| On 20 November, the European Commission published its Guidance on Independent Living and Inclusion in the Community. This EU Guidance provides recommendations to Member States on how to advance the transition to community-based services and independent living, by using EU funds. The European Association of Service providers for Persons with Disabilities (EASPD) highly welcomes the EU’s clear and continued commitment to deinstitutionalisation, as well as the practical recommendations that the Guidance offers.
The Guidance forms one of the six flagship initiatives of the European Commission’s Disability Rights Strategy covering the period 2021-2030. While the EU has been supporting Member States in deinstitutionalisation efforts since many years, it is the first time the European Commission comes up with concrete guidance on how EU funds can be used for community inclusion and independent living. The guidance therefore targets all stakeholders which work with EU funds, such as governments and managing authorities, but also those who implement EU-funded activities including service providers.
The guidance gives a valuable interpretation of what independent living means, and what is needed to achieve this, including in-home and community-based services and support, access to services available to the general population, and affordable and accessible non-segregated housing.
What’s more, the guidance rightly points at the importance of building up a skilled and sufficient workforce and improving the attractiveness of the care and support sector, in order to guarantee quality of services.
The fourth chapter of the Guidance Note introduces concrete actions which can be supported by EU funds to advance the transition to community-based support and independent living. Although the focus here is on the EU Member States, EASPD welcomes that the guidance also mentions the possibilities provided by EU external action funds such as the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance and the Neighbourhood Development and International Cooperation Instrument.
Applauding the Commission’s work, Mr Thomas Bignal, Secretary General at EASPD says: “This Guidance sends a clear message to national authorities that investments are needed in high quality person-centred support services to guarantee the inclusion of persons with disabilities of all ages in the community, and that EU funds are available for this purpose.”
Looking at the future, Ms Konstantina Leventi, Head of Policy at EASPD, added that “This Guidance is another tool in the toolbox for advancing independent living across Europe. Whilst public authorities are its main target, the Guidance is also a very useful tool for service providers and civil society in their advocacy efforts and the support services they are developing. EASPD of course stands ready to contribute to this with technical expertise and sharing of practices.”
To further present and discuss the Guidance, EASPD alongside other European network organisations, will be organising a webinar where the Commission will present its guidance, and where MEPs and the EU networks will have the possibility to share their initial reactions. More information on this will follow soon.
Konstantina Leventi
Head of Policy
konstantina.leventi@easpd.eu
+32 2 238 39 28
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