{"id":2020,"date":"2026-10-01T06:37:18","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T06:37:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cor.borbolycsaba.ro\/en\/?p=2020"},"modified":"2026-10-01T06:37:18","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T06:37:18","slug":"dignity-must-not-depend-on-where-a-person-lives-or-on-their-circumstances","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cor.borbolycsaba.ro\/en\/dignity-must-not-depend-on-where-a-person-lives-or-on-their-circumstances\/","title":{"rendered":"Dignity must not depend on where a person lives or on their circumstances"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Brussels, I spoke about the rights of persons with disabilities, decent work, humane public administration, and European funding that must reach local communities<\/strong><\/p>\n

The rights of persons with disabilities are not a distant Brussels issue. They are about whether a person in Harghita County can get to school or work, whether they can access the services they need, whether they can find a job suited to their abilities, and whether public administration treats them with dignity.<\/p>\n

That is why I took part yesterday in the meeting of the SEDEC Commission of the European Committee of the Regions, where we discussed strengthening the European strategy on the rights of persons with disabilities. We helped shape the foundations of decisions that may later influence funding programmes, employment measures, community services, and the responsibilities of Member States.<\/p>\n

Not the same solution for everyone<\/h2>\n

In my intervention, I made it clear that full social inclusion and participation in the open labour market must remain our goals. But inclusion cannot mean imposing the same solution on everyone.<\/p>\n

Many persons with disabilities can work in the open labour market if they receive the right support. For others, however, a social enterprise, a cooperative, or a workplace adapted to specific needs may provide a genuine opportunity. Such workplaces can offer meaningful work, a daily routine, community, security, and opportunities for development.<\/p>\n

Of course, they must not become exploitative systems or permanent forms of segregation. They must provide decent working conditions, fair recognition, and opportunities to progress. At the same time, in the name of a well-intentioned theory, we must not remove an option that may offer a dignified, secure, and sustainable life for a particular person.<\/p>\n

For this reason, on behalf of the European People\u2019s Party, I called for the rejection of the rapporteur\u2019s compromise amendment 20R. The key word is choice: the abilities, needs, and wishes of the person concerned must be respected.<\/p>\n

A more humane Disability Card<\/h2>\n

Regarding the European Disability Card, on behalf of the EPP I also supported an important oral compromise. Its purpose was to ensure that, in the case of a permanent or irreversible condition, the person concerned would not have to prove the same situation again every year or unnecessarily often.<\/p>\n

It is unacceptable to subject someone repeatedly to examinations, administrative procedures, waiting periods, and uncertainty when it is medically established that their condition will not change. The system must remain subject to verification, but it must not humiliate people.<\/p>\n

That is why we advocated that, in cases of permanent conditions, the card should remain valid for a long period, or that its renewal should take place through a simplified procedure, preferably automatically. The role of the state is not to create new barriers for persons with disabilities, but to remove the barriers that already exist.<\/p>\n

Funding must be brought closer to communities<\/h2>\n

The three amendments I submitted were intended to ensure that the European strategy does not remain merely a general promise.<\/p>\n

In the first amendment, I called for funding that is more decentralised, simpler, and more responsive to territorial needs. The problems faced by persons with disabilities arise locally, so local and regional authorities must be involved in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of programmes.<\/p>\n

The state must give local actors a clear mandate and adequate resources. At local level, we know where accessible transport is missing, which schools need upgrading, where day-care services are unavailable, and which families have been left without support.<\/p>\n

The second amendment focused on strengthening the pathway from school to employment. Schools, vocational training institutions, universities, employment services, businesses, local authorities, and civil society organisations must work together. We need personalised career guidance, mentoring, practical training, accessible digital tools, and properly adapted workplaces.<\/p>\n

The third amendment concerned the importance of territorial data, civil society participation, and good local practices. National averages do not show the reality of a mountain village. Without precise local data, we cannot identify where the greatest gaps are, nor can funding be distributed fairly.<\/p>\n

Civil society organisations must not be treated as decoration<\/h2>\n

Civil society organisations representing persons with disabilities know the everyday barriers best. They are in contact with the people concerned and their families, they provide services, and they are often the first to see when a system that works on paper fails in practice.<\/p>\n

That is why it is not enough to ask for their opinion from time to time. They must take part as genuine partners in planning, implementation, and the evaluation of results. Decisions about them cannot be made without them.<\/p>\n

In Harghita County, we can build a shared vision on this basis. We need to connect local authorities, social institutions, schools, businesses, churches, universities, and civil society organisations. This cooperation can lead to supported employment, social enterprises, mentoring programmes, accessible services, and new training opportunities.<\/p>\n

Why is it important to be present in Brussels?<\/h2>\n

European funding does not reach Harghita County automatically. It requires vision, cooperation, professional planning, well-prepared projects, and political representation.<\/p>\n

European programmes and funding rules are currently changing. There is a real opportunity to bring more resources to our region for innovation, research, training, employment, accessibility, and community services. But to achieve this, we need to be involved in the planning process now.<\/p>\n

In many respects, Europe still operates at two speeds. Actors from Western Europe and capital cities often start with more experts, stronger institutional capacity, and better-established networks. If we, the rural, mountain, and minority communities of Eastern Europe, do not make our voices heard, we risk once again being left with only the crumbs.<\/p>\n

We are not asking for privileges. We are asking for the rules to take our reality into account as well, and for local communities to have fair access to European opportunities.<\/p>\n

What do we leave to those who come after us?<\/h2>\n

One of the greatest mistakes in politics is when someone behaves as though the world begins and ends with them. But others will come after us.<\/p>\n

The question is what we leave them as a legacy: integrity, cooperation, mutual respect, and trust, or indifference, contempt, and institutions emptied of meaning.<\/p>\n

An amendment submitted today, a professional relationship built now, or a European cooperation launched today may only deliver its full results in five, ten, or fifteen years. Others may be the ones to carry it forward by then. That does not change the fact that we have to start now.<\/p>\n

That is why it is important to be present in Brussels. Not for titles and not for photographs, but so that Harghita County is not merely an implementer of decisions taken elsewhere. We must be at the table where decisions are also made about our future.<\/p>\n

We are not asking for crumbs, but for a fair chance. We do not want to decide in place of others; we want to take part in shaping our own future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The reality of Harghita County and the Carpathian Basin must also be reflected in European decisions on disability<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":2021,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[82,1,84],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2020","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cor","category-hirek","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cor.borbolycsaba.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cor.borbolycsaba.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cor.borbolycsaba.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cor.borbolycsaba.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cor.borbolycsaba.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2020"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cor.borbolycsaba.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2020\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2022,"href":"https:\/\/cor.borbolycsaba.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2020\/revisions\/2022"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cor.borbolycsaba.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cor.borbolycsaba.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cor.borbolycsaba.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cor.borbolycsaba.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}