Practical Information

Registration fee: Registration opened on 16 April. There is a small participation fee, with reduced rates for ENIL members and Personal Assistants. Please click here to register before 30 July.

Fundraising: We advise everyone to contact their Members of the European Parliament and ask for sponsorship to join the Freedom Drive. Each MEP has a generous budget to bring people from their own country to Brussels each year. You can download the template to get in touch with your MEP here.

Contact person: The mailbox for the Freedom Drive is freedom.drive@enil.eu. This will be checked by Melike Ergun Yilmaz or other members of the ENIL team involved in the Freedom Drive organisation. We will aim to reply to all queries promptly.

Travel and accommodation: All participants are responsible for covering their travel and accommodation costs. ENIL will only be in a position to cover the costs of speakers (if agreed in advance) and members of the Board (ENIL and ENIL Youth). Unfortunately, we cannot consider other requests for funding due to our limited budget (with the exception of stipends, explained below).

Stipends: We will award two Martin Naughton stipends to young disabled activists from Europe . The criteria and application procedure were published in March and the application process closed on 15 April. The applicants will be notified of the results by the end of April.

Accessible hotels: Please book early, as there are many events taking place in Brussels in September. For a list of accessible hotels, please check the website of Handy Brussels.

Getting around Brussels

Taxi: Taxi Verts offers wheelchair-accessible vehicles equipped with ramps, lifters, and secure fixings. Rides can be booked on-demand or in advance through their website or mobile app (registration required). To ask for an adapted car, just select the “PMR” option when entering your ride details. Please note that due to limited availability, pickup times may vary by up to 30 minutes.

Click here to book Taxi Verts

Public transport: Brussels' public transportation network is operated by STIB/MIVB. Stations and stops are categorized into three levels of accessibility: fully accessible, accessible with assistance, or non-accessible. To check a specific route, visit the STIB/MIVB website, navigate to Travel > Lines, and select your bus, tram, or metro line. From there, click “Show accessibility” to view the status of each stop.

Click here to look up accessible stations

Trains: The national railway company in Belgium is SNCB/NMBS. You must book your ticket before requesting assistance. Depending on your departure and arrival stations, assistance must be booked between 3 and 24 hours in advance. On the day of travel, plan to arrive at the station 20 minutes before your scheduled departure. For connecting trains, consider at least 15 minutes between transfers. Assistance can be booked online after having purchased the tickets or through the SNCB-NMBS Assist app.

Click here to find instructions on how to request assistance to take the train

Parking in Brussels: To benefit from free parking in the Brussels Region, Parking Brussels only recognises the European Disability Parking Card (the UK Blue badge is no longer recognised). To do this, you need to pre-register your European Disability Parking Card:

Send an e-mail to handicap@parking.brussels;
Requesting that the attached European Disability Parking Card be “linked” to the vehicle's license plate N°.... (indicate number) of the vehicle;
Attach a copy of both sides of the European Disability Parking Card to the e-mail.

Once this is done, you must still display the European Disability Parking Card on the vehicle's dashboard.

For private parking, this site lists a number of private parks companies where you can find the parking lot closest to where you are. Each parking lot shows the maximum height of the vehicle.

It is also advised that you check that your vehicle meets the LEZ (Low Emission Zone) conditions for driving in the Brussels Region.

Getting to the city centre from the airport

Brussels Airport - Zaventem

Train: Brussels Airport-Zaventem railway station is located directly beneath the departures and arrivals halls. The station, on level -1, is accessible by escalator or lift. To enter and exit the station, you just need to scan the QR code on your train ticket at the access gates. Every hour (from early morning until around midnight), 6 trains serve Brussels-North, -Central and -South, and 2 trains run to the European Quarter. You can reach Brussels city centre in around 18 minutes. Tickets can be bought online (via the website or the NMBS/SNCB app) or at the ticket machines (at the station itself or in the baggage reclaim hall). Please keep in mind that assistance must be booked between 3 and 24 hours in advance and can be requested online after having purchased the tickets or through the SNCB-NMBS Assist app.
Metro: There is no metro line at Brussel Airport-Zaventem.
Bus: The bus station is located 100 metres from the arrivals hall, on Level 0. A covered walkway connects the bus station to the terminal. The fastest and most direct option is the STIB/MIVB Airport Line (Line 12), which arrives in the European Quarter. Almost all of the buses are wheelchair accessible. Tickets are available for purchase on board via contactless credit card payment.
Taxi: the official airport taxi company (Comobi) does not have wheelchair-accessible vehicles. If you need or prefer to stay in your wheelchair during the trip, you can use Taxis Verts, whose cars are equipped with ramps, lifters, and secure fixings. Rides can be booked on-demand or in advance through their website or mobile app (registration required). To ask for an adapted car, just select the “PMR” option when entering your ride details. Please note that due to limited availability, pickup times may vary by up to 30 minutes. Click here to book Taxi Verts

Brussels South Charleroi Airport (located around 60km away from Brussels City Centre)

Bus and Train: Line A1 connects Charleroi Airport with Charleroi Central Station. It is operated by LETEC. There is one bus every 15 minutes, seven days a week between 4.30 a.m. and 11.30 p.m. The trip lasts around 17 minutes and the ticket costs 6€. It can be purchased online or on the TEC app. You can also buy it with your train ticket on the SNCB/NMBS website. You just need to select Buy a Product > Multimodality. From Charleroi Central Station, you can reach Brussels-North, -Central and -South Stations. You must book your ticket before requesting assistance. Depending on your departure and arrival stations, assistance must be booked between 3 and 24 hours in advance. If you need assistance, please consider at least 20 minutes between the moment you arrive at the train station and the train departure. Assistance can be booked after having purchased the tickets online or through the SNCB-NMBS Assist app.
Shuttles (coaches): Shuttles from/to Brussels are operated by Flibco. Unfortunately, their vehicles are not adapted for wheelchair users. For those who do not require accessible transport, Flibco tickets can be bought online, from their website.
Taxi: Taxi Verts, Sympa Tax and RapidTax all offer wheelchair-accessible vehicles equipped with ramps, lifters, and secure fixings. Rides can be booked on-demand (not for RapidTax) or in advance through their website or mobile app (Just for Taxi Verts). Please note that due to limited availability, pickup times may vary by up to 30 minutes. Click on the links above to book.

Important Numbers

International code for Belgium: +32

Fire brigade: 100

Police emergency number: 101

Ambulance service: 100

European emergency number: 112