On 18 March 2024, the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs, and Inclusion hosted the traditional yearly physical meeting of the Disability Platform at the Charlemagne building in Brussels. This event gathered European Organisations of Persons with Disabilities and representatives of EU Member States. The European Union of the Deaf (EUD), represented by its Executive Director, Frankie Picron, and Policy Manager, Alexandre Bloxs, marked its presence to advocate for the recognition and promotion of national sign languages across the European Union.
The day-long event, filled with insightful discussions and strategic planning on disability issues ranging from passengers rights to digital transition, and updates on the Disability Strategy’s flagship initiatives, the EUD delegation seized the opportunity to address a longstanding concern.
In a statement, EUD highlighted the European Union’s current lack of promotion of 30 EU national sign languages in its communication to EU citizens. This lack of recognition undermines the linguistic and cultural diversity that the Union prides itself on. This is also a means to ensure linguistic diversity in the digital age, ensuring that deaf people are not left behind in the rapid pace of technological advancement.
Furthermore, the EUD echoed the support of the European Disability Forum given to the EU candidate to the UNCRPD Committee, Ms Inmaculada Placencia-Porrero.
The meeting concluded with calls for action and commitments towards a more inclusive European Union, where the rights of persons with disabilities are acknowledged and addressed in all spheres of life.
The EUD is committed to bring meaningful contribution and participation to upcoming European Disability Platform meetings to ensure the perspective of the European deaf community is not left behind.
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