This Directive is an essential component of both the EU Disability Strategy 2021 – 2030, and Malta’s National Disability Strategy for 2021–2030. Both Strategies are aligned to ensure that essential products and services such
as in banking and IT, telecommunications, e-commerce and transport are accessible to persons with disabilities.
Malta remains fully committed to achieving the objectives of the Directive. The Directorate for Disability Issues, as the Disability Policy Directorate within the Ministry for Inclusion and the Voluntary Sector (MIV), led the national negotiations at EU level on the Act, and was responsible for implementing the necessary legal reforms, including the drafting of User Guidelines, to enable the Directive to enter into force in Malta.
The Commission for the Rights of Persons with Disability (CRPD) will act as the Market Surveillance Authority under the Directive. CRPD has signed Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with entities such as the Malta Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority (MCCAA), and the Malta Communications Authority (MCA), which will support the Commission in fulfilling its oversight responsibilities under the Directive.
User Guidelines:
The Ministry for Inclusion and the Voluntary Sector will soon publish a set of User Guidelines to serve as a practical tool to assist businesses, service providers, and public entities in understanding and implementing the accessibility requirements established by the EAA. These guidelines will outline the key obligations for ensuring that products and services, such as digital platforms, ATMs, ticketing machines, e-commerce, and customer communications are accessible to persons with disabilities.
User Guidelines will be published here shortly.