European Disability Card approved by the European Parliament – only bureaucratic hurdle remains

European Disability Card approved by the European Parliament – only bureaucratic hurdle remains

24th April 2024

On 24th April, the European Parliament debated and approved the content of the provisional agreement on the European Disability Card and European Parking Card, which had been reached in February. The agreement was approved with 607 votes in favour, seven against and 11 abstentions. The report on the extension to third-country nationals was also approved.

The European Disability Forum celebrated this moment, which it expects to mark the end of the political decision-making process. However, they regret that bureaucratic barriers will delay the publication of the text (and, therefore, the start of the countdown to implementation) until after the European elections.

Debate in the Parliament

EDF welcomes the generalised support for this agreement.

Lead negotiator MEP Lucia Ďuriš Nicholsonová said: “People with disabilities have been fighting for this agreement for 15 years” and “they were at the centre of our concerns.” She outlined advances to the Directive achieved by the European Parliament negotiators, including the extension to people undertaking EU Mobility Programmes, the Cards being issued free of charge and the commitment to a further analysis of issues of freedom of movement in 5 years.

Read a full summary of the debate >> https://www.edf-feph.org/european-parliament-hold-final-debate-on-the-european-disability-card/

Legal editing of the text

While the political process is now finished, there are some delays regarding the legal editing of the text and its legal translation to the 27 EU languages. EDF has advocated for prioritising this file in the translation because the deadline for implementation – for the Cards to be a reality – will only start after publication of the text.

This means that the official text could not be approved before the European elections. They were told that it was only due to the unusual quantity of legal texts that were approved in the last few months, and they are reassured that the content of the official text will not change.

Despite this, EDF calls on EU Member States to consider this delay when implementing the Card by anticipating their national implementation deadlines.

While the European Disability Card will not meet all the demands of the disability movement, EDF welcomes its many positive points, especially:

• Inclusion of transport services, even if some exceptions will apply.
• Inclusion of provisions to access support when taking part in EU Mobility Programmes.
• The European Disability Card will be issued and renewed free of charge.
• EU-level website and national websites with information on the Card.
• Safeguards to protect the Cardholders’ privacy.
• That Member States can decide to extend the use of the Card to longer stays.

In addition, negotiators achieved a commitment from the European Commission to further explore remaining gaps related to the free movement of persons with disabilities, such as the portability of disability-related support when moving to another EU country.

However, EDF is disappointed that some of their demands were not included:

• The deadline for transposition and implementation are unnecessarily long. EU Member States will have 42 months to start providing the Cards, including 30 months to transpose the legislation (that is to create national laws to obey it). This means that the Card will only fully become a reality in 4 years.
• Temporary access to disability support and allowance when persons with disabilities move to work and study abroad. As it is, persons with disabilities might not have access to support while undergoing lengthy “reassessment” processes. The European Disability movement will continue its fight for full freedom of movement.
• EU funding to support the actual implementation of the Cards by the Member States.
• We are also disappointed that an exception was made that will allow us to exclude some specific services in case the special access or discounts provided are dependent on additional assessments.

The European Disability Forum is an umbrella organisation of persons with disabilities that defends the interests of 100 million Europeans with disabilities. EDF is a unique platform that brings together representative organisations of persons with disabilities across Europe. It is run by persons with disabilities and their families. EDF is a strong, united voice of persons with disabilities in Europe.