European Union of the Deaf

EU Legislative Interests

The core work of the European Union of the Deaf (EUD) is to implement the European Commission’s Citizens, Equality, Rights and Value (CERV) programme which constitute our core funding. The purpose of the work is to design policy deliverables implementing the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in line with the EU Disability Rights Strategy and the EU Pillar of Social Rights. In addition to the CERV Programme, ED is involved with various EU legislation and policies. For the period 2023-2024, EUD closely followed legislation and policies related to the rights of deaf people and national sign languages in the EU. Among these files, were the EU Directive COM(2023)512 establishing a European Disability Card and the European Parking Card for persons with disabilities; the Artificial Intelligence Act COM(2021)0206 and the Directive COM(2022)0105 on combating violence against women and domestic violence. EUD undertook actions, either directly or jointly with the European Disability Forum, to provide recommendations and amendments shaping the legislation in a way that will positively impact the rights of deaf people at the EU level. Furthermore, EUD closely worked with the PETI Committee of the European Parliament to follow up Petition 1056/2016 allowing deaf people to table petitions in their national sign language. In that regard, EUD contributed to two PETI Committee hearings and held a technical meeting with DG LINC, DG IPOL and DG ITEC. Also, EUD partnered with the European Parliament for the Accessible Democratic Participation for All–European Elections for the Deaf (ADPA-EED)to ensure that deaf citizens across the EU have equal access to information on the 2024 European Elections. The project aims to empower approximately one million deaf Europeans to engage fully in the EU democratic process by providing election-related information in International Sign. Ultimately, EUD is an active contributor to the European Parliament Disability Intergroup, in close cooperation with the European Disability Forum. For the new legislature, EUD is aiming to also contribute to the work of the Intergroup on Traditional communities, national minorities and languages.

Communication Activities

EUD has active Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/eudeaf), X (https://x.com/EUD_Brussels) and Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/company/european-union-of-the-deaf/posts/?feedView=all) pages where they share all updates related to EU policies and legislation. Also, EUD has an active website (https://www.eud.eu/) where all information on our policy work as well as on our projects is being regularly updated. Furthermore, for the ADPA-EED project, EUD created a dedicated Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/DeafEUElections). All EUD activities are annually published through its Impact Reports. The 2023 Impact Report can be found here: https://www.eud.eu//wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Impact-Report2023-1.pdf Ultimately, EUD has a newsletter subscription on its website allowing any interested person or organisation to follow our work.

Interests Represented

Promotes their own interests or the collective interests of their members

Member Of

EUD is a full member of the European Disability Forum (EDF) and is a Regional Co-operating Member of the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) to tackle issues of global importance, and also has participatory status with the Council of Europe (CoE).

Organisation Members

https://www.eud.eu/eud/full-members/