People with disabilities will no longer be invisible

Press release by Ádám Kósa

On Tuesday, the European Parliament adopted legislation that calls for the establishment of a common framework for European statistics on persons and households. Thanks to the amendments by Fidesz MEP Ádám Kósa, future statistical data collection will also involve the quality of life of people with disabilities.

“80 million people in Europe suffer from some kind of disability and their problems are often not clearly visible to policy makers because there is too little statistical data at hand,” Kósa said. In the future, statistical data collected at the individual level through sampling will also cover the health status of individuals with disabilities. They will therefore ask how disability affects the individual’s income situation, living conditions, work and studies, and even the use of cutting-edge technologies.

On quality of life issues, the statistics will also address whether the inclusion of persons with disabilities is realized at an economic, social or cultural level and how it affects the well-being of the individual.

Ádám Kósa welcomed the fact that, based on the text adopted as a result of several years of joint work and compared to other persons within the EU, the situation of persons with disabilities will be clearer in all areas of life. As a result, policymakers will be enabled to find more effective solutions that are better suited for the needs of people with disabilities.