Currently, when a person with disabilities travels abroad from Estonia, proving their disability in other countries is difficult. People currently use plastic cards or paper documents that are often only in one country's language. For example, a French museum may struggle to verify whether a foreign-language document genuinely confirms a disability.
Currently, institutions are not obligated to provide their country's benefits to people with disabilities from other countries. The Ministry of Social Affairs is now ready to introduce a pan-European disability card and parking card in Estonia.
The aim of the unified card is to ensure that people with disabilities can enjoy the same benefits as locals. For example, an Estonian person with disabilities could use museum or transport discounts in Germany. The same applies the other way around, like Latvian people with disabilities in Estonia.
The implementation of the pan-European card will extend benefits to Estonian people with disabilities as well. For instance, people with severe visual impairments and their companions will be able to visit state-owned museums in Estonia. This change affects nearly 5,000 people. Additionally, in the future, companions of children with profound disabilities will be able to use public transport for free.