European accessibility for all

The European Commission has, after extensive consultation, launched its European Accessibility Act. Those familiar with European legislation might raise an eyebrow at the word ‘Act’, which is more familiar to those in the Anglo-Saxon world, but fear not, the ‘Act’ is in fact a ‘Directive’. Why the EU has decided to go all American on us, one can only speculate, but could it be that the ‘European Accessibility Act’ just sounds a little more funky than the European Accessibility Directive. Or, could it be that the ‘Americans with Disabilities Act’ has trail-blazed in an area where European legislators have feared to tread.

Richard Howitt MEP, co-chair of the European Parliament’s All-Party Disability Rights Group, has been active in rights for the disabled for many years. He said: "It is shameful how long disabled people have been forced to wait - the foot-dragging has to stop right now. When I helped negotiate the EU law against disability discrimination in access to employment in 2000, the European Parliament was promised that action to outlaw the same discrimination in access to goods and services would soon follow.”

The first attempt to launch this ‘Act’ was in 2011 on Viviane Reding’s watch - she was then Commission vice president and commissioner for justice, fundamental rights and citizenship. It was an important –perhaps the most important – part of ‘European Disability Strategy 2010-2020’. Why it got stuck in the system isn’t very clear, but given the timing, it was possibly linked to concerns about additional costs to business, particularly small businesses.

The ‘foot dragging’ may be harder to understand, given that the EU’s Charter of Fundamental Rights contains commitments to the right to integration of persons with disabilities (Article 26) and that in 2011, the EU and 25 EU countries ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). The Convention contains a clear obligation for states to ensure accessibility to persons with disabilities access on an equal basis with others (Art 9).

Finally on the table 

I shall stop sniping at the failure to act earlier and turn to the Directive (Act) itself. One of the concerns is that the Commission has decided that the ‘Act’ should only cover selected priority areas, "where obstacles to the functioning of the single market were most visible and likely to increase or where action at European level would add more value", products and services include cash machines and banking services, personal computers, telephones, television and audiovisual services, transport, e-books and e-commerce.

For some, this does not go far enough. ANEC – who represent European consumer interest in the creation of technical standards – have pointed out that with free movement of people consideration should also be given to the built environment. For example, people who are blind often use tactile surfaces to identify road crossings, and these can change from country to country and sometimes within one city.  ANEC think that the built environment could have been included, a view echoed by Richard Howitt MEP: "Although I am proud that Europe has made progress on disability-access rules in the past in relation to the installation of lifts, for some public transport and on the internet, the bitter truth is that the large swath of the built environment remains a 'no go' area for people with disabilities in Europe.”

ANEC welcome the Act but say that legislation isn’t enough, it is also important that there is effective implementation. ANEC Secretary-General Stephen Russell said: “No matter how good a standard, it will not help accessibility if it is not implemented. We therefore proposed the legislation establishes a market surveillance system of public authorities, either harmonized at the European level or at least very well co-ordinated and resourced.”

It’s the economy, stupid!

Despite references to rights and inclusion, the principle justification and legal basis for this initiative is the advancement of the single market. It is a pity that addressing impaired accessibility is couched in terms that suggest that action is required not because of nebulous commitment to rights, but to a hard-headed business opportunity in an untapped market. The business opportunity isn’t just the 80 million people in European who have a disability, but our booming ageing population, who could bring this ‘market segment’ to 120 million by 2020.  The economic advantages are no doubt real. The first proposal pointed to two studies that showed the economic benefits of action. The first, a study by the UK’s Royal National Institute of the Blind, showed that a £35,000 investment by a supermarket chain in making their website accessible brought in additional revenue of more than £13 million a year. And a second in Germany, a study found that more accessible facilities would increase travel by persons with disabilities, yielding between €620m and €1.9 billion in additional turnover for the German tourism industry.

The act is indeed progress, but we must also acknowledge the limitations of the act. I leave the last words to Richard Howitt: "Today's proposal is not yet freedom of movement for disabled people, nor is it inclusive design of products, nor is it the right of equal access to services - but it does begin the legislative process, allowing the European Parliament to begin to negotiate what can be achieved."

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