Recognising disability status within the EU

The report considered issues of mobility and recognition with respect to more than 400 examples of disability benefits and entitlements in a range of fields:

• social protection and income
• transport
• support for independent living
• employment
• education and training
• housing
• health care
• information and communication
• access to leisure and culture

There was a great diversity of these benefits in European states in terms of:

• The kinds of benefits that are provided.
• The value of benefits.
• The way in which impairment or disability is measured or classified.
• The impairment or disability level needed to qualify for a particular benefit.
• The evaluation or assessment methods.
• Additional eligibility criteria not related to disability.

All of these factors make achieving mobility within the EU/EEA, through mutual recognition of disability status, a challenge.

However, there is scope for mutual recognition. The European Parking Card for Disabled Persons already provides an important indication of what can be achieved (based on a 1998 European Community Recommendation). People with disabilities can apply for a special parking card in their own Member State, which has a standard European format and is recognised in all Member States for the purpose of giving access to nationally-defined parking-related benefits. An alternative model of voluntary recognition is also provided by the European Youth Card scheme.

The Report contains a number of recommendations. For example, the EU could establish an inventory of national disability benefits and eligibility criteria, to facilitate mutual recognition by administrative authorities. Another proposal, from the meeting, was that individuals could be allowed to apply for benefits in another Member State prior to taking up residence there. If eligible, those benefits could be made available immediately on arrival. Similarly, mobility might be enhanced by agreement on temporary continuation of existing payments from the state of origin during a period of resettlement in another Member State. 

Presentation Prof. Lisa Waddington:
Powerpoint (PDF 53 kB)
Handout (PDF 53 kB)

Carlotta Besozzi (Chief Executive, European Disability Forum) welcomed the report and stressed the importance of this issue in denying disabled people mobility across Europe. There are still many gaps in provision in many countries. The EDF would like to see more work on the implementation of the current EU regulations on the transferability of benefits.

Inmaculada Placencia-Porrero (Deputy Head of the European Commission’s Disability Unit) looked forward to reading the report’s recommendations. The Commission recognizes the importance of this very challenging issue.  The subject will be taken forward by the Disability High Level Group, using the ANED Report as a basis for discussion. The Spanish Presidency has initiated discussion on a European mobility card, in relation to transport and cultural facilities and this topic was also the basis for discussion at the 2010 European Day of Persons with Disabilities.