Enhancing Disability Rights in Europe: Recognition Must Lead to Action

Better recognition, but not enough action: MHE’s initial reaction to the Communication enhancing the Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities up to 2030

Mental Health Europe (MHE) welcomes the European Commission’s stronger recognition of the barriers faced by persons with psychosocial disabilities and mental health problems in its update to the European Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2021–2030. However, this update reflects a concerning trend already visible in other recent EU equality strategies: while awareness is growing, concrete measures to turn rights into reality remain lacking.

Put simply, the recognition is there, but where are the teeth?

Progress in Language, Gaps in Ambition

It is encouraging to see that the current phase of the Strategy includes stronger language and more actions relevant to psychosocial disabilities compared to the first phase. However, language and awareness alone are not enough. The proposed actions remain too vague and theoretical to bring meaningful change to the lives of persons with psychosocial disabilities, falling short of the concrete and measurable progress we expected.

The Strategy includes several promising proposals, but their impact will depend on how clearly they are defined and implemented in collaboration with relevant stakeholders, including persons with disabilities and their representative organisations. To ensure these initiatives become real catalysts for the implementation of the UNCRPD, MHE highlights the following priorities, in line with our initial recommendations:

• Joint Action under EU4Health on human rights-based approaches in mental health: While Mental Health Europe called for a clear commitment to end coercion and involuntary treatment in mental healthcare, the proposed Joint Action’s focus on “raising awareness” risks falling far short of what is needed. To ensure this initiative meaningfully advances the transition away from coercive practices, MHE calls for:
  • For persons with lived experience and their representative organisations to be involved at every stage of the development. 
  • For any output to make clear that the EU aims to eliminate coercion and involuntary treatment in mental health care settings. 
  • For the action to include and be based on a preliminary comprehensive study on the use of coercion in mental health care and promising alternatives to examine the state of play in Europe, highlighting good examples in law, policy, and practices. 
  • To result in clear indicators for UNCRPD-compliant mental health services and practices. 
  • To provide guidance that supports Member States in further reforms to reduce and eliminate coercion in line with Articles 12, 14, 15, and 17 of the UNCRPD, specifically by supporting the transition to voluntary, peer-led, and recovery-oriented community support models. 
• Establishment of the “Alliance for Independent Living”: To make the Alliance a driver for real community inclusion, MHE asks: 
  • To work closely with the European Expert Group on the Transition from Institutional to Community-based Care (EEG) and its members and use the Technical Support Instrument (TSI) to provide direct expertise to Member States. 
  • For the Commission to incentivise participants beyond the disability sector, ensuring local authorities and social service providers are at the table. 
  • To ensure the specific barriers of psychosocial disabilities are explicitly addressed. 
  • To support Member States in establishing the national targets and monitor implementation through the EU Semester and other relevant tools to ensure a coherent evolution towards independent living.
• Study on decision-making regimes and legal capacity legislation: Legal capacity is now more consistently mentioned in the Strategy, yet binding measures to end guardianship remain absent. The Commission’s proposal to publish a study showcasing supported decision-making is a starting point, but for this to lead to systemic change, MHE asks: 
  • For the study to be conducted in full alignment with the UNCRPD and General Comment No. 1. 
  • To go beyond “showcasing” by collecting and disseminating data on the number of people currently under guardianship to clarify the scale of the problem. 
  • To contain clear guidance and a plan to provide incentives for Member States to replace substitute decision-making systems with supported models that respect each person’s will and preferences, including in mental health settings. 
  • To result in a roadmap for mutual learning exchanges between persons with disability and their representative organisations, judiciaries, medical professionals, policy makers and all relevant stakeholders across Member States. 

Conclusion

Recognition is an important first step, but only concrete and binding action will make the UNCRPD a reality for persons with psychosocial disabilities. While we acknowledge the stronger recognition of mental health and the barriers faced by persons with psychosocial disabilities in the updated Strategy, the absence of clear flagship initiatives on deinstitutionalisation, supported decision-making, and ending coercion risks turning progress in language into empty promises. Mental Health Europe will continue working with the European Commission and relevant stakeholders to ensure these commitments translate into meaningful and lasting reform.