On the initiative of the Spanish Presidency of the EU, the European Commission is to launch a project to promote accessibility in cities, according to Wednesday's announcement by the Spanish minister for Health and Social Policy, Trinidad Jiménez, at a press conference following the informal meeting of European disability ministers in Zaragoza.

The minister stated that this project would use an assessment system “similar to the one used for evaluating the quality” of beaches, in that “every city will receive a score based on its accessibility”, and the city that scores highest “will be declared the European city of accessibility”.

According to the selection system, every country will be able to put forward a maximum of three candidate cities, with the degree of accessibility to be quantified on the grounds of four criteria:

• The condition of buildings and public spaces.
• Transport and infrastructure.
• Information and communications (including new technologies).
• Services open to the public.

The Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship, Viviane Reding, conceded that the first “prize”, will be awarded in December 2010 during the European Day of People with Disabilities, which will be marked by a conference in Brussels “which will see the surprise revelation of the cities that are the example for the rest to follow”.

The European Capital of Accessibility initiative joined other similar projects such as theEuropean Capital of Culture, which this year is to Pécs, Istanbul and Essen, and European Green Capital, which is Stockholm.

In addition to the European capital of accessibility initiative, the informal meeting of European ministers focused on the status of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.