Bureaucracy is a constant issue for many people, especially for disabled persons. The assessment of disability is still unclear and very often incorrect. In order to find a solution to these problems, European Disability Forum (EDF) organized a webinar on 8th May, bringing together various experts in this field.
The first issue that has been raised is access to the information. Very often, information to obtain the status of a disabled person is not tailored to the needs of those interested. The websites and information points should be standardized so that everyone, regardless of the type of disability, has equal access to them.
However, turning to disability assessment systems. Among all European countries we can distinguish as many as seven estimation systems. In addition, each of these systems can differ in each of the individual countries. This leads to the fact that European Union citizens can be recognized by some countries as disabled persons and by others not. Ultimately, due to different assessment systems, the ID card of a disabled person is only valid in the home country. For this reason, European countries should develop a uniform system in order to facilitate traveling and working chances for disabled citizens.
The issue of financing support for people with disabilities is truly important as well. Each country has a different budget threshold for the disabled. Regarding to the percentage of GDP allocated to people with disabilities in Europe, Denmark ranks highest (5,1%) and the lowest is Malta (0,6%).
There is not a country which has a perfect policy in the area of disabled persons. We may find a country which has more appropriate solutions but still they have others problem. At this period the situation could be even worse because the COVID-19. However, we should pay more attention to the disabled people and try to improve the assessment system and everything which is connected with this process.