European Disability Forum press release:
Brussels, 11 September 2008 – “Ensuring full accessibility and equal rights to persons with disabilities is simply a question of realizing the internal market, and the right to free movement of all EU citizens”, said the Transport Commissioner and Vice-President of the European Commission Antonio Tajani at a meeting with an EDF delegation.“It is my duty to respond to the demands of our citizens, and I will do my utmost to guarantee that accessibility to all modes of transport will be established, including European legislation”, he added.
Mr. Tajani also announced that the Commission is planning to come out with a package of proposals in December, including proposals on the rights of maritime and long-distance coach passengers.
Posted by rollingrains at September 16, 2008 04:46 PM“The Commission will take its role in monitoring the implementation of regulation 1107/2006 very seriously, and we are keen to be informed about any violations of the regulation in order to take appropriate action”, he said regarding the regulation on the rights of disabled passengers travelling by air, which was adopted in July.
Mr. Tajani declared his full commitment to ensuring, that the main principle of the regulation – the right to non-discrimination because of disability – shall not be overruled by any security measures or other internal air company policies.
He also requested the support of EDF to contribute to the successful implementation of the regulation on the rights of rail passengers (1371/2007) in order to ensure that all EU Member States guarantee the highest level of possible protection for rail passengers, and the regulation enters into application without delays.
“We are very satisfied with the meeting. The provision of equal rights for all passengers, including disabled persons, within Europe is one of the most important steps towards the opening of the internal market to disabled people. Freedom of movement is one of the four freedoms, guaranteed by the EU to its citizens, of which at the moment disabled persons take only limited advantage”, said the EDF Director Carlotta Besozzi.
“Now with the adoption of the air passenger rights regulation the situation is changing. The package of measures on the rest of the transport connections, which the Commission is planning to propose, gives hope for the future. It is, however, important, that the Commission looks at the other gaps and barriers, that disabled people face in transport such as the inaccessible general transport environment, and proposes a strategy which would bring an overall change”, she added.
For more information, please contact: Irina Papancheva, EDF Communication and Press Officer; Tel: (+32 2) 282 46 04; Mobile phone: (+ 32 ) 485 64 39 93; E-mail: irina.papancheva@edf-feph.org