EN Official Journal of the European Union C 44/28

Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on ‘The Implementation and monitoring of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities by the EU institutions and the role of the EESC’ (own-initiative opinion)

2013/C 44/05

Rapporteur: Mr Ioannis VARDAKASTANIS

On 26 April 2012, the European Economic and Social Committee, acting under Article 29(2) of its Rules of Procedure, decided to draw up an own-initiative opinion on the

Implementation and monitoring of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities by the EU institutions and the role of the EESC.

The Section for Employment, Social Affairs and Citizenship, which was responsible for preparing the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 23 November 2012.

At its 485th plenary session, held on 12 and 13 December 2012 (meeting of 12 December), the European Economic and Social Committee adopted the following opinion by 144 votes to 0 with 2 abstentions.

1. Conclusions and recommendations

1.1 The EESC urges the Council to revive the negotiations on concluding the Optional Protocol of the UN CRPD in order to ensure full enjoyment of the UN CRPD by Europeans with disabilities.

1.2 The EESC invites the presidents of the European Council, the European Commission and the European Parliament to organise a second State of the Union on Disability in December 2013, co-chaired with the European Disability Forum, to review implementation of the UN CRPD.

1.3 The EESC highlights the fact that the UN CRPD includes obligations that require legislative and policy changes at EU and Member State levels, and that the financial situation cannot be used as an excuse for delaying action on the rights of persons with disabilities.

1.4 The EESC calls on the Commission to conduct a thorough and participatory review of the implementation of the Disability strategy as an integral part of the future overall EU strategy, which would include the review of existing legislation, policy and programmes and the development of new proposals.

1.5 The EESC thus invites the European Commission, through its secretariat-general, to develop an impact assessment tool on the UN CRPD.

1.6 The EESC welcomes the establishment by the Council of an independent framework to promote, protect and monitor the implementation of the UN CRPD, and calls for the adoption of a dedicated budget which will enable framework participants to perform their tasks with full independence from the focal point.

1.7 The EESC is looking forward to being consulted by the European Commission on an ambitious legislative proposal for a European Accessibility Act with the broadest possible scope, which includes requirements for public and private service providers and manufacturers to provide full accessibility for persons with disabilities, as well as with a clear and extensive definition of accessibility.

1.8 The EESC welcomes the inclusion in the Digital Agenda of legislation on the accessibility of public websites and websites delivering basic services to the public and is looking forward to the presentation of robust legislation in 2012.

1.9 The EESC invites the Council and the European Parliament to reinforce or maintain provisions in favour of persons with disabilities in the Structural Fund regulations, the Connecting Europe Facility (1) and TEN-T regulations and in Horizon 2020 (2), the Rights and Citizenship programme, and the programmes in the area of development cooperation and humanitarian assistance by including measures that ensure the participation of persons with disabilities, through funding and capacity building.

1.10 The EESC calls on the European External Action Service, the European Commission and the Council to ensure mainstreaming of the UN CRPD in foreign relations and international cooperation, as well as in international trade agreements including by ensuring coordination of the EU and Member State positions on the rights of persons with disabilities within the various UN bodies.

1.11 The EESC urges the European institutions to take appropriate actions to implement the UN CRPD internally by reviewing their practices in terms of employment, working conditions, recruitment, training, accessibility of premises, work environment and communication tools, and the requirements of EU funded agencies.

1.12 The EESC takes note of Mr Barroso's commitment in December 2011 to discuss the implementation of the UN CRPD at a meeting of the College of Commissioners and the directors-general, and calls for this issue to feature on the agenda annually.

1.13 The EESC welcomes the organisation of a work forum gathering government focal points, coordination mechanisms, and independent mechanisms from the EU and the Member States in charge of the implementation of the UN CRPD, as well as civil society, and expresses its interest in participating in the forthcoming meetings.

1.14 The EESC looks forward to contributing with an opinion to the report by the EU to the UN Committee on the rights of persons with disabilities in 2013.

1.15 The EESC believes that it should take appropriate action to implement the UN CRPD internally and comply with its obligations by encouraging the employment of persons with disabilities in the EESC, ensuring a non-discriminatory recruitment process, improving the accessibility of buildings, websites, ICT tools and documents; providing reasonable accommodation for employees, members and experts, organising training for its staff, including through the production of a leaflet on the UN CRPD, and mainstreaming disability in its activities.

1.16 The EESC underlines the need for a systematic monitoring and implementation of the UN CRPD by the EU institutions and therefore commits to create a steering committee on the implementation and monitoring of the UN CRPD calling on the EU institutions to report on their work and gathering reactions from persons with disabilities through their representative organisations as well as civil society in order to develop an independent view on progress in the implementation of the UN CRPD.

1.17 The EESC proposes to organise a meeting involving national economic and social councils, civil society organisations and national human rights institutions on the implementation of the UN CRPD.

1.18 The EESC calls on the social partners to mainstream the implementation of the UN CRPD in collective bargaining on the basis of agreed guidelines.

2. Introduction

2.1 Persons with disabilities include those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which in interaction with various barriers may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others.

2.2 There are around 80 million persons with disabilities in Europe and, according to Eurostat figures, they are two to three times more likely to be unemployed than non-disabled people; only 20 % of people with severe disabilities have a job, compared to 68 % of those without disabilities. Persons with disabilities are more than 50 % less likely to reach third-level education than non-disabled persons. Only 38 % of persons with disabilities aged 16-34 across Europe have an earned income, compared to 64 % of non-disabled people.

2.3 The EESC recalls its opinions on the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions – European Disability Strategy 2010-2020: A Renewed Commitment to a Barrier-Free Europe (3) and Young persons with disabilities: employment, inclusion and participation in society (4).

2.4 The EESC acknowledges that the UN CRPD and its Optional Protocol were adopted on 13 December 2006 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, opened for signature on 30 March 2007 and entered into force on 3 May 2008.

2.5 The EESC highlights that the UN CRPD has enjoyed broad international support and has already received 154 signatories and 126 ratifications. The Optional Protocol has received 90 signatories and 76 ratifications so far. All 27 EU Member States have signed the UN CRPD and 24 have already ratified it.

2.6 The EESC emphasises that the UN CRPD is an integral human rights instrument which covers civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights. It reaffirms that all persons with disabilities must enjoy full human rights and fundamental freedoms.

2.7 The EESC underlines that the UN CRPD covers all persons with disabilities and explicitly recognises that multiple discrimination based on disability and other factors such as ethnicity, gender or economic status is a significant problem which can only be addresses through a multi-disciplinary approach taking into account the different roots of this complex form of discrimination.

2.8 The EESC stresses that the UN CRPD includes provisions on equality and non-discrimination, accessibility, liberty of movement and nationality, access to justice, freedom from violence, independent living and life in the community, right to family life, personal mobility, education, employment, health, social protection, international cooperation, civil protection, amongst others, as well as the participation of persons with disabilities through their representative organisations in decision-making processes, and mainstreaming of women and children with disabilities.

2.9 The EESC stresses that the UN CRPD introduces a paradigm shift, viewing persons with disabilities not as ‘objects’ of charity and medical treatment, but rather focusing on persons with disabilities as ‘subjects’ with rights, capable of claiming them and of making decisions in their lives based on free and informed consent. Restoring voice, enhancing choice and expanding life chances are key themes of the UN CRPD.

2.10 The EESC welcomes the fact that the Convention clarifies and qualifies how all categories of human rights apply to persons with disabilities regardless of the intensity of support they need, and identifies areas in which changes are needed for the effective exercise and protection of rights of persons with disabilities.

2.11 The EESC acknowledges that the UN CRPD is the first international human rights treaty to be open for ratification by regional integration organisations such as the EU, and points to the decision of the Council of 26 November 2009 under which the European Community concluded the UN CRPD (5) and which designates the Commission as the focal point for matters relating to the implementation of the UN CRPD.

2.12 The EESC highlights that the decision includes a list of areas falling within the Union's exclusive or shared competence; this list is of an evolving nature and is likely to expand overtime. Areas of exclusive competence include the compatibility of State aid with the common market and the Common Custom Tariff. Areas of shared competence include actions to combat discrimination on the ground of disability, free movement of goods, persons, services and capital, agriculture, transport by rail, road, sea and air, taxation, the internal market, equal pay for work of equal value of male and female workers, trans-European network policy and statistics.

2.13 The EESC notes the Code of Conduct between the Council, the Member States and the Commission (6) setting out arrangements between the Council, the Member States and the Commission on various aspects of the CRPD's implementation and on representation in the bodies established by the CRPD, procedures for the preparation of the EU's report to the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the procedure for establishing a monitoring framework for one or more independent mechanisms involving civil society.

3. The UN CRPD: the implications of the EU's first accession to a human rights treaty

3.1 The EESC welcomes the fact that the European Union became, for the first time in its history, a party to an international human rights convention by concluding the UN CRPD on 23 December 2010, and acknowledges the leadership role played by the EU and its Member States, as well as the European disability movement through the European Disability Forum, in the drafting of the CRPD and considers that a special responsibility falls on the EU to intensify efforts on implementation and monitoring and provide a model for others in the world.

3.2 The EESC urges the Council to revive the negotiations on concluding the Optional Protocol of the UN CRPD, which would allow individuals or groups to submit complaints to the UN CRPD Committee once all legal remedies within the EU had been exhausted, as proposed by the European Commission in 2008, thereby preventing gaps and eliminating existing gaps in protection for persons with disabilities whenever violations of rights occurred in areas of EU competence.

3.3 The EESC calls on the Commission to consider ratification of other human rights treaties, such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, including their optional protocols. It calls on the EU to participate in the talks currently underway in the UN open-ended working group which is considering the drafting of a new thematic UN human rights treaty on the rights of older persons, and to ensure that its work is fully consistent with the UN CRPD.

3.4 The EESC acknowledges that, as a Party to the UN CRPD, the European Union must comply with all of the obligations laid down in the UN CRPD to the extent of its competences including the obligation to report periodically to the UN CRPD Committee.

3.5 The EESC emphasises that Articles 10 and 19 of the TFEU and Articles 21 and 26 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union provide a clear reference to the protection of the rights of persons with disabilities (7).

3.6 The EESC calls on the European institutions to enact legislation, policies and programmes that fully implement the UN CRPD on matters falling within the Union's exclusive and shared competence and to review existing legislation and policies in order to ensure the full protection of all persons with disabilities in the European Union.

3.7 The EESC invites the presidents of the European Council, the European Commission and the European Parliament to organise, in cooperation with the European Disability Forum, a second State of the Union on Disability in December 2013, focusing on the implementation of the UN CRPD (8).

3.8 The EESC welcomes the organisation by the European Parliament, together with the European Disability Forum, of a European Parliament of persons with disabilities in December 2012, in view of its contribution to the EU report to the UN CRPD Committee.

3.9 The EESC urges the European institutions to take appropriate actions to implement the UN CRPD internally. This includes: — encouraging the employment of persons with disabilities in the EU institutions and developing policies to reconcile work and family life; — reviewing internal regulations, procedures and working methods with a view to ensuring equal opportunities for employees with disabilities; — ensuring that in the recruitment process persons with disabilities have the opportunity to compete with non-disabled candidates on an equal basis by providing reasonable accommodation; — ensuring reasonable accommodation for all employees with disabilities where needed in their daily work, including personal assistance, sign language interpretation, suitable transport etc.; — ensuring access to vocational and continuous training; — improving the accessibility of buildings, websites, ICT tools and documents; — ensuring that all EU agencies and EU-funded bodies, including the European schools, comply with the UN CRPD; — ensuring the participation of organisations of persons with disabilities in the development of legislation and policies, including through adequate funding.

4. The implementation of the UN CRPD by the EU and the Member States

4.1 The EESC welcomed the European Disability Strategy 2010-2020 in its resolution of 21 September 2011, as a key political tool for implementing the UN CRPD in the European Union, while calling on the European Commission to ensure that existing and future secondary legislation respects the UN CRPD and provides for the participation and involvement of persons with disabilities (9).

4.2 The EESC calls for a thorough and participatory review of the implementation of the Disability strategy, including by setting new goals and objectives.

4.3 The EESC calls on the Council and the European Parliament to mainstream the implementation of the UN CRPD within the EU's multiannual financial framework by ensuring that not a single eurocent will be spent on inaccessible projects or infrastructures.

4.4 The EESC invites the Council and the European Parliament: — to reinforce or maintain provisions aiming at implementing the UN CRPD in the Structural Fund regulations, notably regarding the ex-ante conditionalities (10), the partnership principles and the horizontal principles; — to include accessibility provisions in the Connecting Europe Facility and TEN-T regulations (11); — to ensure that Horizon 2020 (12) guarantees that research funded by the EU will be inclusive of persons with disabilities by promoting user participation and accessibility of research deliverables, as well as generating new and innovative ideas on how to implement the CRPD in EU law and policy including in employment; — to include disability-related provisions in its development and humanitarian assistance programmes.

4.5 The EESC invites the European Commission to create a mechanism that will reward excellence in CRPD compliance in projects funded by the EU with regard to the development of accessible solutions and inclusion of persons with disabilities.

4.6 The EESC recalls the disability provisions included in the Europe 2020 strategy, particularly regarding the third pillar on social inclusion, as well as the digital agenda, and calls for mainstreaming of the implementation of the UN CRPD in all flagship initiatives.

4.7 The EESC is worried about the negative impact that the austerity measures that have been put in place in many EU Member States are having also on persons with disabilities and their families leading to further social exclusion, discrimination, inequality and unemployment, and highlights that the crisis cannot be used to postpone implementation of the UN CRPD.

4.8 The EESC calls on the European Council to adopt a real strategy for growth that provides for measures in favour of disadvantaged groups such as persons with disabilities, including measures to stimulate employment opportunities, fostering services that promote independent living and participation in the community, taking into account also the situation of persons that become disabled in their old age, as well as the development of accessible infrastructure.

4.9 The EESC invites the Member States to take measures to ensure that persons with disabilities have access to the labour market through fiscal incentives to companies, measures favouring entrepreneurship, the possibility to move in and out of employment, and equal access to social protection and workers' rights.

4.10 The EESC is looking forward to being consulted by the European Commission on its proposal for an ambitious European Accessibility Act with the broadest possible scope, and which includes requirements for public and private service providers and manufacturers to provide full accessibility, and a clear and extensive definition of accessibility covering both virtual and built environments, allowing interoperability and compatibility with assistive technologies and linked to European standards.

4.11 The EESC calls on the Council to continue work on the proposal for a directive implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of sex, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation, and to align the proposal with the UN CRPD by including a definition of disability and discrimination by association, prohibiting discrimination in access to financial and insurance services, addressing access to education, and clearly separating the notion of reasonable accommodation to ensure individual access from the notion of accessibility which involves an anticipatory and group-based duty.

4.12 The EESC stresses that the needs of persons with disabilities should be mainstreamed in all programmes, strategies and policies at EU level targeting women, children, discriminated groups such as ethnic or religious minorities, gays and lesbians, and older people.

4.13 The EESC highlights the need to ensure the maximum degree of congruence with the EU's internal laws and policies by mainstreaming the UN CRPD in its foreign relations and development and humanitarian assistance including through the development of ad hoc guidelines.

4.14 In particular, the EESC urges the EU to coordinate its position with that of the Member States in UN discussions that have an impact on the rights of persons with disabilities, by, for instance, ensuring that the position of the EU on the post-Millennium Development Goals framework incorporates the human rights of persons with disabilities, and that persons with disabilities are mentioned in the quadrennial comprehensive policy review.

4.15 The EESC calls on the EU to carry forward its commitment to the UN CRPD into other ongoing multi-lateral fora such as the negotiations currently underway at the World Intellectual Property Organisation on the reform and liberalisation of copyright law.

4.16 The EESC lauds the work done to date with respect to the policy exchange dialogue in the New Transatlantic Agenda between the USA and the EU on disability reform and given the impending US ratification call on enhancing the transatlantic disability policy dialogue further in order to further contribute to driving the global reform process forward.

4.17 The EESC urges the European Commission to ensure that, within each directorate–general, relevant services are given the task of mainstreaming the implementation of the UN CRPD in the preparation of policies and legislation.

4.18 The EESC calls on the secretariat-general of the Commission to develop an impact assessment tool on disability rights for all new legislative proposals and to include a module on UN CRPD rights in the training of new staff and in re-training.

4.19 The EESC emphasises that, according to paragraph (o) of the preamble and Article 4.3 of the UN CRPD, persons with disabilities must be involved in all policy- and decision-making processes, policies and programmes relating to persons with disabilities and calls on the EU institutions and national governments to put in place appropriate processes.

5. Monitoring of the UN CRPD in the EU

5.1 The EESC notes that Article 33(2) of the UN CRPD obliges State Parties to designate or establish within the State Party, a framework, including one or more independent mechanisms, to ‘promote, protect and monitor’ the implementation of the Convention.

5.2 The EESC calls on the Council to formally designate such a framework through a decision.

5.3 The EESC points out that when designating or establishing such a mechanism, State Parties must take account of the Paris Principle regarding the status and functioning of national institutions for the protection and promotion of human rights.

5.4 The EESC calls, in particular, for the independence of the framework from the focal point and coordination mechanism that has been designated within the EU, and for the definition of a mandate for each framework participant, as well as a budget enabling them to perform their tasks.

5.5 The EESC stresses the need for the establishment of clear rules for structured consultation of the framework participants within their respective roles, particularly with regard to the preparation of legislation.

5.6 The EESC acknowledges that according to Article 33(3) of the UN CRPD, civil society, and in particular persons with disabilities and their representative organisations, must be involved and participate fully in the monitoring process, including in the focal point and coordination mechanism designated by the Council for the implementation of the UN CRPD.

5.7 The EESC believes that the European Disability Forum, as the European umbrella organisation representing the 80 million citizens with disabilities in Europe, should be involved in European-level monitoring of the UN CRPD, and in all EU-level policy- and decision-making processes relating to the lives of persons with disabilities.

5.8 The EESC strongly believes that partnership is a tool for sustainable, economic and social development and must be based on a long term perspective of real participation of civil society by including also continuous capacity building of all partners, as well as providing adequate means for participation (13).

5.9 The EESC urges the EU to include in its future Rights and Citizenship funding programme funding to support the implementation of the UN CRPD, which should also include capacity building and sufficient funding for representative organisations of persons with disabilities.

5.10 The EESC recognises the importance of setting-up a CRPD-compliant EU-level framework so that countries outside the EU, in particular those that belong to regional organisations, may look to the EU framework for an example.

5.11 The EESC stresses that the EU must submit its first periodic report to the UN CRPD Committee by early 2013 and is looking forward to being consulted by the European Commission in its preparation, alongside a broad range of stakeholders, including civil society and in particular the disability movement.

5.12 The EESC welcomes all the actions proposed by the European Commission and Eurostat to improve and increase data collection and detailed statistics and indicators on disability in view of developing more effective policies and better monitoring their implementation. The EESC looks forward to the publication of the data from the ad hoc module on disability included in the Labour Force Survey 2011 and encourages the Commission, Eurostat, the Fundamental Rights Agency and the Member States to systematically include disability questions in all main surveys as well as to develop specific surveys and indicators that will allow to measure the interaction between persons with disabilities and the barriers encountered in daily life, as well as the impact of policy instruments designed to break down such barriers.

5.13 The EESC urges the EU and the Member States to develop awareness campaigns on the rights and obligations enshrined in the CRPD by targeting public authorities at all levels, private companies, media, universities and research centres, schools, social and health services.

5.14 The EESC calls on Member States to ensure implementation of the CRPD at the different levels of decision making by mainstreaming its provisions in legislation, policies and administrative decisions and by developing CRPD-compliant disability action plans.

5.15 The EESC encourages partnerships between trade unions, employers' organisations, social economy organisations, and organisations of persons with disabilities in order to promote access to employment for persons with disabilities in line with the UN CRPD.

6. The EESC and the UN CRPD – internal implementation

6.1 The EESC believes that it should take appropriate action to implement the UN CRPD internally and comply with its obligations. This includes in particular: — encouraging the employment of persons with disabilities in the EESC, including by developing a traineeship programme and encouraging applications of detached national experts with disabilities; — ensuring a non-discriminatory recruitment process for candidates with disabilities; — providing access for persons with disabilities to placement services and vocational and continuous training; — improving the accessibility of buildings, websites, ICT tools and documents; — providing reasonable accommodation including personal assistance for employees, members and experts; — organising training for its staff to raise awareness of disability and of the UN CRPD, including through the preparation of a leaflet and a video on mainstreaming the implementation of the UN CRPD; — participating in the interinstitutional working group on the implementation of the UN CRPD; — mainstreaming disability in its activities.

6.2 The EESC stresses that disability rights should be a cross-cutting issue addressed in all of its opinions that have an impact on the lives of persons with disabilities.

6.3 The EESC highlights that the rights enshrined in the UN CRPD must be mainstreamed in the work of all its sections, as they touch on all areas of social, cultural, and economic activity.

6.4 The EESC underlines to that effect the need to establish a steering committee on the implementation and monitoring of the UN CRPD which would call on the different EU institutions to report on their work and would seek the views of civil society, and particularly the European Disability Forum, as the representative organisation of persons with disabilities, to feed into the preparation and presentation of the EU report to the UN CRPD Committee. Through the involvement of these different sections, the steering committee would provide an independent view of progress in the implementation of the UN CRPD.

6.5 The EESC recalls the role it plays in terms of strengthening the EU's democratic legitimacy by emphasising participatory democracy, as well as the role of civil society organisations.

6.6 The EESC calls for the creation of a body to stimulate and coordinate dialogue between EU institutions and bodies and civil society on the implementation of the UN CRPD at EU level.

6.7 The EESC recommends that it contribute to the report to be presented by the EU to the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities by means of opinion.

Brussels, 12 December 2012. The President of the European Economic and Social Committee Staffan NILSSON

(1) COM(2011) 665 final.

(2) http://ec.europa.eu/research/horizon2020/index_en.cfm

(3) OJ C 376, 22.12.2011, p. 81–86

(4) OJ C 181, 21.6.2012, p. 2-6.

(5) 2010/48/EC.

(6) 16243/10 of 29 November 2010.

(7) SEC(2011) 567 final.

(8) The State of the Union on Disability was convened by the European Commission president, Mr Barroso, on 6 December 2011, and brought together Mr Van Rompuy, European Council president, Mr Buzek, European Parliament president, and the president of the European Disability Forum, Mr Vardakastanis.

(9) OJ C 376, 22.12.2011, p. 81–86.

(10) Ex ante conditionalities on the UN CRPD, accessibility, and independent living were already included in the European Commission proposal.

(11) COM(2011) 665 final.

(12) http://ec.europa.eu/research/horizon2020/index_en.cfm

(13) OJ C 44, 11.2.2011 p. 1–9.