Overview
- Lawmakers held the first debate Thursday on changes to the Disability Equality Act, the federal law meant to secure access for 13 million disabled people.
- The draft would require private providers to remove barriers only if doing so is not a disproportionate burden, with no extra reporting duties.
- Federal offices and buildings would have to be barrier-free by 2045, a later target than the 2035 date once cited in coalition plans.
- Social Affairs Minister Bärbel Bas called the package progress but said she wanted more, while opposition parties and some coalition MPs condemned it as too weak.
- The bill now goes to the Bundestag’s Labour and Social Affairs Committee, where disability groups seek stronger enforcement and real claims rights to change access to clinics, stations and everyday services.