European Independent Living Day: The urgent need for a true EU commitment to disability rights

On European Independent Living Day, Volt Europa emphasises the critical importance of defending and advancing disability rights across Europe.

May 5, 2025
Young man with down syndrome sitting at a desk at home, using a laptop and listening to music with headphones

Today marks European Independent Living Day, an initiative established by the European Network on Independent Living (ENIL), to celebrate the fundamental right of all disabled people to live independently and be included in the community.

This year's commemoration comes at a particularly challenging time. While disability rights are facing unprecedented attacks in the United States, in Europe, we are witnessing a disturbing trend of budget cuts for independent living support services. Such developments undermine decades of progress in recognising disabled people as rights-holders rather than objects of care or charity.

At the same time, despite growing hopes that the European Union would play a leading role in advancing disability rights, it continues to allocate funds to the institutionalisation of disabled people, thereby depriving more and more disabled Europeans of their freedom and right to independent living.

The "No Competence" Fallacy

For too long, the European Union has hidden behind a questionable interpretation of its competences when it comes to advancing disability rights. The EU regularly claims it lacks authority to take more decisive action on independent living and other disability rights issues, citing limitations in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).

However, as ENIL's policy coordinator Florian Sanden astutely pointed out in his 2024 analysis, this position reveals a troubling double standard. When the EU wishes to promote the cross-border recognition of guardianship measures and institutional placements - practices that contradict the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) - it suddenly finds sufficient legal basis to act. Yet, Article 19 TFEU explicitly states that the EU may take appropriate measures to combat discrimination. How can we explain that the only powers it chooses to grant itself in this area reinforce discriminatory practices rather than eliminating them?

Volt's vision for European Disability Rights

At Volt Europa, we believe that disability rights must become truly European rights. We are committed to:

  1. Ensuring that European citizens with disabilities who require personal assistance to exercise their right to independent living can access this support at a European level, thereby enjoying freedom of movement throughout Europe on an equal basis with others.

  2. Advocating for the abolition of substituted decision-making regimes such as guardianship, and promoting the development and implementation of assisted decision-making models that respect the autonomy, will, and preferences of disabled people.

  3. Demanding that the European Commission and Council heed the recent recommendations of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities by immediately halting work on the cross-border recognition of guardianship and abandoning efforts to encourage Member States to ratify the 2000 Hague Convention in this area.

  4. Defend a Directive on deinstitutionalisation, an end to all financial support for the institutionalisation of disabled people, and the creation instead of a European fund to support independent living.

Moving forward together

European Independent Living Day reminds us that independent living is not merely an aspiration but a fundamental human right enshrined in Article 19 of the CRPD. The EU and its Member States have a legal obligation to respect, protect, and fulfill this right.

Volt Europa stands in solidarity with the disability rights movement in calling for a Europe where all citizens, regardless of disability, can live independently, make their own choices, and participate fully in society. We recognise that achieving this vision requires not only policy changes but a fundamental shift in how we conceptualise and approach disability.

On this European Independent Living Day, our thoughts go to disabled people in institutions who are deprived of liberty, as well as those threatened with such deprivation, and we renew our commitment to building a more inclusive Europe, based on human and civil rights, basic freedoms and equal recognition before the law - a Europe where disability rights are truly European rights.


Article by Ronan Kerleo, Co-Lead of the Volt Disability Network, which brings together members, supporters and partners of Volt Europa who want to advance disability rights in Europe and strengthen the political participation of disabled Europeans. For more information, contact : [email protected]