On 10 November, EFHOH was represented by Project Manager Rita Crespo and Advocacy Officer Lavinia Rotundi at the Industrial, Research and Energy (ITRE) Committee meeting in the European Parliament.
In this meeting, MEP Michał Kobosko presented his report on the Digital Networks Act. This report aims to integrate relay services into the Act, services that are essential for hard of hearing people to make and receive phone calls.
In our recent joint report with the European Union of the Deaf on Mapping Relay Services in Europe (https://efhoh.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Mapping-relay-services-in-Europe-1.pdf), we found that only 12 of 30 countries in Europe have text relay services available.
To ensure that every hard of hearing person in Europe can access quality text relay services, EFHOH calls for further strengthening of the Digital Networks Act. Along with the European Union of the Deaf and the European Disability Forum, we ask MEPs to support our proposal to:
🔷 Make relay services accessible, affordable and available on a 24/7 basis
🔷 Strengthen the requirements for emergency services to ensure equivalent access for deaf and hard of hearing people
🔷 Integrate cross-border access and interoperability of relay services, so deaf and hard of hearing people can use them as they move through the European Union
EFHOH will continue monitoring the Digital Networks Act and working with our partners to ensure every hard of hearing person in Europe can access quality relay services without barriers.
