This is the second part of our Debating Europe Schools debate involving students from the Stefan Decanski school for the hearing impaired in Belgrade, Serbia, organised in cooperation with our partners at the European Disability Forum and with the help of the European Union of the Deaf. You can find the first part here.

• What is the EU doing to overcome difficulties faced by people with disabilities?

The next question comes from Slobodan and Sanja. They say:

Disabled people experience numerous disadvantages in many aspects of daily life. What is the European Union doing to help in overcoming difficulties faced by people with disabilities and to remove environmental and social barriers and create a more inclusive society?

We took their question to Yannis Vardakastanis, President of the European Disability Forum. He argued that, whilst progress has been made, there is still no systematic approach from EU policy-makers, and there is no systematic monitoring of the implementation of measures that have been taken. You can see his full response (and the video question from Slobodan and Sanja) in the video below:

We also spoke with Ádám Kósa, a Hungarian politician and the first MEP to use Deaf Sign Language in the European Parliament. What would he say?

Ádám Kósa said the European Parliament is currently working with the Commission and Council on a new law called the European Accessibility Act, which will be designed to break down barriers for people with disabilities.

• How is the EU dealing with the communication problems people with disabilities face when they need medical help?

Our next question came from Esma and Helena, who wanted to know about access to healthcare. They asked:

People with disabilities often face problems in communication when they need medical help (especially hearing imparied due to communication barriers). That is the reason why they are often not satisfied with the provided services. They feel that they are not treated well and sometimes are even denied medical help. How is the European Union dealing with this problem?

How would Ádám Kósa respond to Esma and Helena?

Kósa said that the situation varies across the EU. In Austria, for example, there are already several hospitals being equipped specially to provide services for deaf people. He is also hopeful that advances in technology, including remote video interpretation services, will improve access to healthcare for people with disabilities in every EU country.

• What is the situation in the EU regarding the employment of people with disabilities?

The final question was sent in by Marko and Vera, who wanted to know more about the job market in the EU and the difficulties faced by people with disabilities. They asked:

Our question is related to employment of people with disabilities. Although by law all people have equal rights and employers have certain benefits if they hire a person with disability, people with hearing impairments still face barriers in getting a job. What is the situation on the job market regarding employment of people with disabilities in the European Union?

What would Ádám Kósa say in response?

In his answer, Kósa agreed that unemployment is a serious issue facing people with disabilities in the EU. He said there is an EU project focusing specifically on reducing the unemployment rate of persons with disabilities, including funding to encourage companies – particularly in Eastern Europe – to employ persons with disabilities. He added that, in his own country of Hungary, over 15’000 persons with disabilities were employed over the past three years.

Is the EU doing enough to help people with disabilities access healthcare, education and other services? The difficulties facing people with disabilities can vary greatly from one country to another in the EU, so should more be done to improve the situation across Europe? Let us know your thoughts and comments in the form below, and we’ll take them to policy-makers and experts for their reactions.