Disability rights take off with proposed EU air passengers' Regulation

The European Commission will present tomorrow a landmark proposal for a Regulation on the rights of air passengers with disabilities:

• European Commission Vice-President, Jacques Barrot, leads the way introducing Europe's first-ever disability-specific legislation.
• The European Disability Forum welcomes the European Commission Regulation, ensuring that all Europeans will be able to enjoy their right to travel and move freely across Europe.

Brussels, 15 February 2004 - The new proposal for a Regulation on the rights of passengers with reduced mobility when travelling by air will be officially presented tomorrow by Vice-President of the European Commission Jacques Barrot, during the traditional EC Midday Press Conference at the Berlaymont building in Brussels.

For the European Disability Forum (EDF), representing 50 million people with disabilities in Europe and ensuring that their interests are taken into account in all EU policies and legislation, the new proposal for a Regulation will mean a significant change in the lives of disabled people, stopping air companies and airports from continuing to discriminate.

On regular basis, the European Disability Forum receives information about disabled people being refused booking or the right to travel on a flight due to their disability. Customers with disabilities are often charged for the assistance they require; they experience poor levels of assistance and numerous infrastructural barriers in airports and on aircrafts.

"Recently we were informed about the case of a woman with no arms, fully mobile and ambulant, that was obliged by a major French air company to disembark from an aircraft before take-off on the pretext that she was unable to do up her own seat belt , said Yannis Vardakastanis, President of the European Disability Forum. "The case of a disabled passenger who was obliged to prove to a Finnish air company that his cerebral palsy was not contagious to the crew and to other passengers has also been reported, among many other examples" he added.

The Regulation will be directly applicable in all Member States. It will establish concrete rules and obligations for the protection of and assistance to people with disabilities, preventing airlines from refusing to accept passengers because of their disability and ensuring high quality assistance at airports for customers with disabilities.

The European Disability Forum now calls on the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union to work together in the best interests of disabled passengers, co-operating to ensure speedy adoption and implementation of a the Regulation.

For press queries, please contact: Nora Bednarski, EDF Policy Officer - Tel: + 32 2 282 46 05; e-mail: nora.bednarski@edf-feph.org or Helena González-Sancho Bodero, EDF Communication Officer: Tel: +32-2-282.46.04 E-mail: communication@edf-feph.org

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