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How inclusive was the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU?

The European Disability Forum created a scorecard to evaluate the Council’s progress on upholding disability rights.

From January 1 to June 30 of this year, Belgium held the Presidency of the Council of the European Union. To assess how disability-inclusive the Belgian Presidency was, the European Disability Forum (EDF) designed a scorecard to track its progress over the course of the six-months mandate. 

In particular, EDF scorecard aims to assess how effectively the Council’s Presidencies prioritise the needs and rights of persons with disabilities within the EU agenda. The evaluation focuses on three main areas, namely disability inclusiveness, inclusion of the disability movement, and accessibility. 

Overall, the assessment indicates that the Belgian Presidency has achieved positive results, particularly regarding accessibility, by ensuring that all activities were fully inclusive. However, EDF observed a shortfall in the involvement of organisations representing persons with disabilities.  

In short, while recognising that some important steps were taken, EDF suggested that a more consistent involvement of national organisations throughout the mandate would have been preferable to create lasting impact, both at the European and at the national levels.  

Click here to read the full EDF Belgian Presidency Scorecard.