A hearing on a draft resolution on the plight of people with disabilities in Europe took place in Brussels on 9 February, triggered by stringent cuts in social budgets.
The resolution, initiated by the European Network of Independent Living (ENIL), addresses the plight of people with disabilities in Europe, driven by rigorous cuts in public spending in the social sphere. However, this “crisis measure” is in complete contradiction with a number of international treaties and internal regulations of the European Union, and the results amount to serious violations of fundamental rights of disabled people. Currently, some Member States – for example, the United Kingdom – are embarking on a restructuring and serious reduction of personal assistance and services budgets in the community, leading to a deepening of the social exclusion processes for people with disabilities. This trend undermines the ethical foundations and humane standards of the Union as a whole and leads to the extremely difficult situation of the most vulnerable part of European citizens, which is totally unacceptable. Some of Europe’s leading activists for independent living and combating poverty have presented evidence to influence the European policy of saving money for disabled people. Bulgaria’s representative and rapporteur at the hearing was Kapka Panayotova.
The meeting was opened by Cecilia Wickström, a MEP from Sweden, who made an analogy between the cold wind that has covered Europe and the severe financial and economic crisis affecting everyone – old and young, even the active middle class. At the same time, we must admit that the impact is the strongest on the disabled people, stressed Wickström. Policy for socially vulnerable groups is the responsibility of each Member State, but the EU can still play its role. As an example, she pointed out that measures to reduce poverty and protect the most deprived are laid down in the Europe 2020 Strategy. In this sense, the people at greatest risk – people with disabilities – must be protected. Another example the MP gave was the EU’s resistance to constitutional changes in Hungary. There is a law out there that criminalizes homelessness, Cecilia quoted. Homeless people even had to pay a hefty sum for their options as a fine for being on the street. “Where is Europe going punishing homeless people in this cold wind?” Wickström asked. The governments of the Member States should not punish the weakest part of society, but encourage it. “What we need today is more solidarity. Europe is an union of people and nations, bound together by values and principles. Let us remember this, even when the cold wind blows, ”Wickström said in conclusion.
John Evans, a member of the Advisory Board of the European Network of Independent Living, stressed the profound injustice of “we – disabled people pay for the sins of the banking or financial system. But EXACTLY we have become an easy target for governments to cut budgets. We have become a bad example in the media of people who are parasitic over the budget system and almost “profit” from their disabilities. This thinking strikes at our dignity and civil rights. People with disabilities today are horrified by what is and can happen,” Evans continued. He cited the huge number of beneficiaries who have been cut off from the system. Many of them face the real danger of institutionalization. One of the sad facts mentioned by John was that two disabled people had recently killed themselves, desperate for the road ahead. “It is very important, he concluded, that the non-governmental sector in all European countries should unite and, together with the EU institutions, fight for our rights and against irresponsible government cuts at our expense.”
Michael McCabe, chairman of the Dublin Independent Living Center, also mentioned the huge rate of cuts in Ireland. He described how this fact had affected him. “Without my personal assistant, I’m like a prisoner in my own home.” He stressed that personal assistance “costs” much less to governments than unemployment.
Kapa Panayotova, Director of the Center for Independent Living and Vice President of the European Network of Independent Living, began her speech in her characteristic emotional style. “I really hate linking the topic of money to that of human rights. Human rights have no price. We cannot override the issue of cost-effectiveness with human rights! Moreover, the way the system for independent living of people with disabilities works is the most cost-effective. ” Drop told the audience of the situation in Bulgaria. On the one hand, it is one of the EU’s excellent students, but on the other it has the highest poverty rate. In Bulgaria, the policy towards people with disabilities is still subject to the medical model. There is neither a philosophy nor a practice for the independent life of people with disabilities. Authorities are sticking to old schemes, such as placing people with mental disabilities in institutions. “This is at odds with European practice and legislation, and these homes are terrifying places,” she explained. The other bad news, according to Ms Panayotova, is that the money from the EU funds directed to the social sphere is spent on re-institutionalization. The discovery of small homes, whether they be called ‘sheltered’ or ‘monitored’ homes or small group homes, is actually a new way of naming institutions. There is no visible and tangible effort to open public services to people with disabilities, which deprives them of choice and is in violation of Art. 19 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. At the same time, serious money is being spent from the European Social Fund to build new institutions. After all, this does not ensure the independent living of people with disabilities. These people cannot be seen outside, nor can we speak of personal assistance or empowerment. Drop quotes the amounts available in Bulgaria – between € 27 and € 50 per month for household or service assistance. But they are by no means enough for social inclusion. For this reason – the extremely insignificant funds given for independent living in our country – we cannot speak about abbreviations. “At similar rates of $ 1 per hour for an assistant, who else could become one but a family member?” Kapka asked rhetorically.
In Bulgaria, people with disabilities are terrified that nothing good is coming in the future. As the focal point of the European Network of Independent Living for Southern Europe, we can say that our fates in Italy and Greece are suffering from extreme redundancies and this is still linked to the crisis. “I want to tell you that there are countries in the EU that suffer from discrimination not only because of the crisis. The crisis in this case is a convenient excuse not to make structural changes and not to modernize the medical model of social policy in Bulgaria. On the other hand, it is not appropriate to spend European money to maintain a retrograde and discriminatory model. Europe needs to know how its money is spent. It has to be done in the right way – to meet the real needs of people in their daily efforts for social inclusion! “
The meeting continued with a discussion of how budgetary cuts in disability affect people with disabilities themselves and their human rights at European level. You can see the full text of the resolution that ENIL proposes to vote in the European Parliament here.
Michael McCabe, chairman of the Dublin Independent Living Center, also mentioned the huge rate of cuts in Ireland. He described how this fact had affected him. “Without my personal assistant, I’m like a prisoner in my own home.” He stressed that personal assistance “costs” much less to governments than unemployment.
Kapka Panayotova, Director of the Center for Independent Living and Vice President of the European Network of Independent Living, began her speech in her characteristic emotional style. “I really hate linking the topic of money to that of human rights. Human rights have no price. We cannot override the issue of cost-effectiveness with human rights! Moreover, the way the system for independent living of people with disabilities works is the most cost-effective.” Kapka told the audience of the situation in Bulgaria. On the one hand, it is one of the EU’s excellent students, but on the other it has the highest poverty rate. In Bulgaria, the policy towards the disabled people is still subject to the medical model. There is neither a philosophy nor a practice for the independent living of people with disabilities. Authorities are sticking to old schemes, such as placing people with mental disabilities in institutions. “This is at odds with European practice and legislation, and these homes are terrifying places,” she explained. The other bad news, according to Mss. Panayotova, is that the money from the EU funds directed to the social sphere is spent on re-institutionalization. The discovery of small homes, whether they be called ‘sheltered’ or ‘monitored’ homes or small group homes, is actually a new way of naming institutions. There is no visible and tangible effort to open public services to people with disabilities, which deprives them of choice and is in violation of Art. 19 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. At the same time, serious money is being spent from the European Social Fund to build new institutions. After all, this does not ensure the independent living of the disabled people. These people cannot be seen outside, nor can we speak of personal assistance or empowerment. Kapka quoted the amounts available in Bulgaria – between € 27 and € 50 per month for household or service assistance. But they are by no means enough for social inclusion. For this reason – the extremely insignificant funds given for independent living in our country – we cannot speak about reductions. “At similar rates of $ 1 per hour for an assistant, who else could become one but a family member?” Kapka asked rhetorically.
In Bulgaria, people with disabilities are terrified that nothing good is coming in the future. As the focal point of the European Network of Independent Living for Southern Europe, we can say that our colleagues in Italy and Greece are suffering from extreme reductions and this is still linked to the crisis. “I want to tell you that there are countries in the EU that suffer from discrimination not only because of the crisis. The crisis in this case is a convenient excuse not to make structural changes and not to modernize the medical model of social policy in Bulgaria. On the other hand, it is not appropriate to spend European money to maintain a retrograde and discriminatory model. Europe needs to know how its money is spent. It has to be done in the right way – to meet the real needs of people in their daily efforts for social inclusion!”
The meeting continued with a discussion of how budgetary cuts in disability area affect the disabled people themselves and their human rights at European level. You can see the full text of the resolution that ENIL proposes to vote in the European Parliament here.