Council Resolution of 15 July 2003 on promoting the employment and social integration of people with disabilities
Date: 2003-07-15
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: Resolution of the Council of the European Union, disabled person, equal treatment, job access, social integration

24.7.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 175/1

I

(Information)

COUNCIL

COUNCIL RESOLUTION

of 15 July 2003

on promoting the employment and social integration of people with disabilities

(2003/C 175/01)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

(1) STRESSING that

the European Union has a substantial
number of people with disabilities who face a variety of
difficulties in their daily lives and cannot always exercise
their rights;

(2) NOTING that

the Treaty establishing the European
Community enables the Community to take appropriate
action to combat discrimination based on sex, racial or
ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual
orientation;

(3) RECALLING

in particular that acting on the basis of
Article 13 of
the Treaty establishing the European
Community, which enables the Council to take appro-
priate action to combat discrimination based on sex,
racial or ethnic origin, religion or belief, disability, age
or
the Council adopted Directive
2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000 establishing a
general
framework for equal treatment in employment
and occupation (1);

sexual orientation,

(4) RECALLING that Article 21 of the Charter of Fundamental
Rights recognises the importance of combating every
form of discrimination and Article 26 of that Charter
states that the Union recognises and respects the right
of persons with disabilities to benefit
from measures
designed to ensure their independence, social and occu-
pational
integration and participation in the life of the
Community;

(7) RECALLING Council Decision

3
December 2001 on the European Year of People with
Disabilities 2003 (2);

2001/903/EC of

political

declaration

(8) RECALLING the
of Ministers
responsible
for People with
Integration Policies
for
Disabilities (Malaga, 8 May 2003), which affirms that
one of the main aims of the next decade is to improve
the quality of life of people with disabilities and their
families;

(9) RECALLING also:

the Governments of

(a) the Resolution of the Council and of the Represen-
the Member States
tatives of
meeting within the Council of 20 December 1996
on
people with
opportunity
equality
disabilities (3);

for

of

(b) the Commission Communication of 2000 entitled
for people with

‘Towards a barrier-free Europe
disabilities’;

(c) the European Parliament Resolution of 4 April 2001
on the said Commission communication ‘Towards a
barrier-free Europe for people with disabilities’;

(d) the Council Resolution of 6 February 2003 on
‘e-Accessibility’ — improving the access of people
with disabilities to the knowledge based society (4);

(e) the Council Resolution of 5 May 2003 on equal
opportunities for pupils and students with disabilities
in education and training (5);

(5) CONSIDERING that the European Employment Strategy is a
key instrument for underpinning the integration of people
with disabilities into the mainstream labour market;

(f)

the Council Resolution of 6 May 2003 on accessibility
of cultural
infrastructure and cultural activities for
people with disabilities (6);

(6) TAKING ACCOUNT

of

the Conclusions of

the Lisbon

European Council of March 2000;

(1) OJ L 303, 2.12.2000, p. 16.

(2) OJ L 335, 19.12.2001, p. 15.
(3) OJ C 12, 13.1.1997, p. 1.
(4) OJ C 39, 18.2.2003, p. 5.
(5) OJ C 134, 7.6.2003, p. 6.
(6) OJ C 134, 7.6.2003, p. 7.

C 175/2

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Official Journal of the European Union

24.7.2003

(10) BEARING IN MIND that people with disabilities still face a
variety of barriers to full participation in society, often
leading to social exclusion and poverty;

(11) BEARING IN MIND the discussions of the informal Council
meeting in Nafplion, on 23 and 24 January 2003, which
emphasised the need for more extensive inclusion of
disability issues in employment and social protection
policies;

legally binding instrument

(12) NOTING the process related to the preparation of a United
Nations
to promote and
protect the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities
and the EU contribution thereto (May 2003) and taking
note of the Commission communication entitled ‘Towards
a United Nations legally binding instrument to promote
and protect the rights and dignity of persons with disabil-
ities’ (January 2003),

CALLS ON THE MEMBER STATES AND THE COMMISSION, WITHIN
THE FRAMEWORK OF THEIR RESPECTIVE POWERS, TO:

(i) promote greater cooperation with all bodies concerned
with people with disabilities at national and European
level, including civil society;

(ii) promote the full integration and participation of people
with disabilities in all aspects of society, recognising that
they have equal rights with other citizens;

(iii) continue efforts to remove barriers to the integration and
participation of people with disabilities in the labour
treatment measures and
market, by enforcing equal
improving integration and participation at all
levels of
the educational and training system;

(iv) pursue efforts to make lifelong learning more accessible
to people with disabilities and, within this context, give
particular attention to the barrier-free use of new
information and communication technologies and the
Internet to improve the quality of learning, vocational
training and access to employment;

(v) remove barriers impeding the participation of people
with disabilities
in
working life, and prevent the setting up of new barriers
through the promotion of design for all;

in particular,

in social

life and,

(vi) ensure the transposition and implementation of

the
Directive on establishing a general framework for equal
treatment
in employment and occupation before the
deadlines agreed;

(vii) reflect on the need for further measures to promote the
integration of people with

employment and social
disabilities into society;

(viii) consider the possibility of taking measures at national
and European level, consistent with the objectives of
the European Employment Strategy,
to promote the
employment of people with disabilities;

(ix) mainstream disability issues when drafting future national
action plans relating to social exclusion and poverty;

(x) continue the exchange of information and experience at
European level with regard to these issues, with the
participation, as appropriate, of
the European bodies
and networks with relevant experience in this area;

(xi) collect statistical material on the situation of people with
disabilities, paying particular attention to gender specific
data,
including on the development of services and
benefits for this group;

(xii) support the work of the EU Group of High Level Officials

on Disability Questions;

(xiii) reinforce the mainstreaming of the disability perspective
into all relevant policies at the stages of policy formu-
lation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation;

xiv) pay due attention to issues of concern to women with
disabilities when adopting, designing and evaluating
policies for people with disabilities so as to secure
equal treatment for women.

ENCOURAGES THE SOCIAL PARTNERS:

(xv) in the spirit of their Declaration of 20 January 2003
entitled ‘Promoting equal opportunities and access to
employment for people with disabilities’ to promote the
integration of people with disabilities, in particular on the
mainstream labour market, through their actions and their
collective agreements at all the relevant levels of social
dialogue.