Disability Strategy 2010-2020 and EU external action Inmaculada Placencia Porrero Deputy Head of Unit Unit D3 Rights of Persons with Disabilities European.

Disability Strategy 2010-2020and

EU external action

Inmaculada Placencia PorreroDeputy Head of Unit

Unit D3 Rights of Persons with Disabilities

European CommissionDG Justice

[email protected]

The UN Convention• General Assembly resolution 56/168 - 19 Dec. 2001 • 13 December 2006 Adoption by the General Assembly

• Signature• 30 March 2007 signed by the European Community• Signed by all Member States• 3 May 2008 entry into force

• Ratification• Commission proposal for Conclusion of the Convention and

accession to Optional Protocol• 29 August 2008

• Council Decision 2010/48 concerning the conclusion• 26 November 2009• 2 December 2010 Adoption of the Code of Conduct

• Entry into Force for the EU 22 January 2011• Ratified by 24 MS

Council Decision Conclusion UNCRPD

26 November 2009: Council Decision 2010/48/EC concerning the conclusion (formal confirmation), by the European Community*, of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Article 2 (deposit of instruments of formal confirmation)

Article 3 (COM as the focal point) Article 4 (external representation, close cooperation) Articles 3 – 4 (Code of Conduct) Annex I (UNCRPD) Annex II (declaration of competence + appendix) Annex III (reservation)

EU Governance

• Focal point: European Commission; Unit for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

• Coordination mechanism: Human Rights Group of the Council (COHOM)

• EU Framework art 33.2: Adopted 2012

The EU Framework (art 33.2 CRPD)

Disability Strategy:

A monitoring framework will be established after

considering the possible role of a number of

existing EU bodies and institutions and

without undue administrative burden

The Commission's proposalThe members of the framework:

• European Parliament's Petitions Committee• European Ombudsman• European Commission• EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA)• European Disability Forum (EDF)

The rationale:

• Limited EU competence: complementarity with the MS frameworks• Focus on the tasks: the proposed EU institutions and bodies exercise

tasks relevant to art 33.2 within their existing mandates • Simple, efficient and practical arrangement to maximise the synergies

between existing bodies and institutions• No legal changes / additional resources are necessary

The EU framework's mandate

• Dual scope:

• 1. EU legislation and policy in the areas where the Member States have transferred competences to the EU

• 2. “Internal” implementation of the Convention by EU institutions as a Public Administration (e.g. staff issues, interaction with citizens)

EU Declaration of Competences

• Article 44(1) UNCRPD: a regional integration organisation in its instrument of formal confirmation or accession is to declare the extent of its competence with respect to matters governed by the Convention.

• EU Declaration indicates the competences transferred to the Community by the Member States under the Treaty establishing the European Community, in the areas covered by the Convention.

• In some matters the European Union has exclusive competence and in other matters competence is shared between the EU and the Member States. The Member States remain competent for all matters in respect of which no competence has been transferred to the EU.

• EU exclusive competences: state aids, common custom tariff, its own public administration

• EU shared competences: action to combat discrimination on the ground of disability, free movement of goods, persons, services and capital, transport by rail, road, sea and air transport, taxation, internal market, equal pay for male and female workers, Trans-European network policy and statistics.

The EU and its Member States

Duty of close cooperation

Requirement of unity in international representation

Article 10 TEC, ECJ case-law (Opinion 2/91, Opinion 1/94, C-459/03, C-246/07)

Code of Conduct

• Rules for: •

• - Division of tasks and establishing positions based on competence • Member States competences – coordinated positions• Exclusive (EU) competences - Union positions• Shared competences – common positions

• -Speaking• -Voting• -Nominations• -Focal point -> European Commission• -Monitoring and reporting arrangements • Annex -> statistical data

Fifth session of the Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

• Preparatory work:• COHOM• EAA• DHLG• Written procedure • Code of Conduct• Candidates and voting

LEGAL BASIS

TFEU Articles 10 and 19: the EU shall aim to combat discrimination (mainstreaming and specific legislation)

Other legal bases can be relevant, e.g. Internal market (Art 114), Transport (Art. 90-100 TFEU), State Aid (107-109 TFEU) Employment (145-150 TFEU ) Social Policy (151, 153 TFEU) Education (Art. 165 TFEU), Public health (Art. 168 TFEU), Approximation of Laws (114 TFEU, high level of protection as a base)

CHARTER OF FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS OF THE EU Article 21: Discrimination on the grounds of disability shall be

prohibitedArticle 26: The Union recognises and respects the right of persons

with disabilities to benefit from measures designed to ensure their independence, social and occupational integration and participation in the life of the community.

Compliance of new EU legislation with the UNCRPD

• Operational Guidance on taking account of Fundamental Rights in Commission Impact Assessments

• (COM staff working paper SEC(2011) 567 final (6 May 2011)

• This Operational Guidance was prepared by DG JUSTICE

• Art 53 ref relationship between the Charter and international agreements to which the Union or the Member States are party

• It provides practical help and advice on how to assess impacts on fundamental rights when preparing Impact Assessments.

• Explicit reference to need to be in line with the UNCRPD.

•

European Disability Strategy 2010-2020

• Adopted on 15 November 2010. • Three main documents:

• Communication on a European Disability Strategy 2010-2020

• Initial plan to implement the Strategy: List of Actions 2010-2015

• Background Document with facts and figures

Main objectives

Comply with the international commitments taken by concluding the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities:

• Empower PWD to enjoy their full rights

• Create a barrier-free Europe for all

• Bring PWD closer to EU2020 targets for employment, education and training, risk of poverty and social exclusion

KEY FIGURES

How many persons with disabilities in the EU?

Difficult to estimate due to lack of data and a common definition: around 80 million Europeans have a disability that ranges from mild to severe

Correlation between disability and ageing:

63% of people with disabilities are older than 45. Nearly 30% of people in the age group 55-64 report a disability and the incidence of disability will increase as the EU population gets older. Over 30 % of respondents aged over 75 are restricted to some extent, and over 20 % severely restricted.

Scope

• EU Areas of competences • EU institutions

• Thematic Actions• EU level• Supplement National actions

• Governance• Framework for implementation and monitoring, required by the

UNCRPD• Strategy: ISG, D-HLG, MS+NGOs, EU institutions

EU 2020Full economic and social participation of persons with disabilities is essential for

Europe 2020 to succeed in creating smart, sustainable and inclusive growth

Market opportunities Key Relevant Flagship initiatives:

Innovation Union Youth on the move A digital agenda for Europe An agenda for new skills and jobs European platform against poverty

Relevant Targets: 75 % of the population aged 20-64 should be employed The share of early school leavers should be under 10% and at least 40% of

the younger generation should have a tertiary degree. 20 million less people should be at risk of poverty (reduction by 25%)

Main areas for EU action

• Presented in the Communication; provide structure for List of Actions (2010-2015):

• Accessibility of goods and services • Participation as equal citizens in Europe and quality

community-based services• Equality and combating discrimination • Employment in the open labour market• Inclusive education and training • Social protection to combat poverty and social exclusion• Equal access to health services and related facilities• External action including EU enlargement, neighbourhood

and international development programmes

Area nr. 8 => EU External Action

• Specific objective:• To promote the rights of people with disabilities

within a broader non-discriminatory• approach in the EU external action, including the

enlargement process and development• programmes, taking due account of the common

EU and Member States' approach to• development

8 External Action – Key actions (I)• – Ensure that the specific needs of persons with disabilities, including those who are disabled

as a consequence of natural and man-made disasters, are properly assessed and addressed in the area of emergency and humanitarian aid outside the EU

• – Highlight disability where appropriate as a human rights issue in the EU human rights dialogues with third countries, based on the principles of the UNCRPD

• – Ensure that EU development cooperation reaches persons with disabilities, both through projects/programmes specifically targeting persons with disabilities and by improving the mainstreaming of disability concerns

• – Enhance coherence and complementarity between the EU approach to persons with disabilities and EU assistance to survivors of landmine and explosive remnants of war during armed conflict and its aftermath

• – Support the national efforts of partner countries for the signature, ratification and implementation of the UNCRPD

• – Support where appropriate the institutional strengthening of Disabled Peoples' Organisations in partner countries and organisations dealing with disability and development

8 External Action –Key actions (II)

• – Consolidate the network of disability focal points in EU Delegations and at Headquarters, and increase the awareness of EU staff on disability matters

• – Promote that infrastructure financed in the framework of EU development projects meets the accessibility requirements of people with disabilities.

• – Update the Guidance Note on Disability and Development to be in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of Person with Disabilities

• – Ensure that progress is made by candidate and potential candidate countries on promoting the rights of persons with disabilities and that accession funds are used to improve their situation

• – Encourage European Neighbourhood Policy partner countries to protect the rights of persons with disabilities; mainstream disability-related issues through policy dialogue and exchange of experience; and explore possibilities for financial assistance under the European Neighbourhood

• Policy and Partnership Instrument

Mix of tools to achieve the objectives

• Legislation: e.g. explore the possibility of a “European Accessibility Act”

• Mainstreaming: ensure that all relevant EU initiatives promote equal opportunities for people with disabilities

• Cooperation between Member States and civil society

• Funding

• Awareness-raising

• Data collection and monitoring

Data collection and monitoring

• Reporting• UNCRPD report• Report on strategy implementation

• On-line tool with instruments to implement UNCRPD

• Data collection• Network of experts• Studies• Statistics and data collection

• Indicators targets

UN Convention implementation

• Annual disability Ministers meeting• Presidency Conclusions• Annual Disability High Level Group report on implementation http://ec.europa.eu/justice/discrimination/files/

dhlg_5th_report_en.pdf• Annual Information Notehttp://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=431&langId=en• Annual Presidency Conference• Annual Work Forum• European Disability Strategy

Implementation Historical perspective

• 1st HLG Report (2008):• focus on challenges and solutions identified by MS and

stakeholders with regards to the implementation of the UNCRPD

• 2nd HLG Report (2009):• focus on accessibility, legal capacity, access to justice,

independent living, voting rights, monitoring and empowerment

• 3rd HLG Report (2010):• focus on procedural matters and governance

• 4th HLG Report (2011):• focus on the interface between UNCRPD and the Europe 2020

headline targets for education, employment and poverty

Focus for 5th HLG Report

• National and EU legal and regulatory frameworks to promote accessibility.

• National strategies and actions developed in order to effectively put in practice the UNCRPD in the area of accessibility.

Background: the online tool

1. Defined in Annex 2 of the Commission Staff Working Paper accompanying the Strategy SEC(2010)1323

2. For each country, key instruments to achieve the effective implementation of the UN Convention: a table, displaying policies, practical measures and legal acts

3. With web link to reference document or relevant information

4. Via our main website: http://ec.europa.eu/justice/discrimination/disabilities/index_en.htm

Individual record contains:

•Country

•Theme (e.g. Accessibility)

•Instrument (e.g. a law)

•Description of the instrument

•Web link to the source

•Additional links

•Date of update

The online tool

34 countries + EU

43 instruments1,505 recordsx 9 fields= 13,545 items

Next steps

• 2013:

• EU to report on Disability Strategy (Progress report foreseen in Communication)

• EU to report on implementation of UNCRDP

Update of Scoreboard

EU report to the UN: timelineo Preparation

o April 2012 => Information to Inter-service Groupo May and October 2012=> Information to the HLG

o Studyo July– September 2012 => Tender procedure o Winter 2012 – Spring 2013 => data collection, analysis,

conclusions

o Consultations o COHOMo Commission’s serviceso HLG Spring 2013 meetingo Stakeholders, DPOso The EU Framework

o Submission to the UNo by July 2013

Useful weblinks

• European Disability Strategy 2010-2020: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2010:0636:FIN:EN:PDF

• Initial plan to implement the Strategy: List of Actions 2010-2015: http://eurlex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:52010SC1324:EN:NOT

• United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: http://www.un.org/disabilities/