Mr President, I welcome the sign language interpreter. I only wish that we could have sign language interpretation for all our debates to make sure that all people could access all the reports. The timing of this debate is very sad, when so few Members are present in the Chamber and, even more importantly, to vote later. It is very important to demonstrate our commitment to disabled people. Putting the report right at the end of a Strasbourg agenda does not demonstrate any commitment. Having said that, I thank the Commission for their cooperation on my report and all the other Members of the European Parliament's Committee on Employment and Social Affairs. I have managed to incorporate a number of their amendments. I believe that is one of the main reasons why we do not have any new amendments today. The European Year of Disabled People, 2003 must not just pay lip service to the problems that disabled people face. We need to have concrete outcomes. For a start, we must truly move away from the medical model of disability to the social and rights-based model of disability. We must make sure that we mainstream disabled people; that all legislation takes account of the specific needs of disabled people, whether they are wheelchair users, someone with a visual impairment, someone with a hearing impairment, someone with a learning difficulty, or someone with a mental health problem. All EU citizens should have equal rights. I hope that in 2003 – if not before – we make sure that all of Parliament's buildings are accessible to disabled people – they are not at the moment – and that all EU Member States are aware of the problems that disabled people face. I shall tell you a story about what happened to Jenny, one of my constituents, the coordinator of Access Charter. I invited her over to the Article 13 Anti-Discrimination hearings. She uses a wheelchair. For a start, she could not get into the Parliament's buildings in Brussels without going through revolving doors because they refused to open the double doors. I remonstrated with them. They unlocked them, took off the rope that was binding them and then 20 minutes later they were locked and bound again. We booked her a hotel room with disabled people's access. Somebody had put a bed across the bathroom door and so she could not get in. She had to change hotels. She then went out to try to get something to eat at night, with her colleagues – remember she was using a wheelchair. No taxi in Brussels would stop for her. She managed to get to a restaurant. The manager then came out and said 'You can't come in here. Your appearance will put off other diners.' When she got to the airport she was subjected to a full body search. She remonstrated with the security people. One of them said: 'Have a nice trip. I hope your plane crashes.'! That demonstrates the problems that disabled people face and the real need for a disability directive. I hope we will hear the announcement of that in 2003. We have to have funding for major research into the status of disabled people. We have to have a study into the situation disabled people face in institutions in particular. It is essential that regional and local government are involved in this year but, more importantly, that organisations of disabled people and representing disabled people are involved in this year. I have called specifically for a funding increase from EUR 12 million to EUR 15 million over the two years. Particularly for sign language interpretation, for personal assistance, for accessible meeting rooms, for hotels etc., there are added costs; in addition, funding for impairment-specific NGOs is only for 2002, not for the year itself. Furthermore, in line with the Article 13 Action Programme on Anti-Discrimination, I have called for subsidies for the expenses for special events at European level to go up from 'not exceeding 80%' to 'not exceeding 90%'. We must also have a proper evaluation of the year in clear and simple language, and in accessible formats. I made my report available in all accessible formats at my own expense. But I would like the Commission, in future, to make available on request any report at whatever stage in accessible format. Finally, the year must be the step in the right direction to combat discrimination. But more importantly, it has to be a celebration of disabled people's contribution to society. (Applause)

Political group: ELDR