Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-11-15-Speech-4-228"
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"en.20011115.14.4-228"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, sign language interpreter, I would like to express a few thoughts on the World Year of People with Disabilities. I am also speaking on behalf of Mr Mantovani, who is particularly interested in this subject and cannot be here with us today.
This a truly vast subject, as can be seen from the statistics: today there are approximately 30 million people suffering from disabilities in the European Union. This means that one European in ten encounters barriers not just in the field of work but also in access to public transport, buildings, private services, education and training – in other words, in all areas of daily life. However, there are other barriers as well, maybe less obvious but just as insurmountable, which restrict the freedom of European citizens with disabilities, such as the barriers to movement within the Union and to going to live in another Member State.
All these barriers too often prevent people with disabilities from playing the active role they would like in society, work, school and daily activities. We need a multifaceted strategy to ensure that these people are guaranteed equal opportunities in full respect for the European citizens’ Charter of Fundamental Rights.
However, there is one right which stands out above the others: the right to full citizenship. That is why our group, the Group of the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats will vote with conviction for the proposal for a Council decision on the Year of People with Disabilities – or, as we used to say in Italy in the olden days – people with different abilities – 2003. I therefore thank the rapporteur, Mrs Lynne, for her good work and for accepting the 17 amendments tabled in committee. Three of those were tabled by us, and we feel they are particularly important because they uphold three concepts: firstly, recognition of the importance of the role played by the family at all stages in the lives of people with disabilities; secondly, promotion of a culture of solidarity within society, meaning an understanding that a person’s value is not expressed solely in terms of what he does or is able to do, but primarily in what he represents, namely a human being in all respects; thirdly and lastly, reflection on the concept of the quality of life of a person with disabilities, understood not just to be access to employment or training but also all the other aspects of daily life, in the family and in and as part of society, a quality of life which is genuinely high and equal for people with disabilities too."@en1
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