Resolution of the Council of the European Union and the representatives of the Governments of the Member States, meeting within the Council of 17 March 2008 on the situation of persons with disabilities in the European Union
Date: 2008-03-17
Institutions: Council of the European Union, Representatives of the Governments of the Member States
Subjects: Resolution of the Council of the European Union, disabled person, equal treatment, job access, social integration

26.3.2008

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Official Journal of the European Union

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I

(Resolutions, recommendations and opinions)

RESOLUTIONS

COUNCIL

Resolution of the Council of the European Union and the representatives of the Governments of
the Member States, meeting within the Council of 17 March 2008 on the situation of persons with
disabilities in the European Union

(2008/C 75/01)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION AND THE REPRESENTA-
TIVES OF THE GOVERNMENTS OF THE MEMBER STATES, MEETING
WITHIN THE COUNCIL,

pation and inclusion in society and in the field of work,
respect for difference, equality of opportunity, accessibility,
equality between men and women, and the full enjoyment of
all human rights by children;

Recalling that:

1. the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons
with Disabilities
(‘the UN Convention’) adopted by the
General Assembly at its sixty-first session in December 2006
not only confirms that disability is a human rights issue and
a matter of law, but also aims to ensure that persons with
disabilities enjoy human rights on an equal basis with others;

2. the Declaration regarding persons with a disability annexed
to the Treaty of Amsterdam provides that the institutions of
the Community shall take account of the needs of persons
with disabilities in drawing up measures under Article 95 of
the Treaty;

3. the Council adopted Conclusions in December 2003 on the
follow up of the European Year of People with Disabilities,
inclusion and the full
endorsing comprehensive social
achievement of equal opportunities for people with disabil-
ities as objectives of the European Disability Action Plan for
2004-2010;

4. the European Disability Action Plan 2004-2010 highlights
three operational objectives:
the
Employment Equality Directive (1), successful mainstreaming
of disability issues in relevant Community policies, and
improving accessibility for all;

implementation of

full

5. the basic principles aiming to ensure the equal effective
enjoyment of human rights and freedoms by persons with
disabilities under the UN Convention are: dignity and indivi-
dual autonomy, non-discrimination, full and effective partici-

6. at the first informal ministerial meeting on disability issues
of 11 June 2007, the UN Convention was endorsed as a
fundamental step for the promotion, protection and full
realisation of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of
all persons with disabilities. Ministers undertook to further
develop policies so as to ensure the full implementation of
the Convention and called on the European Commission to
ensure that the new priorities of the European Disability
Action Plan contribute to the effective implementation of the
UN Convention;

7.

in its Resolution on the Follow-up of the European Year of
Equal Opportunities for All (2007) (2) adopted in December
2007,
the Council called on the Commission and the
Member States, in accordance with their respective compe-
tences, to continue the process of signature, conclusion and
ratification of the UN Convention.

Welcome:

1. the Commission Communication on the situation of disabled
people in the European Union: the European Action Plan
2008-2009, which describes in tangible terms the European
to ensure that persons with disabilities are
commitment
addressed as citizens and active socio-economic actors
contributing to the construction of a sustainable and cohe-
sive Europe offering equal opportunities for all. All
the
actions in this Plan aim to meet the individual and diverse
needs of persons with disabilities;

(1) Directive 2000/78/EC (OJ L 303, 2.12.2000, p. 16).

(2) OJ C 308, 19.12.2007, p. 1.

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2. the results achieved in the implementation of the second
phase of the European Disability Action Plan (2006-2007),
which emphasises dignity,
fundamental rights, protection
against discrimination, fairness and social cohesion. It is now
widely acknowledged that mainstreaming is a key to advan-
cing disability issues and, accordingly, the Disability Action
Plan encouraged activity and promoted access to social
services while fostering accessible goods and services;

3. the Commission's public consultation on new anti-discrimi-
nation measures to tackle discrimination on the basis of
gender, religion, belief, disability, age or sexual orientation in
areas beyond employment;

4. the progress achieved by the Member States and the
the UN

European Community following the signature of
Convention;

5. the convergence of the European Disability Action Plan and

the UN Convention.

Recognise that:

1. persons with disabilities often remain disadvantaged and
Insufficient
marginalised, especially in the field of work.
access to the labour market can mean that persons with
disabilities are placed in vulnerable situations in society and
exposed to serious risks of discrimination, poverty and social
exclusion;

2. although in some Member States the unemployment rate of
in other Member
persons with disabilities remains high,
States the employment rates are rising. This proves that
national as well as European efforts are increasingly effective
and should be further pursued and improved;

3. analyses of the most recent data confirm the strong correla-
tion between disability and ageing. The number of older
people including older people with disabilities is increasing,
and there is a growing need in the Community for accessible
goods, services and infrastructure. The social services sector
is indeed expanding, and meeting the needs of the ageing
population will also mean creating new jobs;

4. the cumulative effect of gender and disability implies that
women with disabilities often face multiple forms of discri-
mination, have less independence, less access to education,
training, employment, and health services, and therefore
often face a greater risk of exclusion, poverty and abuse.

Underline that:

1. the EU Disability Strategy emphasises the importance of
equal access to inclusive, quality education and lifelong
learning, which are crucial for enabling persons with disabil-
ities to participate fully in society and improve their quality
of life;

for

2. accessible built environments, transport and Information and
Communication Technology (ICT), both in urban and rural
areas, are crucial
the realisation of a society which
provides genuine access to equal rights, offering its citizens
real autonomy and the means to pursue independent and
active economic and social lives. Such accessibility represents
no less than a cornerstone of an inclusive society based on
non-discrimination;

3. disability statistics are needed to establish a picture of the
overall situation of persons with disabilities in Europe. Such
statistical and research data allow informed disability policies
to be formulated and implemented at the different levels of
governance;

4. people with disabilities and their organisations at national,
regional and local
levels should be recognised by Member
States as playing an important advisory role when decisions
are made on disability matters and can also contribute to the
implementation of decisions.

Invite the Commission to:

1. strengthen efforts to prevent and combat discrimination
based on disability,
inside and outside the labour market,
promoting access both to the labour market and to goods
in accordance with the non-discrimination
and services,
framework strategy;

2. present as soon as possible a proposal for a Council Decision
concerning the conclusion, by the European Community, of
the UN Convention and to implement the Convention in the
areas of Community competence;

3. support the effective implementation of the UN Convention
at the different levels of governance, in particular following
its conclusion by the Community and ratification by
Member States, including through awareness-raising and by
financing activities under existing Community programmes
such as the Progress Programme (1).

(1) Decision No 1672/2006/EC of the European Parliament and of the
Council of 24 October 2006 establishing a Community Programme for
Employment and Social Solidarity — Progress (OJ L 315, 15.11.2006,
p. 1).

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Invite the Member States and the Commission, in accordance
with their respective competences, to ensure:

1. that people with disabilities enjoy their human rights in full,

by:

(a) ratifying and concluding, and then implementing the UN
Convention, including shared European solutions within
a coherent and coordinated approach for the implemen-
tation of the UN Convention;

(b) further developing a comprehensive policy mix of all
appropriate instruments with a view both to eliminating
discrimination and to including persons with disabilities
in society, based on the human rights approach and the
mainstreaming of disability;

(c) encouraging persons with disabilities to be active in the
labour force by ensuring the development and imple-
mentation
active
support and the removal of obstacles;

anti-discrimination measures,

of

(d) addressing the

issue of multiple discrimination of
women with disabilities and facilitating their full develop-
ment, advancement and empowerment;

(e) taking measures to allow persons with disabilities, as far
as possible, to live independently, to be included in the
community, and to have access to quality care and
support services;

(f) reinforcing

the mainstreaming of disability

issues,
building on the efforts undertaken by the Member States
to oblige public bodies to promote equality of opportu-
nities for persons with disabilities;

(g) further supporting the Member States and regional and
local communities in the deinstitutionalisation process
interest of people with
whenever this is in the best
disabilities;

(h) examining any gaps that may exist in the current Com-
munity legislative framework of protection against discri-
mination, in particular on the grounds of disability, and
considering appropriate and targeted responses;

(i) strengthening capacities at both national and Community
to collect and analyse appropriate information,
in compliance

level
including statistical and research data,
with legal safeguards and data protection rules.

(b) enhancing labour market participation through the
combination of flexible employment schemes, supported
employment, social economy, active inclusion and posi-
tive measures like support services, wage subsidies, work-
place adaptations, the use of assistive technologies and
personal assistance, will
lead to better employment
opportunities for all persons with disabilities and also
improve productivity;

(c) people with disabilities should be provided with good
access to education and specific measures should be
taken, where appropriate, to enable children with disabil-
ities to participate in mainstream education;

(d) the use of the Structural Funds, including the European
Social Fund (ESF), to support employment, training and
equal opportunities for people with disabilities should be
further promoted;

(e) the ongoing work on the development of

shared
European standards for accessibility should be promoted
and their application in public procurement encouraged;

(f) quality services of general

including social,
health, and rehabilitation services, should be made acces-
sible to persons with disabilities and their
families
through the development of voluntary Europe-wide
quality frameworks;

interest,

(g) the inclusion of all citizens in the Information Society
should be promoted in line with the Riga declaration on
e-inclusion by developing accessible information and
communication technologies and by means of assistive
technologies for persons with disabilities;

(h) access to mainstream goods, services and infrastructure
should be improved, so as to empower persons with
disabilities to act as consumers;

(i) persons with disabilities should be guaranteed full enjoy-
ment of their rights as passengers as far as reasonably
possible, and their rights should be secured through the
promotion of relevant European transport legislation;

(j) the rights of all persons with disabilities to be included
in society should be promoted and, wherever appro-
priate, the gradual replacement of care institutions by
community-based alternatives should be encouraged.

2. accessibility for people with disabilities:

(a) improving accessibility is a precondition for autonomy,
inclusion and participation, and enables people with
disabilities to enjoy human rights and fundamental free-
doms;

3. that work begins on a European disability strategy to succeed
the current European Disability Action Plan 2004-2010,
including by:

(a) implementing
2008-2009;

in full

the

European Action Plan

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(b) assessing how national actions reflect the commitments
made by the European Community and the Member
States
the UN Convention at
European level, and considering setting consistent and
comparable national targets to that end.

to fully implement

Invite the institutions of the European Union:

treatment and
to continue their efforts in providing equal
including
to all applicants
opportunities
people with disabilities. Moreover,
the
European Union are encouraged to further improve the accessi-
bility of their own buildings and facilities.

the institutions of

for employment,

Invite people with disabilities and their organisations:

1. to continue their coordination so as to communicate their
needs to policy makers and to identify and analyse policy
options;

2. to participate in the development and implementation of the
European Disability Action Plan and the United Nations

Convention together with the Commission and Member
States.

Invite all stakeholders to:

1. maintain a dialogue (including with people with disabilities
and their organisations, public authorities, and the social
partners) in order to understand each other's needs and to
generate consensual solutions;

2. use the opportunities provided by their participation in the
EU High Level Group on Disability to sustain the main-
streaming of disability issues in Community policies.

Invite future Presidencies:

to continue strengthening the European human rights approach
to disability, ensuring comprehensive social
inclusion and the
full achievement of equal opportunities for people with disabil-
ities and, to that end, to maintain the dialogue and close coop-
eration between the Community, the Member States, people
with disabilities and their organisations, and other stakeholders.