Accessibility of basic consumer products for visually impaired persons

28.4.2017

Question for written answer E-003007-17
to the Commission
Rule 130
Javi López (S&D)

The proposal for a directive on the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States as regards the accessibility requirements for products and services is currently going through Parliament.

Through that directive, the Commission seeks to harmonise the accessibility requirements for a limited list of products and services. It states in the proposal that ‘the demand for accessible products and services is high and the number of citizens with disabilities and/or functional limitations will increase significantly with the ageing of the European Union’s population’ and that ‘improving the functioning of the internal market for specific accessible products and services, serves both the needs of these consumers and industry’.

In the light of those facts:

Does the Commission take the view that it is worth presenting a legislative proposal which harmonises the accessibility conditions for basic consumer products (food, hygiene, household products, etc.), making it compulsory for them to be labelled in braille so that people with a disability can distinguish basic information, such as brand, content and properties, without having to depend on other people?