Our friends at EDF have announced the date of the next European Parliament of persons with disabilities. The European Parliament of Persons with Disabilities is a one-day event that reunites over 600 disability advocates, policymakers and other stakeholders. It is hosted at the hemicycle of the European Parliament in Brussels. It serves as a platform to discuss the rights of persons with disabilities and decide on the political demands of the European Disability Movement. The previous edition was in 2017 and the next and 5th edition will be on 23 May 2023.
The theme this time is “Building an inclusive future for persons with disabilities in the EU.” EDF intends to build on this event to adopt its manifesto for the European elections of 2024.
This is an important platform to put forward our agenda in a highly visible context. However, being part of your national delegation is the only way to participate (including for EBU representatives) and also how you obtain cover of travel expenses. We therefore strongly encourage you to ask for your organisation to participate in your country’s delegation, to ensure that BPS people are well represented.
Being part of this event will give you a good opportunity to meet with high-level decision-makers of your country involved in EU affairs, namely MEPs and representatives at the Council.
We urge you to approach the designated national coordinator for this, using this list of contact points (head of delegation and coordinator) with links to their email.
The deadline for communication of the composition of the delegations to the European Parliament organisers is 15 March, so you should step forward as soon as possible ahead of that. This is a good opportunity not only to make your voice heard, but to also to meet and exchange with colleagues.