No C 189/10 Official Journal of the European Communities 28. 7. 86 
Centres (Action 3, paragraph 23) to include the provision 
of guidance and counselling of student applicants. 
2.6. The Council proposal makes reference (para­
graph 18) to language preparation and the Committee 
believes that as much recognition must be given to students' 
linguistic difficulties as problems in the areas of financial 
support, course content, credit-transfer and legislation. It 
welcomes initiatives already taken by Member States to 
provide special subject language support and would 
recommend that more extensive provision be made 
available for language preparation within the ERASMUS 
programme. The intensive teaching programmes men­
tioned in paragraph 15 could be an appropriate vehicle, 
though the duration of language courses need to be 
reviewed in the light of expert opinion. 
Done at Brussels, 23 April 1986. 
1. General comments 
1.1. There is much talk about solidarity in all quarters 
nowadays, but does this talk of such a key humanist 
concept really affect individual behaviour ? Does it lead to a 
reform of social customs ? 
Have our societies become more compassionate towards 
the victims of fate, the poor and the most vulnerable, and 
do they treat them with sufficient fairness ? 
1.1.1. It would be pleasant to be able to answer 'yes' to 
these basic social questions. Unfortunately, lucid observ­
ation of the situation obliges us to acknowledge that the 
number of social, economic and cultural outcasts is 2.7. Within the proposal it is noted that grants made 
available to each Member State through the ERASMUS 
programme will be allocated in proportion to the number 
of students in the higher education sector of each State. The 
committee would wish to ensure that the broadest cross-
section of students benefit from the activity and feels that 
the academic representatives on the Committee assisting 
the Commission in programme implementation reflect the 
diversified higher education provision within the Com­
munity. 
2.8. The decision states that after three years of 
operation an interim report will be repared for submission 
by the Commission to the Council and Parliament. This 
report should also be submitted to the Economic and Social 
Committee. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee 
Gerd MUHR 
increasing at a time when 'progress' should be reducing 
it (1). 
1.1.2. Since there are such contradictions, this is one of 
the factors to be taken into account (as the Economic and 
Social Committee has repeatedly suggested) at the earliest 
stage of scientific, technological or legislative consider­
ation, istead of much later (in some cases too late), under 
the pressure of effects which are sometimes unbearable in 
human terms, and which could often have been avoided or 
mitigated. 
1.1.3. A sizeable proportion of the resources of social 
policy and action then has to be used to cure ills which have 
their origin at an earlier stage, either in lack of foresight or 
(!) OJ No C 218, 29. 8. 1985, p. 15. Opinion on the draft Council recommendation on the employment of disabled people in the 
European Community 
(86/C 189/07) 
On 7 February 1986 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under 
Article 198 of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, on the abovementioned 
proposal. 
The Section for Social Questions, which was responsible for preparing the Committee's work on 
the subject, adopted its opinion on 9 April 1986, in the light of the report by Mr Burnel. 
At its 236th plenary session (meeting of 23 April 1986) the Economic and Social Committee 
adopted the following opinion unanimously. 
28. 7. 86 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 189/11 
in ignoring the human aspect of the aims of any scientific, 
economic or political endeavour. 
1.2. While it is true that there is increasing generosity in 
the service of great humanitarian causes, social progress, 
which obviously requires the voluntary contribution of 
people, must nonetheless be based on the humanization of 
systems and societies. Thus it is a matter of political choice 
leading to the fair distribution of duties, rights and 
burdens. The debates of the Economic and Social 
Committee illustrate its constituent groups' commitment to 
this aim, and draw attention to the interdependence of the 
'economic' and the 'social' and to the positive effects which 
this interdependence should normally have (J). With this in 
mind, the Committee takes the view that the concerted 
implementation of an overall economic and social policy 
aiming at more qualitative growth and fuller employment 
is the precondition for the adoption of measures capable of 
improving disabled people's employment prospects in 
practice and in depth. 
1.3. According to the data given in the draft recom­
mendation (page 3), at present about 10 % of the 
community's population suffer from a serious physical or 
mental handicap. Despite progress in biology, medicine 
and surgery this situation may get worse. 
The Committee would stress that any solution to the 
problem of employment of disabled people depends on 
better knowledge of the nature and scale of the problem, 
particularly in statistical terms. It would therefore ask the 
Commission to encourage research in this field, taking its 
inspiration particularly from the work carried out by local 
authorities in some Member States. 
1.3.1. This situation thus calls for a response from 
political authorities, from socio-occupational organiza­
tions and more generally from every citizen. No one is free 
from the risk of disablement of his children, his parents or 
himself. 
1.3.2. The injustice faced by disabled people is great. It 
depends not only on the seriousness of the handicap but 
also on cultural, financial, social, emotional or geo­
graphical inequalities which weigh heavily upon many 
disabled people. These inequalities have a multiplier effect, 
and make the social and occupational integration of many 
disabled people even more difficult, so that they may 
surrender to a feeling of despair. 1.4. Without seeking to belittle the importance of 
compassion (as long as it is not merely a fearful reflex, an 
attempt to exorcize misfortune or an effort to salve one's 
conscience), the Committee affirms that every handicapped 
person should enjoy the full rights acknowledged for every 
human being according to the spirit and the letter of the 
Treaty of Rome and the Universal Declaration of the 
Rights of Man. This duty of respect and justice is still far 
from being spontaneously undertaken in every field. The 
draft Council recommendation draws attention to this 
failing and seeks to help remedy it. 
1.5. In general terms, the Committee has the following 
comments to make: 
1.5.1. The wish to improve the integration of disabled 
people is an integral part of a social, economic and cultural 
policy which should always be inspired by solidarity. 
1.5.2. This is the essence of the ESC's 1981 opinion on 
disabled people (2). Apart from this specific reference, 
many expressions of this view can be found in other texts, 
such as the opinions on the social situation, employment, 
health, social security, the environment or training. 
1.5.3. The Commission's memorandum to the Council, 
the draft Council recommendation together with a 
specimen code of positive action to promote the vocational 
training and the employment of handicapped people, and 
the analysis of the situation and measures on employment 
of disabled people, in the European Community, form a 
coherent whole. 
1.5.4. The Committee would make two comments of a 
formal nature: 
— some aspects of the code should be inserted in the draft 
recommendation, whose precision and hence persuasive 
power would thus be enhanced, 
— similarly, the wording of the recommendation should be 
made much stronger in some places, to show the desire 
of the European institutions to make the fight against 
physical, sensory and mental disabilities one of the 
priorities of their action and gain the support of all. 
1.5.5. This is all the more important since recommend­
ations are the least binding of all Community legal 
instruments, and in proposing adoption of a recommend­
ation the Commission wanted to affirm (beyond the 
mandatory stipulations of legal instruments, however 
necessary they may sometimes be) that the integration of 
disabled people should be regarded by us all as an 
(!) OJ No C 307, 19. 11. 1984, p. 10. (2) OJNoC230, 10.9.1981. 
No C 189/12 Official Journal of the European Communities 28. 7. 86 
obligation of solidarity which no one can escape once 
convinced of the primacy of the human person. 
1.6. The Committee would urge the Commission to 
draw up a progress report on measures taken by the 
Member States to improve the vocational and social 
integration of disabled people. To ensure that the data 
collected are reliable, this report should cover a period long 
enough to assess the lasting effectiveness of the provisions 
dealing in particular with training, vocational guidance, 
employment, housing, information, transport and leisure 
activities for disabled people. 
1.6.1. The Committee asks the Commission to extend 
its action on the basis of the progress report, by drawing up 
a Directive, and to make sure that the interests of disabled 
people are taken into account henceforth in its Directives 
and recommendations on employment, education and 
training, living conditions, the environment, culture, 
leisure activities, free movement of workers and their 
families, accident prevention, etc. 
2. Specific comments 
A. Notion of disability-
2.1. Our notion of disability is changing, with improved 
diagnostics, better care for some disabled people, action by 
associations for the disabled and parents of disabled 
children, and greater public understanding of the problem, 
however imperfect that understanding may still be. 
2.1.1. Much can still be done to compile and process 
statistics, although it is admittedly difficult to take a census 
of the disabled and classify them according to the nature 
and degree of permanence of the disability. Despite the 
progress made (and we should pay tribute to the courage 
and conviction of the associations for the disabled and the 
parents of disabled children) some disabilities are still a 
source of fear and even of shame and concealment. This 
inevitably affects — sometimes very seriously — the person 
suffering from the disability. People should be made aware 
that a disabled person is not a second-class being, but a 
person whose potential in every sphere must be developed 
with respect, attention and love. 
2.1.1.1. To this end, disabled people and their families 
should be able to obtain information on training and 
employment which does not create illusions or false hopes 
but is as objective and up-to-date as possible. 
In the same positive spirit, a general effort should be made, 
with the help of schools and the media, to inform public 
opinion of the existence of disabled people, their problems 
and the assistance of all kinds which must be provided for them collectively and individually. People must be made 
aware that the disabled person is a man, woman or child 
like others, although his or her appearance or personal and 
social behaviour may be different. The sometimes 
subjective concept of 'normality' must not be allowed to 
influence the social and legal respect which is everyone's 
due. 
2.1.2. With regard to the definition of disability — 
which can give rise to semantic controversies — the 
Committee endorses the definition used by the World 
Health Organization (1). This definition should be adopted 
by all the Member States, as it has been by the Community 
institutions, in order to facilitate concerted Community 
action regarding (a) statistics and (b) comparison of the 
various social approaches and assessment of their effective­
ness. 
B. Equal rights: an essential precondition for equal 
opportunities 
2.2. Turning to the specific question of employment of 
the disabled, the Committee would reiterate its abiding 
view that everyone should have an equal right to work. It 
thus endorses the statement that 'disabled people have the 
same right as all other workers to equal opportunity in 
training and employment' (fifth recital of the draft 
recommendation) 
But in order to combat the existing profound inequality, 
one must remember that in the great majority of cases a 
disabled persons' risk of not finding a job is three to six 
times higher than average for a man, and much higher even 
than this for a woman. 
2.2.1. The Committee would therefore point out that, 
particularly in this area, 'equal opportunity' is a subjective 
concept involving a number of constraints and im­
ponderables. In contrast 'equal rights' are objective; they 
are an indisputable obligation. 
2.2.2. The Committee also notes that some disabilities 
can be offset by appropriate care and equipment," or by 
using ordinary legislation to take account of the situation of 
the disabled. Other disabilities call for the taking of specific 
(J) 'Impairment: any loss or abnormality of psychological, 
physiological, or anatomical structure or function. Disability: 
any restriction or lack (resulting from an impairment) of ability 
to perform an activity in the manner or within the range 
considered normal for a human being. Handicap: a dis­
advantage for a given individual, resulting from an impairment 
or disability, that limits or prevents the fulfilment of a role that 
is normal, depending on age, sex, social and cultural factors, 
for that individual' (United Nations - World Programme of 
Action concerning Disabled Persons). 
28. 7. 86 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 189/13 
measures at both the legislative and the social/material 
level. 
2.2.3. In the first case, the disabled person must have the 
chance to work in an ordinary working environment. This 
will go some way toward providing equal opportunity. In 
the second case, the impossibility of offsetting the handicap 
brings an obligation to create specific and suitable sheltered 
facilities; otherwise, disabled people will be excluded from 
the right to work. 
The aim is to bring the disabled person to the maximum 
level of physical and intellectual capacity he or she can 
reach in order to enable him/her to integrate with non-
disabled people. Priority should be given to pursuit of this 
aim. In this way many disabled people would be freed from 
permanent dependence on 'assistance' and would enjoy 
better recognition of their place in society. This approach 
to the problem is of course more difficult than mere 
assistance but it is the only one which is acceptable in terms 
of respect for, and the rights of, the human person. 
C. Responsibilities of society towards disabled people 
2.3. In the past many people suffering congenital or 
birth-linked disabilities did not survive, were bedridden or 
were likely to die young. Fortunately today medical 
techniques and the use of scanning during pregnancy have 
greatly alleviated many disabilities. This places the 
emphasis on the obligation to integrate the disabled into 
society. This applies not only to those responsible for 
political, economic or social action — it is up to us all. 
2.3.1. For example, consumers must be encouraged to 
accept the products and services supplied by the disabled. 
Public authorities, and firms which subcontract, must be 
urged to allow sheltered workshops whenever possible to 
submit tenders, with some chance of success, when they 
issue invitations to tender. However, it must be ensured 
that dishonest or 'sharp' operators do not exploit the 
disabled or their public image for their own profit. 
The aim must be to try to increase the number of the 
disabled in employment by recruiting disabled people from 
outside, by providing appropriate training and retraining 
and by special measures to retain those disabled while 
employed. D. Specific measures to help disabled people 
(a) Integration of the 'disability' aspect into the various policies, 
projects and structures 
2.4. Overall policies for education, vocational training 
and guidance, employment, living conditions and transport 
should encompass a concern for the disabled, to cater for 
those whose handicap can be offset by special equipment or 
by adapting working conditions or methods. This could 
often be achieved simply by using a little imagination when 
drawing up legislation and regulations or designing office 
facilities. It would undoubtedly be a great help to the 
disabled, and would also reduce some social costs. 
2.4.1. Sheltered employment facilities can be used to 
produce goods within the marked economy under virtually 
normal financial conditions, or to provide purely social 
treatment of the disability. In the second case disabled 
people would be integrated in the working environment, 
and this, by making them feel useful, would form part of 
the therapy and support which society must guarantee 
them. 
(b) Towards a policy for employment and more active integration 
of disabled people 
2.5. The quotas for taking on disabled workers, to 
which some firms are subject by law, remain a con­
troversial issue. 
2.5.1 It is often difficult to assess the exact effect of a 
particular handicap on a given group of people. 
2.5.2. Furthermore, to satisfy the quota requirements, it 
is perfectly legal to lump together disabilities which vary 
considerably in their severity, degree of incapacity and 
fatigue, etc. Thus, while conforming to the letter of the law, 
we forget the spirit and original social considerations 
underlying it. And it is usually the most severely disabled 
and oldest candidates who find their job applications 
turned down. 
2.5.3. Whilst not calling into question the principle of 
quotas, which encourage solidarity with the most vul­
nerable and help protect their right to equal opportunity of 
employment., the Committee urges that incentives be 
provided for firms which provide conditions suitable for 
employment of the disabled. 
2.5.4. One form of incentive might be either to 
reimburse companies the costs incurred in adapting 
NoC 189/14 Official Journal of the European Communities 28. 7. 86 
premises and equipment for everyday use by the disabled, 
or to grant them tax concessions. Telephone switchboards, 
for example, have been adapted so that they can be 
operated — most efficiently — by blind people. 
2.5.5. Increased specific aid should be provided for 
firms taking on more severely disabled people. Measures 
should also be taken to support firms run in various ways 
by the disabled themselves. 
2.5.6. Similarly, unions and staff representatives should 
be encouraged to help disabled workers feel at home; this is 
a gesture of solidarity which should involve the whole 
company. 
2.6. Small companies which are not subject to quota 
regulations would be able to recruit disabled people and 
integrate them effectively into the workforce if suitable 
support were available. 
Companies manufacturing various types of equipment and 
prostheses for the disabled should in particular be urged to 
employ disabled people. 
2.7. Authorities and associations which set up facilities 
for vocational integration of disabled people should also 
receive aid in proportion to the scale of their work, with 
stronger support being given to those admitting the 
seriously disabled who would find it more difficult to 
integrate in another working environment. 
(c) New technologies must contribute to the employment of the 
disabled 
2.8. Some new technologies make it easier to employ the 
disabled, for example various applications of electronics 
such as in-office automation, telematics and certain 
digitally controlled machines. When new technologies are 
being introduced thought should be given from the outset 
to their impact on job opportunities for the disabled, 
particularly those with motor or sensory disabilities. This 
should also cover facilities which could be made availabe to 
the disabled through work at home (e.g. using a computer 
terminal). Observation and imagination must be en­
couraged. 
2.8.1. Housing (adaptation and position) and transport 
(mode and cost) have a significant effect on the vocational 
integration of many disabled people. These factors must be 
taken into account. For example, care must be taken not to 
break up families of which one member is disabled, and the 
disabled must be helped to find a job near the family home. 
The Committee also calls for support for and development 
of research work aiming to use new technology to improve 
the quality of life for the disabled, and recalls its support for the IRIS project (Initiative for Research into Information 
applied to Society). 
(d) Education and guidance 
2.9. In connection with the integration of disabled 
people, the structure, programmes and methods of general 
and vocational education and continuing training need to 
be adapted to reflect the right of disabled people to 
education and training. 
2.10. Bodies providing guidance and information on 
education and careers must be enabled to meet the needs of 
disabled children or adults. 
(e) Acknowledgment of the family's role in the integration of the 
disabled 
2.11. The social security system should compensate 
people — such as parents, spouses, brothers or sisters — 
who give up work voluntarily or obligatorily (e.g. for lack 
of day-care facilities or establishments), either wholly or 
partially, temporarily or permanently, to look after, on a 
voluntary basis, the everyday social and material needs of a 
disabled person requiring constant attention. They are 
engaged in a social and human task the value of which must 
be recognized by society. Social security benefits must 
therefore compensate in part for the work carried out by 
these people to the detriment of their occupational income 
— all the more so since this work reduces a burden which 
the social security and social assistance services should bear 
directly. 
Specialized establishments must be provided on an 
adequate scale, and of sufficient quality, to receive disabled 
people and give them the care which their condition 
requires. However, regular contact between the disabled 
and their families and their usual environment must be 
facilitated, in view of the social and therapeutic part played 
by emotional support. 
(f) The law must, in every field, protect the weaker members of 
society 
2.12. In times of economic recession and heavy 
unemployment particular attention should be paid to the 
plight of disabled people, who even in normal times have 
greater than average difficulty in finding jobs and may be 
among the first to be made redundant. The law must 
protect the disabled against these risks. 
(g) Prevention is better than cure 
2.13. The prevention of avoidable disablement must be 
the subject of constant attention and energetic action. The 
care required by disabled people is a heavy burden on 
resources, quite apart from the human cost which can 
hardly be ignored. Thus the prevention effort is entirely 
justified. The Committee therefore urges that efforts be 
28. 7. 86 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 189/15 
made, or where appropriate continued, in such areas as 
caring for and monitoring the progress of pregnant women, 
particularly in the case of high-risk pregnancies, making 
childbirth safer, developing medical care for schoolchil­
dren, preventing accidents (at work, on the road and in the 
home) with particular attention being paid to road traffic 
safety for children, and providing objective information on 
the effects of certain anti-social habits on those who 
practise them and those around them (e.g. nicotinism, 
which causes ill-effects in smokers and any members of 
their families who suffer from respiratory problems). 
2.14. European Road Safety Year should be used to raise 
the safety-consciousness of car and cycle (especially 
powered cycle) manufacturers, those responsible for road 
trafic management, and above all road users — especially 
parents and young people. 
(h) Consulting disabled people and their families 
2.15. The Committee calls on the public authorities, 
together with the medical sector and the social services, to 
develop consultation with the associations representing the 
interests of the disabled, which have day-to-day experience 
of disabled people's needs and aspirations. (i) European aid 
2.16 The Community's Funds — particularly in the 
context of their future restructuring — must be orientated 
to take account of priority measures in favour of the 
disabled, and especially for their vocational and social 
integration. 
2.17 Ensuring free movement of disabled people 
Not only should free movement be guaranteed for the 
disabled as for others; it must also be facilitated by helping 
to reunite families within the Community. 
(j) Before calling for action by others, should one not make an 
effort oneself? 
2.18. So that the advocacy of equal rights and opportu­
nities for the disables is not too vague or aimed solely at 
'others', the Economic and Social Committee is examining 
how much it and the other Community institutions do, 
statutorily or voluntarily, to assist the vocational integ­
ration of disabled people. 
Done at Brussels, 23 April 1986. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee 
Gerd MUHR 
Opinion on the proposal for a Council Regulation amending Regulations (EEC) No 2358/71, 
(EEC) No 2727/75 and (EEC) No 950/68 in respect of seed 
(86/C 189/08) 
On 6 February 1986 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under 
Articles 43 and 198 of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, on the 
abovementioned proposal. 
The Section for Agriculture, which was responsible for preparing the Committee's work on the 
subject, adopted its opinion on 3 April 1986 in the light of the oral report by Mr Schnieders. 
At its 236th plenary session (meeting of 23 April 1986), the Economic and Social Committee 
unanimously adopted the following opinion. 
The proposal seeks to bring sorghum and fodder crop seeds which are of importance to the 
Mediterranean area within the Community system.