• People with autism spectrum disorders are not always covered by disability certificates

• Official diagnoses should be recognised across borders and access to diagnosis improved

• Harmonised EU legal status for disabilities needed

In a draft resolution, MEPs highlight the issues faced by people with autism spectrum disorders and ask for EU action to solve these issues.

The text, adopted by the Committee on Petitions and based on citizens’ concerns expressed in a recent petition, argues that persons with autism spectrum disorders should have stronger protections for their rights in the EU. It was adopted by 22 votes in favour, 0 against, and 3 abstentions.

MEPs note that people with autism do not have the same characteristics, and need support that corresponds to their personal needs, also when travelling in other EU countries. At the same time, many face difficulties in gaining recognition for their disability status, even when they have a diagnosis. Another issue is the time that it takes to get diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders in many member states. MEPs ask that EU countries facilitate and speed up access to diagnosis, and want to see disability recognition linked to a diagnosis.

Given that the EU does not currently have a standardised and mutually recognised status for autism spectrum disorders, people with these disorders struggle to prove their condition when moving across borders, barring them from accessing necessary support. This is why official diagnoses should be recognised alongside disability certificates, say MEPs. They would like to see a harmonised European legal status for disabilities allowing for mutual recognition throughout Europe taking into account the specificity of autism spectrum disorders. Also, MEPs ask for an updated Commission proposal on the long-discussed Anti-discrimination directive, building on the Parliament position on it.

Noting that people with disabilities still face barriers to their free movement and other obstacles to fully enjoying their fundamental rights, MEPs emphasise that these people are entitled to inalienable dignity, equal treatment, independent living, autonomy and full participation in society, including access to education and work. They ask the EU to allocate funds to anti-discrimination policies against people with autism, especially women and girls, and for reformed guardianship systems that allow autistic persons to act in a legal capacity. The European Disability Card is a welcome step in the right direction, and its scope should be extended, argue MEPs.

Background

The Committee on Petitions has a “protection role” in ensuring EU compliance with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) through the petitions process.

The current EU Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2021-2030 involves the creation of a European Disability Card, which the Commission proposed on 6 September 2023.

Next steps

The resolution will now be tabled for a future plenary of the European Parliament.

European Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly has asked the European Parliament for formal support for her efforts to get the European Commission to act on her recommendations to reduce systemic delays in dealing with requests for public access to documents.

In a Special Report to Parliament, the Ombudsman noted that while the Commission indicated that it is already implementing most of her suggestions, Ombudsman inquiries related to public access continue to show significant delays.

These delays typically concern access requests related to areas of significant public importance. Recent examples show that it took the Commission over a year to deal with requests concerning documents relating to migration, EU recovery funds, and sanctions against Russia. At the same time, the Ombudsman has seen a sharp increase in complaints about access to document delays in the Commission, with the number in 2023 already four times higher than it was for the entirety of 2020. 

“Citizens rightly expect the EU administration to be open, modern, and service-minded - the Commission’s approach to access to documents falls far short of these expectations.”  

“These delays undermine citizens’ ability to scrutinise EU decisions and policies in a direct and timely way. The Commission needs fundamentally to rethink its approach in order to correct this systemic problem.”

“My ultimate aim is to help the public participate meaningfully in the democratic life of the EU which is a Treaty right. This is why I have called for Parliament’s support and action on this matter,” said the Ombudsman.

The Ombudsman’s inquiry, opened in 2022, found that when people ask the Commission to review its initial access decision - because it refused or granted only partial access to the requested documents - the transparency regulation (1049/2001) deadlines are missed in 85% of cases.

Over 60% of such review decisions took more than 60 working days, despite a maximum time limit of 30 working days.

In her recommendation, the Ombudsman suggested that the Commission dedicate more resources to dealing with confirmatory requests, engage constructively and openly with people requesting documents, and anticipate public-interest topics so it can be proactively transparent.

There have been 20 Special Reports from the Ombudsman to Parliament since the European Ombudsman was established in 1995 and all have been supported. The last Special Report, in 2018, concerned the lack of legislative transparency in the Council of the European Union.

This month the Ombudsman’s findings highlight the importance of public bodies managing service user expectations, ensuring all involved have a clear understanding of the service being provided

We published decision reports from 15 complaints investigated by the Ombudsman. Seven of these were about the Health sector, five about Local Government, and three about Joint Health and Social Care. The outcome of these 15 complaints were:

• Fully upheld: 8
• Some upheld: 2
• Not upheld: 5

Recommendations and feedback

We made 30 recommendations to public bodies. 14 of these were about steps public bodies could take to learn and improve from the complaint. One recommended a public body conduct an audit into staff compliance following a failure to complete documentation around a patient's communication preference. A further four recommendations were about how complaints handling could be improved.

A common theme of these recommendations was ensuring that service users are kept well informed, with any changes to the expected provision being clearly communicated and explanations given. This is particularly important in a health care setting, where involving patients in decision making and gaining informed consent is paramount.

We also highlight several recommendations that emphasise the importance of person-centred complaint handling. The complainant should be at the heart of the process with complaint responses demonstrating empathy and recognition of the complainant's situation and the impact this has had on them. Our guidance on meaningful apologies can be found on our website and discusses the difference between an apology and an expression of empathy.

All our published decision reports can be read in full on our website.

Una ciudadana acudió al Ararteko denunciando la falta de intervención del Ayuntamiento de Azpeitia para controlar y corregir las graves molestias de ruido provenientes de un establecimiento de hostelería. Según la reclamante, las molestias resultan insoportables, las puertas de acceso al establecimiento están constantemente abiertas, lo cual incrementa el ruido en su vivienda, y se incumple continuamente el horario de cierre. 

El Ararteko ya analizó este mismo caso anteriormente. En aquella ocasión, comprobamos que la actividad había sido debidamente regularizada y los informes recibidos indicaron que el local disponía del aislamiento acústico suficiente para el tipo de actividad que se ejercía en él. 

Sin embargo, los equipos musicales carecían del preceptivo limitador por lo que funcionaban a un volumen superior al permitido. Por eso, el ayuntamiento ordenó al promotor de la actividad que colocara el limitador en todos los equipos con el fin de respetar el volumen máximo autorizado. No obstante, tras el seguimiento realizado ante las nuevas denuncias, se constató que el promotor incumplía con los requerimientos al no respetar la limitación impuesta por lo que el ayuntamiento volvió a requerir la adecuación del equipo. Además, una vez restringido el volumen se detectaron momentos de desconexión del sistema de limitación.

Tras nuevos requerimientos municipales, el Ayuntamiento de Azpeitia confirmó al Ararteko en 2022 que, tras haberse limitado de forma efectiva el volumen, no se habían apreciado más ruidos excesivos. En todo caso señaló que, para evitar nuevas infracciones, evaluaría la posibilidad de instalar un registró sonográfico para facilitar los controles. De acuerdo con los datos ofrecidos, el Ararteko consideró solventadas las molestias y procedió al cierre del expediente.

Tras un nuevo escrito de queja señalando la persistencia de molestias el Ararteko abrió otro expediente y se dirigió de nuevo al Ayuntamiento de Azpeitia cuya intervención no ha servido para garantizar la corrección de las deficiencias ni para impedir los perjuicios a la vecindad. Por ello, ante la reiteración de las infracciones cometidas, el Ararteko ha recomendado al Ayuntamiento de Azpeitia que proceda a la instalación de un registro sonográfico. 

RESOLUCIÓN

Vitoria-Gasteiz,19 de septiembre de 2023

On 18 September 2023, Human Rights Ombudsman Peter Svetina met with the representatives of the Parada ponosa society, Amnesty International Slovenije, DIH – Enakopravni pod Mavrico society, and Zavod Transfeministične Iniciative TransAkcije. In the light of Saturday’s violence at the Pride Parade in Maribor he condemned expressions of intolerance and violence and emphasised that prejudice, discrimination, and exclusion due to sexual orientation, sexual identity, and other personal circumstances are unfortunately still present in society, despite being unacceptable. “I am worried because I am noticing an increasing incitement of violence in different segments of society. Adults have a duty to bring awareness about tolerance of others even with the youngest children, and do so with our own example and show that caring for others is not foreign to us. It is important that in different segments of society, each in our own respective fields, we nurture a culture of tolerance, respect, and inclusion. I frequently emphasise the importance of protecting the rights of vulnerable groups, which include lesbians, gays, bisexual, transsexual, and intersex people, and people with other sexual identities (LGBTIQ+). The environment we live in can make our life easier or harder. It is unacceptable that any individual or any group is pushed to the edge of society and their constitutionally guaranteed rights not considered,” stressed Svetina at the meeting.

For four years, the Ombudsman has been repeating in his annual reports the recommendation that competent bodies prepare a bill regulating the legal recognition of gender. “Unfortunately, our recommendation remains unrealised, while the work of the inter-ministerial working group is running too slowly. I expect that those responsible prepare a bill as soon as possible and thus enable all individuals in society to feel accepted,” added Ombudsman Svetina.