COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE EVALUATION of the European disability strategy 2010-2020
Date: 2020-11-20
Institutions: Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, European Commission
Subjects: EU strategy, UN convention, discrimination based on disability, education, employment policy, equal treatment, independence of people with disabilities, integration of people with disabilities, organisation of health care, social security

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 20.11.2020  SWD(2020) 291 final  COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT  EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OF THE EVALUATION  of the European disability strategy 2010-2020  {SWD(2020) 289 final}  
 
 
CONTEXT 

The  European  disability  strategy  2010-2020  (‘the  Strategy’)  set  out  the  political  framework 
and priorities of the EU disability policy. It aimed at empowering persons with disabilities to 
enjoy  their  full  rights  and  to  benefit  from  participating  in  society  on  an  equal  basis  with 
others. It also aimed at implementing the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons 
with  Disabilities  (UNCRPD)  at  EU  level.  The  Strategy  covered  eight  areas  of  action: 
Accessibility,  Participation,  Equality,  Employment,  Education  and  Training,  Social 
Protection, Health, and External Action. 

The Commission launched the evaluation of the Strategy in 2019 to assess its implementation 
in  terms  of  effectiveness,  efficiency,  relevance,  coherence  and  EU  added  value.  A  wide 
range of stakeholders was consulted, including Member States’ competent authorities, experts 
in the field of disability, civil society organisations, and citizens. 

EVALUATION 

In  terms  of  effectiveness,  the  evaluation  found  that  the  Strategy  gave  a  significant 
contribution to the implementation of the UNCRPD at EU level and to the implementation of 
several  important  legislative  and  policy  instruments,  especially  in  the  areas  of  accessibility, 
participation  and  awareness  raising.  On  the  other  hand,  the  strategy  has  been  partially 
effective  in  achieving  its  objectives,  and  not  all  the  actions  of  the  Strategy  have  been  fully 
implemented.  The  areas  where  the  Strategy  was  less  effective  are  equality,  health,  and 
external action. 

The evaluation found that the Strategy was designed and implemented  efficiently. EU funds 
were effective to promoting and implementing de-institutionalisation. Grants to organisations 
representing  persons  with  disabilities  and  funds  for  organising  public  events  dedicated  to 
disability have proven effective in stimulating debate around disability issues. According to a 
number of stakeholders, greater efficiency in the use of funds would be welcome. 

The  Strategy  has  been  relevant  and  continues  to  be  relevant  in  addressing  the  needs  of 
persons with disabilities. The EU’s ratification of the UNCRPD made the Convention become 
part of the EU legal order. The Strategy, as the main instrument to implement the UNCRPD at 
EU  level,  helped  to  ensure  that  EU  policies  and  initiatives  relevant  for  persons  with 
disabilities were designed and implemented in line with the UNCRPD provisions. 

There was coherence among the eight thematic areas of the strategy and its implementation 
instruments. The Strategy was also in line with other social policies at EU and Member State 
level. However, from an operational perspective, some of its actions were not fully coherent 
with the related objectives, as achieving those objectives would have required actions with a 
much wider scope, funding and strength than those of the Strategy. 

The main EU added value of the Strategy was to provide for a coherent implementation of 
the UNCRPD at EU level. The Strategy has also supported implementation at Member State 
level, for example through accessibility legislation, support to de-institutionalisation, and EU 
Funds for employment of persons with disabilities. 

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MAIN ACHIEVEMENTS 

The  strategy  positively  contributed  to  a  change  towards  a  human  rights-based  approach  in 
disability  policy  and  in  placing  the  disability  agenda  higher  among  the  EU  policy 
priorities. The Strategy has supported the implementation of the UNCRPD by translating 
its principles into practical objectives and actions. 

The Strategy has improved the inclusion of disability issues in EU legislation and policy. 
Its impact was particularly visible in the areas of accessibility and passengers’ rights, with the 
adoption of the European Accessibility Act, the  Web Accessibility Directive  and legislation 
on  the  Rights  of  Passengers  with  Reduced  Mobility.  There  was  also  visible  impact  through 
EU funding in the area of support to de-institutionalisation and to accessibility, as well as to 
social  inclusion.  Key  outputs  included  awareness  raising  and  civil  dialogue  events 
contributing to the promotion of the rights of persons with disabilities. 

The  Strategy  was  a  driver  for  helping  in  mainstreaming  disability-related  issues  at  EU 
institutional  level.    Examples  include  development  cooperation,  standardisation,  State  Aid, 
copyright  legislation,  education  programmes.  Disability  was  also  mainstreamed  throughout 
the  principles  of  the  European  Pillar  of  Social  Rights  and  the  disability-related  Country 
Specific Recommendations under the European Semester.  

The Strategy facilitated the involvement of persons with disabilities and their representative 
organisations in the EU decision-making. The resulting exchange of opinions contributed to a 
better understanding of issues at stake, and to the development of more inclusive policies and 
legislation. 

SHORTCOMINGS 

The Strategy did not include a comprehensive set of indicators for measuring the extent to 
which  its  actions  were  carried-out  and  its  objectives  achieved.  It  was  also  missing  an 
operative framework for regularly monitoring its implementation. The absence of these 
two elements,  together  with  the limited availability of regularly  collected and disaggregated 
data in all areas of disability, prevented the regular evaluation of the Strategy’s progress, the 
early detection of delivery gaps and the identification of possible mitigating actions.  

Despite  increased  awareness,  knowledge  about  disability  issues  at  EU  institutional  level 
remains uneven. As a result, UNCRPD provisions and needs of persons with disabilities were 
not always sufficiently considered during the policy-making process. 

Actions,  particularly  in  the  area  of  accessibility,  mostly  focused  on  visible  disabilities, 
whereas  the  needs  of  persons  with  intellectual  disabilities,  non-visible  disabilities,  and 
children with disabilities have been taken into account to a lesser extent. 

The lack of binding links between the Strategy and EU funds was sometimes detrimental to 
their use for disability-related initiatives. In fact, initiatives having a clear purpose (such as, 
for  example,  funding  de-institutionalisation)  were  more  effective  in  addressing  disability 
issues than those focusing on general social issues. 

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