mr president i had concerns relating to the wording of the commission proposal but no legislation is perfect
i voted for both parts of recital seventeen amendment twenty-eight
it was my intention to vote for the original text but i did not wish to vote against the amendment wording which though not as strong as the original text in relation to rights of member states did address my concerns sufficiently and it was clear it would be overwhelmingly carried
i therefore would not have had the opportunity to vote for the original text which would have fallen in those circumstances i could therefore have appeared to vote against a principle and that i did not wish to do
having examined the text in depth i am satisfied that the proposal will serve to improve the access to goods and services for people with disabilities without making any unnecessary references to text that can be inferred as abortion
i firmly believe that it is vital to put in place mechanisms that allow the disabled to travel within the european union on an equal footing as every other citizen
europe has over fifty million disabled citizens and it is therefore imperative that we make every measure to improve their well-being
it is for that reason that i voted for the report
