Disability Directive still needed to tackle discrimination - Watson

4.54.24pm GMT Thu 30th Nov 2006

Graham Watson, Liberal Democrat MEP for the South West and Gibraltar, has welcomed today's vote by MEPs in the European Parliament on the situation for disabled people in the EU, but has said that a disability directive is still needed to ensure discrimination is completely defeated.

Speaking after the vote in the European Parliament in Brussels, Graham Watson MEP said:

"Today's decision by the European Parliament is a victory for disabled people across the European Union. Clearly the report highlights the huge amount of work which still needs to be done to bring disabled people in the EU into mainstream society. No longer is it merely enough to say that disabled people should have equal rights in terms of employment, we should also be offering real access to opportunity, for example through improved public transport, education, public design and architecture. We must continue to campaign for a specific disability directive to outlaw discrimination on access to goods and services. There is no point in paying lip-service to disabled people's rights. We have to continue to fight for all EU citizens to be treated as equal."

Today's report - the European Action Plan 2006-2007 - also highlights the need to de-stigmatise mental health and, with at least one in four people in the EU suffering from mental health problems at some stage in their lifetimes, ensures that mental health is a high priority.

The report comes about following the ruling of the European Court of Justice in July, which for the first time ruled on the concept of 'disability' for the purposes of a directive on equal treatment for employment.