Disabled people and disability policy in Europe
Rannveig Traustadóttir
University of Iceland
Faculty of Social Science
Most disabled people in Europe are excluded from regular open employment, hidden away on benefits, isolated in segregated work programs, or unemployed. This stands in contrast to current disability policies in Europe which emphasize anti-discriminatory practices and the right to employment. The disability policy of the European Union has a strong focus on work and considers employment central to social inclusion. In fact, disabled people of working age have been at the heart of some recent policy changes emphasizing occupational integration. The European Year of Disabled People 2003 resulted in renewed commitments to disability rights in Europe, among other things in the Madrid Declaration, creating a vision of “an inclusive European society for all.” In this paper I will provide a brief overview of disability policies in Europe and examine some of the contradictions, conflicts, and gaps between disabled people’s everyday lives and these policies. The paper attempts to bring together research with young unemployed disabled people, new perspectives in disability theory, the development of disability policies, and labour market restructuring.