Activities of Salvatore DE MEO related to 2022/2013(INI)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on AccessibleEU Centre in support of accessibility policies in the EU internal market
Amendments (22)
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A b (new)
Recital A b (new)
Ab. whereas around 80 million people in the Union are affected by a disability to some degree;
Amendment 14 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A c (new)
Recital A c (new)
Ac. whereas accessibility to physical and virtual environments, to information and communications, including ICT and the related systems, to goods and services, including transportation and infrastructure, both in urban and remote areas, is a prerequisite to ensure the full participation of persons with disabilities in society and enables equal rights on an equal basis with others;
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A e (new)
Recital A e (new)
Ae. whereas Member States must ensure that accessibility becomes mainstreamed at all levels, not only in public buildings, areas and transport, but also in health and education, as well as to increase mobility and integration of people with disabilities;
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas according to Article 9 of the CRDP on accessibility, in order ‘to enable persons with disabilities to live independently and participate fully in all aspects of life, States Parties shall take appropriate measures to ensure to persons with disabilities access, on an equal basis with others, to the physical environment, to transportation, to information and communications, including information and communications technologies and systems, and to other facilities and services open or provided to the public, both in urban and in rural areas';
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B b (new)
Recital B b (new)
Bb. whereas local authorities play a crucial role in the implementation of social policies, including policies on disability and accessibility;
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. whereas assistive technologies will foster the full inclusion of persons with disabilities in society, and will help to reduce disparities among Member States;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C b (new)
Recital C b (new)
Cb. whereas the high levels of employment of people with disabilities, greater accessibility and greater inclusion of this group in the workforce has a clear economic potential;
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Welcomes the Commission’s initiative, announced in the European Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, to establish the AccessibleEU Centre (‘Centre’), which aims to increase the coherence in implementingof harmonised accessibility policies and to monitor their actual implementation, and to facilitate access to relevant knowledge and skills, promoting a culture of equal opportunities and full participation in society for persons with disabilities;
Amendment 31 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Considers that the Centre could play a crucial role in promoting the creation of a common standard of accessibility among Member States, so that persons with disabilities will be aware of the circumstances while moving across the EU, empowering their right to work, live or travel freely within the EU;
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1b. Stresses that increasing employment levels of people with disabilities should be a primary goal to be achieved through the work of the Centre, through the involvement of and close cooperation with civil society organisations and businesses;
Amendment 38 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Highlights that the EU has established a comprehensive legal framework for accessibility in the single market; regrets, however, that the implementation of such crucial legislation has not yet been satisfactory, mostly due to the lack of qualified accessibility experts; stresses the need for improving the overall knowledge, as well as practical and theoretical expertise, on accessibility policies among public administrations and economic operators, in order to help find suitable, sustainable and affordable solutions in each Member State;
Amendment 44 #
4. Believes that the absence of a coordination and cooperation framework between the EU, the Member States and the relevant stakeholders from the public and private sector represents a further obstacle to the implementation of accessibility laws and to the harmonised enforcement across the EU;
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Calls on the Commission to ensure adequate funding for the functioning of the Centre, and calls on the Member States to increaseallocate sufficient resources for the enforcement of accessibility policies, including through EU funds;
Amendment 53 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls on the Commission to establish a secretariat and a forum to steer and lead the work of the Centre; underlines that the forum should guarantee the balanced participation of stakeholders from the public and private sector and right- holders with suitable experience in the field of accessibility; stresses that equal gender representation should be ensuredgender balance should be ensured; calls on the Commission to include at least two representatives from the European Parliament in the forum;
Amendment 61 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Highlights the specific challenges posed by particular domains of accessibility policies, such as built environment, public procurement, digital accessibility, media and culture, and assistive technologies; believes, therefore, that specialised sub-groups of experts are needed for certain areas; is convinced that these groups shouldcalls on the Commission to examine the possible creation of specialised sub-groups of experts to work closely with the Centre and the Member States in order to guarantee better assessment, implementation, monitoring and enforcement of accessibility-related legislation; underlines that representatives from disability organisations and persons with disabilities should also be involved;
Amendment 64 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Believes that the Centre should function as a hub which providcoordinates relevant EU institutions and bodies and its Member States when implementing Union law with regular assistance and expertise relating to accessibility policies and technical requirementss well as national and local authorities responsible for implementing and enforcing accessibility policies with experts and professionals from all areas of accessibility to share good practices across sectors, to help shape policy development at the national and EU levels, and to facilitate consistent and coherent implementation of Union law; believes that the Centre should establish a cooperation framework that would bring together the relevant national and Union bodies with all users groups, in particular organisations representing persons with disabilities including organisations run by persons with disabilities, civil society organisations, academia, private sector organisation and professionals from all areas of accessibility, in order to guarantee harmonised enforcement across the EU, provide guidance and training, and to inspire policy learning and innovation at national and EU level, including through the identification and sharing of best practices; believes moreover, that the Centre could prompt the collaboration between the above mentioned bodies and organisations with highly innovative stakeholders in the area of technology in a way to positively affect the development of assistive technologies;
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Is of the opinion that the Centre should provide research and studies to both the Commission and the Member States, as well as specialised and comparable information and fully accessible data, including feedback on the implementation of accessibility laws; highlights that these actions would help accessibility policies to be solidly based on users’ requirements and experiences; stresses that the Centre should help address gaps in the collection of statistical data at national level on the situation of persons with disabilities;
Amendment 76 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Considers that the role of the Centre would be essential in providing knowledge and support to Member States, stakeholders and right- holders with constant support for the implementation, monitoring and enforcement of accessibility policies, including through training and guidance documents in all EU official languages;
Amendment 78 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12a. Notes that the European Accessibility Act, (EEA) which will apply from 28 June 2025, will introduce significant new requirements in respect of accessibility for products and services; stresses that the Centre should be an important resource to provide knowledge and support to Member States in preparing the effective implementation of the EEA;
Amendment 85 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Regrets that theConsiders that EU accessibility standardisation system does notprocesses should adequately allow persons with disabilities and their representative organisations to participate on an equal footing with other stakeholders when drafting accessibility standards; considers that the Centre should appoint technical experts to the standardisation committees and, where possible, should assist the Commission in drafting technical specifications by involving all relevant stakeholders and right-holders;
Amendment 88 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15a. Calls on the Commission to monitor the work of the Centre and its achievements through yearly reports to be presented to the European Parliament;
Amendment 89 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 b (new)
Paragraph 15 b (new)
15b. Calls on the Commission to conduct an assessment five years after the creation of the Centre to evaluate its effectiveness and the added value in enhancing accessibility policies within the EU; underlines that based on this assessment, the Commission should take appropriate steps to update and improve the Centre;