Portugal's Disability Rights Monitor Lists 15 Gaps Between the 2027 Budget and the UN Convention, Starting With Spending It Cannot Trace

The independent body that monitors how Portugal applies the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has told the government and parliament that the 2027 budget does not do enough to meet it. The Mecanismo Nacional de Monitorização da Implementação da Convenção sobre os Direitos das Pessoas com Deficiência (National Mechanism for Monitoring the Implementation of the Convention, Me-CDPD) published its Recommendation No. 4/2026, dated 15 October, and set out 15 areas it wants the budget to fund and track.

According to Lusa, carried by Observador, the mechanism said on Tuesday that the proposal does not comply with the convention, citing "the lack of properly identifiable resources", insufficient funding and the absence of indicators to measure results.

What the mechanism wants

Its central request is a "disability budget statement" attached to the budget, listing for each priority measure of the 2026 to 2030 national disability strategy who is responsible, the money for the year and the targets. It wants every area answered with three questions: what resources are planned, what needs they meet and what results they produce for disabled people.

• Independent living. The strategy's action plan puts 80 million euros on personal assistance, to reach 1,336 people in 2027 against 1,182 in 2025. The mechanism says that figure cannot be read as a 2027 allocation. It notes that 2027 is the first budget to carry Lei n.º 31/2026 (Law 31/2026), which makes personal assistance free, with no family contribution or means test, and raises the hourly rate paid to providers.
• Assistive products. It asks for timely funding of the Sistema de Atribuição de Produtos de Apoio (assistive products system), which supplies aids for mobility, communication and daily living and had 39.7 million euros for 2026, and for shorter waits.
• European cards. Portugal must transpose the European Disability Card and the European Parking Card by 5 June 2027; the mechanism wants identified money for it.
• Emergency calls. Accessible 112 calls, including Portuguese Sign Language, must be in place from 28 June 2027.
• Benefits. It wants an assessment of whether benefits cover the extra costs of disability, rather than judging them by total spending.

The other areas include accessible housing, inclusive education, jobs and the employment quota law, health, the medical boards that issue disability certificates, justice, violence against disabled women and accessible voting.

What the budget contains

The budget report puts 1,023.2 million euros on the Prestação Social para a Inclusão (Social Inclusion Benefit) and its complement in 2027, 10 percent more than this year, reflecting more claimants and an update of the average payment. The Social Security budget lists an action for the inclusion of disabled people worth 1,046 million euros, measured by the growth in people using personal assistance and by how much of the benefit budget is spent. The report gives no separate figure for personal assistance.

The ministry also promises a new accessibility regime and an update of the approved list of assistive products. In schools, the revised inclusive education law is due to take effect in the 2027 to 2028 school year. Article 8 of the budget bill lets the government pass EU-funded money to public bodies for removing physical barriers and making digital content accessible. Earlier this month, therapy centres working in schools still did not know what the ministry would pay.

What happens next

The mechanism sent its recommendation to the government and to parliament, Lusa reported; any change to the bill would have to come through parliament. The bill goes to its general vote on 27 and 28 October. Committee hearings run from 29 October to 6 November, the detailed debate and votes from 18 to 23 November, and the final vote is on 24 November.