Brussels (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – The European Council launched the European disability card and European parking card to facilitate persons with disabilities.
The EU Council has adopted two new directives that will make it more comfortable for persons with disabilities to travel within the European Union. The directive specifying the European disability card and the European parking card for persons with disabilities will guarantee equal access to special necessities or preferential treatment for persons with disabilities during short visits throughout the EU. Examples include lowered or zero entry fees, priority access, help, and reserved parking areas.
Also, ministers have assumed a directive extending these provisions to non-EU citizens who lawfully reside in EU countries, meaning they will also be qualified to utilise these cards during short-term stays in other member nations.
How long do member states have to implement these measures?
As reported by the EU Council, national authorities will be mandated to issue physical and digital European disability cards in an accessible form. The cards will be identified throughout the EU as proof of disability or entitlement to thorough services based on a disability. The European parking cards for persons with disabilities will be made in physical format, with member states having the prospect to also issue them in digital format.
The directives will now be inscribed by both the EU Council and the European Parliament and will enter into force following publication in the EU’s Official Journal. For both directives, member states will have two and a half years to adjust their national legislation and three and a half years to apply the measures.
The EU Commission published a recommendation for a directive establishing a European disability card and a European parking card for individuals with disabilities in September 2023. The EU Council reached an understanding with the European Parliament on 8 February 2024.
The EU Commission’s proposal for a directive expanding the European disability card and the European parking card for persons with disabilities to non-EU citizens legally living in EU member states was issued in October 2023. The Council and the Parliament reached an arrangement on 4 March 2024.
