WRITTEN QUESTION P-2978/01

by Eija-Riitta Korhola (PPE-DE) to the Council

(22 October 2001)

Subject: Discrimination against visually handicapped people on public transport in Portugal

At the end of September and the beginning of October this year a Finnish national was on a walking holiday in the hills of Northern Portugal (the national park of Peneda-Gerês). The person in question is visually handicapped and is unable to walk without his Translator's note: Or her. Since Finnish makes no distinction between masculine and feminine pronouns, it is not clear from the original whether the person in question is a man or a woman guide dog. The attitude taken to the guide dog on the aeroplane (Luxair), on the Airbus at Porto Airport, on the Portuguese railways and in taxis was very good, but on 4 October 2001 the company operating the coach between Porto and Braga (a major university town) and from Braga to Gerês (an important tourist centre) refused to let the guide dog on to the vehicle. The railways were on strike and the only alternative was to make the 100 km journey by taxi. The ban on dogs in Braga coaches is absolute and also applies to guide dogs, and the managers of the bus station do not make any exceptions even if the dog is muzzled. It should be recalled that this was a guide dog specially trained for visually handicapped people, with the proper documentation to prove it. Such dogs are the eyes of visually handicapped people.

Is the Council aware that visually handicapped people are discriminated against in Portugal by being refused access to public transport (coaches) with their guide dogs? Has the coach company been guilty of discrimination in contravention of Portuguese and Community legislation? What does the Council propose to do to put an end to this type of discrimination against visually handicapped people in Portugal and in the Member States generally?

Reply

(14 February 2002)

The Council would like to remind the Honourable Parliamentarian that the Council is due to adopt a Council decision on the European Year of People with Disabilities 2003 with a view, inter alia, to raising awareness of the rights of people with disabilities to protection against discrimination and to full enjoyment of their rights, and to promoting the exchange of best practices and effective strategies at local, national and European level.

A situation such as the one described by the Honourable Parliamentarian where a general rule, when applied to people with disabilities, becomes a form of discrimination is one that could best be remedied by the type of action that will be promoted by the European Year of People with Disabilities, because experience shows both that it is not possible to legislate in all the areas where discrimination is likely to occur and that raising awareness can prove a very effective way of combating discrimination.

In any event, the principal Directive which deals with the question of discrimination against, inter alia, people with disabilities (Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2001)(1) applies only to the employment field. It cannot, of course, be excluded that the Commission will at a future date present a proposal for a Directive with a broader scope but, at the time of writing, no such proposal has been received.

(1) Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000 establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation (OJ L 303, 2.12.2000, p. 16).