in its manifesto released in the framework of its campaign “A New Dynamic for Autism”.
AE wants candidates to commit to:
- support autistic people of all ages and needs, and their families, in their parliamentary work;
- support measures for the full inclusion of autistic people in society, and the full respect of their rights as outlined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities;
- support the removal of barriers preventing autistic people from partaking in education, employment and other areas of life that can foster greater autonomy;
- support investment in EU initiatives that favour the social inclusion of autistic people and support for their unique needs;
- support the promotion of diagnosis and early, science-based interventions for autistic children;
- be open to discussing issues important to the autism community with representative autism organisations.
AE also encourages its members and network to download the pledge, to translate it and to disseminate it amongst MEP candidates from their country. Once signed, please send a scanned copy to AE at: communication@autismeurope.org.
Commitment of current MEPs
On World Autism Awareness Day 2019 (April 2), 47 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) from 19 different countries met with Autism-Europe’s team in the European Parliament to show their support for autistic people in Europe and for “A New Dynamic for Autism” campaign.
List of signatures
- Biljana Borzan from Croatia
- Andreas Themistocleous from Cyprus
- Pavel Svoboda from Czech Republic
- Indrek Tarand from Estonia
- Sirpa Pietikäinen from Finland
- Sylvie Guillaume from France
- Arne Lietz from Germany
- Martin Sonneborn from Germany
- Axel Voss from Germany
- Georgios Kyrtsos from Greece
- Ioannis Vardakastanis from Greece
- Barry Andrews from Ireland
- Lynn Boylan from Ireland
- Matt Carthy from Ireland
- Peter Casey from Ireland
- Clare Daly from Ireland
- Francis Fitzgerald from Ireland
- Luke ‘Ming’ Flanagan from Ireland
- Billy Kelleher from Ireland
- Sean Kelly from Ireland
- Liadh Ní Riada from Ireland
- Sheila Nunan from Ireland
- Alice Mary Higgins from Ireland
- Saoirse McHugh from Ireland
- Mairead McGuinness from Ireland
- Brendan Smith from Ireland
- Adrienne Wallace from Ireland
- Brando Benifei from Italy
- Angelo Ciocca from Italy
- Elisabetta Gardini from Italy
- Mario Mauro from Italy
- Remo Sernagiotto from Italy
- Anne Daems from Luxembourg
- Marie-Paule Dondelinger from Luxembourg
- Starsky Flor from Luxembourg
- Christian Kmiotek from Luxembourg
- Antoni Montserrat from Luxembourg
- Carmel Cacopardo from Malta
- Josianne Cutajar from Malta
- Miriam Dalli from Malta
- Mina Tolu from Malta
- Francis Zammit Dimech from Malta
- Szymon Andrzejewski from Poland
- Michał Boni from Poland
- Janusz Lewandowski from Poland
- Elżbieta Łukacijewska from Poland
- Joanna Mucha from Poland
- Urszula Pasławska from Poland
- Marek Plura from Poland
- Elżbieta Polak from Poland
- Martin Saczek from Poland
- Sylwia Spurek from Poland
- Miłosława Stępień from Poland
- Jarosław Wałęsa from Poland
- Krystyna Wróblewska from Poland
- Paulo Rangel from Portugal
- Maria Grapini from Romania
- Peter Boršić from Slovenia
- Jožef Horvat from Slovenia
- Alojz Peterle from Slovenia
- Patricija Šulin from Slovenia
- Dominika Švarc Pipan from Slovenia
- Romana Tomc from Slovenia
- Milan Zver from Slovenia
- Izaskun Bilbao Barandica from Spain
- Erika Casajoana from Spain
- Antoni Comín from Spain
- Rosa Estaràs Ferragut from Spain
- Esteban González Pons from Spain
- Ana Miranda Paz from Spain
- Clara Ponsatí from Spain
- Carles Puigdemont from Spain
- Diana Riba from Spain
- Jordi Sebastià from Spain
- Josep-Maria Terricabras from Spain
- Martina Anderson from the UK
- Theresa Griffin from the UK
- Wajid Khan from the UK
- Naomi Long from UK
- Alex Mayer from the UK
- Julie Ward from the UK