MEP Francesca Peppucci, 30, is the youngest Italian member of the European Parliament
«General Vannacci’s statements on separate classes for disabled people are absolutely out of place. It is unthinkable to go back to situations where the differences are highlighted. This is intolerable and discriminatory. Integration, however, is fundamental to guarantee equality of rights. Disabled people are people who have the same rights as others and we must move forward to ensure everyone has the same starting point. I live with a disability and I feel like I speak for many people who are in the same situation as me.”
Francesca Peppucci, MEP of Forza Italia, re-nominated for the next elections in the Central Constituency, at 30 years old, she is the youngest Italian member of the European Parliament and among the youngest ever. You arrived in Strasbourg a year after an experience as a regional councilor of Umbria. In 2017, at the age of 24, when you began your political commitment as a municipal councilor in the municipality of Todi, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis with which, she says, «I live with ups and downs. The disease affects my life a lot but does not determine it.” In 2019 you were elected to the Umbria Regional Council, becoming, three years later, president of the Forza Italia council group.
Is there still a stigma today towards people with disabilities and how can it be fought?
«Those who are disabled should not be seen as different. Different from whom? What is the comparison? When we talk about disabled people we are talking about people and unfortunately even in many European countries seriously discriminatory laws persist.”
What is it referring to?
«There are European countries such as Austria, Croatia, Portugal, Latvia where there is forced sterilization of disabled women. It is an inhumane practice.”
As a member of the Interparliamentary Delegation on Disability in Brussels, what is the assessment of the work carried out in this legislature?
«We have achieved several positive results such as the European parking permit and the Disability card, an important but little-known tool, on which I presented several amendments which were approved. The card is used to facilitate the movement of people with disabilities throughout the EU through entrances to museums, for example, or guaranteed parking, ensuring homogeneous rules that previously changed depending on the country. Now the Card has become mandatory in all 27 EU countries and certifies that that person has a disability.”
She was among the promoters of the law on gender equality for women with disabilities when she was a regional councilor of Umbria. What is it about?
«I worked on multiple discrimination against women with disabilities and introduced this aspect into the law on gender equality that already existed. Disabled women are doubly discriminated against compared to “normal” women but also compared to men with disabilities. Too often this phenomenon of multiple discrimination is not recognized in any context, starting from the workplace where a woman with a disability must work, take care of her family and carry out periodic personal checks on her health. Umbria was the first region in Italy to provide for multiple discrimination against women with disabilities.”
What were the main dossiers you dealt with in this year and a half in the European Parliament?
«I worked in the ENVI Commission which has responsibilities for the environment, public health, food safety and human health. So I dealt with the various dossiers on the Green Deal, from green homes to packaging. I was shadow rapporteur on the detergents regulation. Regarding the Green Deal measures, I believe that an environmental policy is necessary following the evident climate changes that continuously trigger natural disasters, however these measures must not be ideological but concrete and allow the objectives to be achieved. Too often we have witnessed ideological measures that were unable to be applied in reality and brought entire economic sectors to their knees as happened in February with the farmers’ protest which involved many European countries”.