On 6 May 2026, the European Commission published its Communication “Enhancing the Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities up to 2030“, presented by Executive Vice-President Roxana Mînzatu who is the Commissioner for Social Rights and Skills, Quality Jobs and Preparedness. This Communication marks the halfway point of the EU Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2021-2030 (ESRPD).
The European Union of the Deaf (EUD) welcomes this Communication as a step forward in strengthening the rights of persons with disabilities across Europe. At the same time, we note with deep concern that it falls significantly short of meeting the specific rights and needs of deaf people in Europe.
The enhanced ESRPD retains the eight key thematic areas established in the original Strategy and introduces 9 new flagship initiatives targeting priority areas, as well as a set of planned actions. The enhanced ESRPD was developed on the basis of the Concluding Observations addressed to the EU by the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD Committee) in 2025, the consultations carried out ahead of its publication to which the EUD contributed, and the mid-term assessment of progress, published on 6 May 2026 as well.
EUD has been actively engaged in shaping this enhanced Strategy throughout the consultation process. We shared our recommendations for the Strategy post-2025, met with the cabinet of Ms. Hadja Lahbib, Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management, and the European Commission officials in 2025, participated to the public consultation on the ESRPD, made significant interventions at the EESC hearing on the EU Disability Strategy Action Plan, and contributed successfully in the 2025 European Parliament’s report on the future EU Disability Strategy. Despite EUD’s active engagement, the enhanced ESRPD does not address any of our deaf-specific recommendations, including among others:
- Officialisation of the 29 national sign languages (NSLs) at EU level;
- Portability of disability-related social security benefits, to facilitate access to sign language services when deaf people move to or work in another Member State;
- Sign language interpretation for all EU institutional web-streams and audiovisual content, regardless of topic or policy area;
- Promotion of deaf culture as an integral part of the EU’s linguistic and cultural diversity.
The absence of these measures from the Communication is a missed opportunity, particularly given that they are reflected in the 2025 Concluding Observations of the CRPD Committee addressed to the European Union.
EUD acknowledges that some of our broader recommendations were reflected in the Communication, including:
- The European Commission’s commitment to enhance data collection disaggregated by type of disability, and its call on Member States to ensure the availability of such disability-disaggregated data;
- The Commission’s commitment to support Member States in improving access of women with disabilities to physical and mental healthcare, including sexual and reproductive health and rights;
- The Commission’s commitment to work with the Council’s Social Protection and Employment Committees on the setting of national targets for the employment of persons with disabilities.
These are positive steps, and EUD will monitor their implementation closely.
Among the 9 new flagship initiatives, several hold particular promise for the rights of persons with disabilities, including deaf people:
- Assistive Technologies and AI: From Lab to Market: This initiative aims to identify and remove barriers preventing persons with disabilities from accessing affordable assistive technologies and AI applications, notably through a dedicated study assessing obstacles and providing concrete recommendations, that could be relevant to deaf people’s experiences with AI tools.
- European Disability Card and Parking Card in Your (Digital) Wallet: Beyond the roll-out of the cards, this flagship specifically includes an assessment of remaining gaps related to the free movement of persons with disabilities which is a crucial step toward addressing the portability of support services, including sign language access, across borders.
- Inclusive Democracies Across the EU: The Commission will update the Guide of Good Electoral Practices to address the participation of citizens with disabilities in elections, and will share good practices within the European Cooperation Network on Elections ahead of the 2029 European elections which is an important opportunity to promote accessible electoral processes for deaf citizens.
- Improved Implementation of the Disability Employment Package: This initiative includes an assessment of the extent to which reasonable accommodation is provided at the workplace in line with the Employment Equality Directive, which could reveal linguistic and communication barriers faced by deaf people at work.
- Disability-Inclusive Lifelong Learning: A report planned for 2028 will examine how to enhance inclusive education, with a specific focus on students with disabilities and special educational needs and the provision of reasonable accommodation, and this gives room for perspectives from deaf students.
- Prepared for Anything, Prepared for Everyone: This initiative includes a gaps analysis and stakeholder mapping of the situation of persons with disabilities in disaster response and preparedness, as well as guidelines for first responders, including emergency number 112 operators, and for persons with disabilities and their carers. This is especially relevant for deaf people, who often face critical barriers in accessing emergency communications.
While we welcome the flagship initiatives outlined above, EUD cannot overlook a fundamental shortcoming of this Communication: the overwhelming majority of the planned actions are non-legislative in nature. They consist primarily of studies, guidance documents, exchanges of good practices, and mutual learning processes. There is a near-total absence of new legislative proposals, binding instruments, soft law measures, or firm funding commitments that would give these ambitions real impact across all Member States. This stands in contrast to the obligations the EU has undertaken under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and raises serious questions about the political will of the EU institutions to translate disability rights into enforceable legal guarantees that benefit all persons with disabilities, including deaf people.
EUD will analyse the enhanced Strategy in the coming weeks and engage proactively with the EU institutions to ensure the proposed actions advance the rights of deaf people. We will continue to advocate for officialisation of the 29 NSL, freedom of movement of deaf people, and the full inclusion of deaf people in EU policy processes. Deaf-specific issues must not be sidelined as the Strategy enters its second half.
