ABSTRACT
Despite being a member of the European Union (EU) since 2007, Romania is far from fulfilling the EU policies for the inclusion and rights of disabled people that they have committed to. This may apply to most of the EU member states, but in Romania, the situation for disabled people is particularly precarious. The chapter describes the situation for disabled people in Romania and discusses various explanations for the weak implementation of the EU inclusive disability policy. It is widely accepted that the situation of disabled people in many Central and Eastern European countries is a legacy of state socialism, particularly a rigid and degrading medical system for the classification and certification of disability. The question is why so little has changed in some countries since the fall of communism. It is argued that, in Romania, this must be understood in a wider context, which needs to be taken into account in order to promote the rights and inclusion of disabled people.
