The European Commission proposed legislation on anti-discrimination outside the field of employment in the summer of 2008. We worked closely with UK disability charities Sense, Guide Dogs for Blind People, Leonard Cheshire Disability and RNID to lobby the European Parliament to make sure that the provisions in the directive take into account the need of people with disabilities. The European Parliament approved a great deal of the amendments that we supported and the Directive was adopted on 2 April 2009.
As this Directive follows the so-called "consultation procedure", we will now focus our lobbying on governments, who will have the final say. The strong message sent by European Parliament will help us influence the Council over the next few months.
Get involved!
Would you like to campaign on European issues? If you are interested in how the EU affects you and your day to day life, contact the Campaigns team at campaign@rnib.org.uk or through the campaigns hotline on 020 7391 2123.