On 3 December 2024, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, Autism-Europe joined various representatives and activists of the European Disability Forum (EDF), the European Union of the Deaf (EUD) and the European Disability Card (EDC) Fan to meet in Brussels with European Parliament (EP) President Roberta Metsola to ask her to continue upholding her commitment to the rights of all persons with disabilities across Europe.
During the exchange with the President of the European Parliament, representatives from the European Disability Forum (EDF) highlighted the need to uphold an intersectional approach to disability rights. EDF Secretary General Ana Peláez Narváez insisted on the specific challenges and rights of women and girls with disabilities, especially the need to criminalize forced sterilization, which is still a legal and practice in at least 12 European Union member states.
The delegation also insisted on the necessity for the EU to uphold its obligations towards the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. A key driver for this being the European Strategy on the Rights of Persons 2021-2030, that needs to be updated with new flagship actions in line with the disability movement demands.
When discussing accessibility, Autism-Europe, director Aurelie Baranger emphasized that autistic people and people with intellectual disability must have access to the proceedings of European institutions and benefit from accessible communication, including alternative and augmentative forms of communication. EU official documents must also be made accessible in Easy to Read format – for them to fully exercise their right to participate in political life.
Another key focus of the discussion was the implementation of the newly-adopted Directive on the European Disability Card (EDC) and European Parking Card. Belgian autistic activist Pieter Paul Moen, representing the advocacy group EDC Fan, indicated to European Parliament President Metsola that the EDC was a critical tool for the recognition of disability, which can also be life saving in cases of emergency. He called for considering an ambitious scope for the card in the future. He had previously voiced similar needs for the European Disability Card in an interview with Euronews in April.
During the meeting, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola strongly reaffirmed her commitment to the rights of persons with disabilities.