EUD has submitted its input to the OHCHR’s thematic study on the 20th anniversary of the CRPD. Our submission shows that while national sign language recognition is now nearly universal across Europe, this has not translated into the right actually to use these languages with public authorities. The EU itself is the starkest example, with 29 existing NSLs but no official status as EU official languages. Drawing on the CRPD Committee’s 2025 Concluding Observations and Petition 1056/2016, we call on OHCHR to recognise officialisation, not recognition, as the next steps towards ensuring sign language rights within the framework of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
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