Understanding EU policies for people with disabilities

Written by Marie Lecerf (updated on 27.11.2023).

The EU and its Member States have signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and use its definition of disability as a common reference at EU level. There is no other harmonised definition of disability in the EU.

Although a wide variety of statistical surveys are available in terms of questions asked and population surveyed, a complete statistical assessment of disability in the EU does not yet exist. However, the annual Eurostat statistics on income and living conditions survey reveals that, in Europe, the prevalence of disability is higher among female, older and less educated respondents.

The EU combats all forms of discrimination alongside and in support of its Member States. To improve the situation of people with disabilities, it has introduced a series of initiatives, programmes and strategies over a number of decades. The European Parliament has been highly active in the bid to end all forms of discrimination against people with disabilities, since the early 1980s.

In 1997, Article 13 of the Treaty establishing the European Community on the human right not to suffer discrimination on grounds, in particular, of disability, paved the way for a genuine disability policy. The first step in this regard was the adoption of a 2001-2006 action programme to combat discrimination. Later, the 2010-2020 European disability strategy sought to enable people with disabilities to exercise their rights and participate fully in society and the economy.

The 2021-2030 strategy, incorporating lessons learned from its predecessor, seeks to ensure that all persons with disabilities in the EU, regardless of their sex, racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, age or sexual orientation: enjoy their human rights; have equal access to participation in society and the economy; can decide where, how and with whom they live; can move freely in the EU regardless of their support needs; and no longer experience discrimination.

This is an update of a briefing published in November 2022.

Read the complete briefing on ‘Understanding EU policies for persons with disabilities‘ in the Think Tank pages of the European Parliament.