1. Disability Strategy 2010-2020 and EU external action
Inmaculada Placencia Porrero
Deputy Head of Unit
Unit D3 Rights of Persons with Disabilities
European Commission
DG Justice

2. The UN Convention General Assembly resolution 56/168 - 19 Dec. 2001
13 December 2006 Adoption by the General Assembly
Signature
30 March 2007 signed by the European Community
Signed by all Member States
3 May 2008 entry into force
Ratification
Commission proposal for Conclusion of the Convention and accession to Optional Protocol
29 August 2008
Council Decision 2010/48 concerning the conclusion
26 November 2009
2 December 2010 Adoption of the Code of Conduct
Entry into Force for the EU 22 January 2011
Ratified by 24 MS

3. Council Decision Conclusion UNCRPD
26 November 2009: Council Decision 2010/48/EC concerning the conclusion (formal confirmation), by the European Community*, of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Article 2 (deposit of instruments of formal confirmation)
Article 3 (COM as the focal point)
Article 4 (external representation, close cooperation)
Articles 3 – 4 (Code of Conduct)
Annex I (UNCRPD)
Annex II (declaration of competence + appendix)
Annex III (reservation)

4. EU Governance
Focal point: European Commission; Unit for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Coordination mechanism: Human Rights Group of the Council (COHOM)
EU Framework art 33.2: Adopted 2012

5. The EU Framework (art 33.2 CRPD)
Disability Strategy:
A monitoring framework will be established after
considering the possible role of a number of
existing EU bodies and institutions and
without undue administrative burden

6. The Commission's proposal
The members of the framework:
European Parliament's Petitions Committee
European Ombudsman
European Commission
EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA)
European Disability Forum (EDF)
The rationale:
Limited EU competence: complementarity with the MS frameworks
Focus on the tasks: the proposed EU institutions and bodies exercise tasks relevant to art 33.2 within their existing mandates
Simple, efficient and practical arrangement to maximise the synergies between existing bodies and institutions
No legal changes / additional resources are necessary

7. The EU framework's mandate
Dual scope:
1. EU legislation and policy in the areas where the Member States have transferred competences to the EU
2. “Internal” implementation of the Convention by EU institutions as a Public Administration (e.g. staff issues, interaction with citizens)

8. EU Declaration of Competences
Article 44(1) UNCRPD: a regional integration organisation in its instrument of formal confirmation or accession is to declare the extent of its competence with respect to matters governed by the Convention.
EU Declaration indicates the competences transferred to the Community by the Member States under the Treaty establishing the European Community, in the areas covered by the Convention.
In some matters the European Union has exclusive competence and in other matters competence is shared between the EU and the Member States. The Member States remain competent for all matters in respect of which no competence has been transferred to the EU.
EU exclusive competences: state aids, common custom tariff, its own public administration
EU shared competences: action to combat discrimination on the ground of disability, free movement of goods, persons, services and capital, transport by rail, road, sea and air transport, taxation, internal market, equal pay for male and female workers, Trans-European network policy and statistics.

9. The EU and its Member States
Duty of close cooperation
Requirement of unity in international representation
Article 10 TEC, ECJ case-law
(Opinion 2/91, Opinion 1/94, C-459/03, C-246/07)

10. Code of Conduct Member States competences – coordinated positions
Rules for:
- Division of tasks and establishing positions based on competence
Member States competences – coordinated positions
Exclusive (EU) competences - Union positions
Shared competences – common positions
-Speaking
-Voting
-Nominations
-Focal point -> European Commission
-Monitoring and reporting arrangements
Annex -> statistical data

11. Fifth session of the Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Preparatory work:
COHOM
EAA
DHLG
Written procedure
Code of Conduct
Candidates and voting

12. LEGAL BASIS
TFEU Articles 10 and 19: the EU shall aim to combat discrimination
(mainstreaming and specific legislation)
Other legal bases can be relevant, e.g. Internal market (Art 114), Transport (Art TFEU), State Aid ( TFEU) Employment ( TFEU ) Social Policy (151, 153 TFEU) Education (Art. 165 TFEU), Public health (Art. 168 TFEU), Approximation of Laws (114 TFEU, high level of protection as a base)
CHARTER OF FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS OF THE EU
Article 21: Discrimination on the grounds of disability shall be prohibited
Article 26: The Union recognises and respects the right of persons with disabilities to benefit from measures designed to ensure their independence, social and occupational integration and participation in the life of the community.

13. Compliance of new EU legislation with the UNCRPD
Operational Guidance on taking account of Fundamental Rights in Commission Impact Assessments
(COM staff working paper SEC(2011) 567 final (6 May 2011)
This Operational Guidance was prepared by DG JUSTICE
Art 53 ref relationship between the Charter and international agreements to which the Union or the Member States are party
It provides practical help and advice on how to assess impacts on fundamental rights when preparing Impact Assessments.
Explicit reference to need to be in line with the UNCRPD.

14. European Disability Strategy 2010-2020
Adopted on 15 November 2010.
Three main documents:
Communication on a European Disability Strategy
Initial plan to implement the Strategy: List of Actions
Background Document with facts and figures

15. Main objectives
Comply with the international commitments taken by concluding the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities:
Empower PWD to enjoy their full rights
Create a barrier-free Europe for all
Bring PWD closer to EU2020 targets for employment, education and training, risk of poverty and social exclusion

16. KEY FIGURES How many persons with disabilities in the EU?
Difficult to estimate due to lack of data and a common definition: around 80 million Europeans have a disability that ranges from mild to severe
Correlation between disability and ageing:
63% of people with disabilities are older than 45. Nearly 30% of people in the age group report a disability and the incidence of disability will increase as the EU population gets older. Over 30 % of respondents aged over 75 are restricted to some extent, and over 20 % severely restricted. 2

17. Scope EU Areas of competences EU institutions Thematic Actions
EU level
Supplement National actions
Governance
Framework for implementation and monitoring, required by the UNCRPD
Strategy: ISG, D-HLG, MS+NGOs, EU institutions

18. EU 2020 Market opportunities Key Relevant Flagship initiatives:
Full economic and social participation of persons with disabilities is essential for Europe 2020 to succeed in creating smart, sustainable and inclusive growth
Market opportunities
Key Relevant Flagship initiatives:
Innovation Union
Youth on the move
A digital agenda for Europe
An agenda for new skills and jobs
European platform against poverty
Relevant Targets:
75 % of the population aged should be employed
The share of early school leavers should be under 10% and at least 40% of the younger generation should have a tertiary degree.
20 million less people should be at risk of poverty (reduction by 25%)

19. Main areas for EU action
Presented in the Communication; provide structure for List of Actions ( ):
Accessibility of goods and services
Participation as equal citizens in Europe and quality community-based services
Equality and combating discrimination
Employment in the open labour market
Inclusive education and training
Social protection to combat poverty and social exclusion
Equal access to health services and related facilities
External action including EU enlargement, neighbourhood and international development programmes

20. Area nr. 8 => EU External Action
Specific objective:
To promote the rights of people with disabilities within a broader non-discriminatory
approach in the EU external action, including the enlargement process and development
programmes, taking due account of the common EU and Member States' approach to
development

21. 8 External Action – Key actions (I)
– Ensure that the specific needs of persons with disabilities, including those who are disabled as a consequence of natural and man-made disasters, are properly assessed and addressed in the area of emergency and humanitarian aid outside the EU
– Highlight disability where appropriate as a human rights issue in the EU human rights dialogues with third countries, based on the principles of the UNCRPD
– Ensure that EU development cooperation reaches persons with disabilities, both through projects/programmes specifically targeting persons with disabilities and by improving the mainstreaming of disability concerns
– Enhance coherence and complementarity between the EU approach to persons with disabilities and EU assistance to survivors of landmine and explosive remnants of war during armed conflict and its aftermath
– Support the national efforts of partner countries for the signature, ratification and implementation of the UNCRPD
– Support where appropriate the institutional strengthening of Disabled Peoples' Organisations in partner countries and organisations dealing with disability and development

22. 8 External Action –Key actions (II)
– Consolidate the network of disability focal points in EU Delegations and at Headquarters, and increase the awareness of EU staff on disability matters
– Promote that infrastructure financed in the framework of EU development projects meets the accessibility requirements of people with disabilities.
– Update the Guidance Note on Disability and Development to be in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of Person with Disabilities
– Ensure that progress is made by candidate and potential candidate countries on promoting the rights of persons with disabilities and that accession funds are used to improve their situation
– Encourage European Neighbourhood Policy partner countries to protect the rights of persons with disabilities; mainstream disability-related issues through policy dialogue and exchange of experience; and explore possibilities for financial assistance under the European Neighbourhood
Policy and Partnership Instrument

23. Mix of tools to achieve the objectives
Legislation: e.g. explore the possibility of a “European Accessibility Act”
Mainstreaming: ensure that all relevant EU initiatives promote equal opportunities for people with disabilities
Cooperation between Member States and civil society
Funding
Awareness-raising
Data collection and monitoring

24. Data collection and monitoring
Reporting
UNCRPD report
Report on strategy implementation
On-line tool with instruments to implement UNCRPD
Data collection
Network of experts
Studies
Statistics and data collection
Indicators  targets

25. UN Convention implementation
Annual disability Ministers meeting
Presidency Conclusions
Annual Disability High Level Group report on implementation
Annual Information Note
Annual Presidency Conference
Annual Work Forum
European Disability Strategy

26. Implementation Historical perspective
1st HLG Report (2008):
focus on challenges and solutions identified by MS and stakeholders with regards to the implementation of the UNCRPD
2nd HLG Report (2009):
focus on accessibility, legal capacity, access to justice, independent living, voting rights, monitoring and empowerment
3rd HLG Report (2010):
focus on procedural matters and governance
4th HLG Report (2011):
focus on the interface between UNCRPD and the Europe 2020 headline targets for education, employment and poverty

27. Focus for 5th HLG Report
National and EU legal and regulatory frameworks to promote accessibility.
National strategies and actions developed in order to effectively put in practice the UNCRPD in the area of accessibility.

28. Background: the online tool
Defined in Annex 2 of the Commission Staff Working Paper accompanying the Strategy SEC(2010)1323
For each country, key instruments to achieve the effective implementation of the UN Convention: a table, displaying policies, practical measures and legal acts
With web link to reference document or relevant information
Via our main website:

29. Individual record contains:
Theme (e.g. Accessibility)
Country
Instrument (e.g. a law)
Description of the instrument
Web link to the source
Additional links
Date of update

30. The online tool 34 countries + EU 1,505 records x 9 fields
43 instruments
1,505 records
x 9 fields
= 13,545 items

32. Next steps 2013:  Update of Scoreboard
EU to report on Disability Strategy (Progress report foreseen in Communication)
EU to report on implementation of UNCRDP
 Update of Scoreboard

33. EU report to the UN: timeline
Preparation
April 2012 => Information to Inter-service Group
May and October 2012=> Information to the HLG
Study
July– September 2012 => Tender procedure
Winter 2012 – Spring 2013 => data collection, analysis, conclusions
Consultations
COHOM
Commission’s services
HLG Spring 2013 meeting
Stakeholders, DPOs
The EU Framework
Submission to the UN
by July 2013

34. Useful weblinks
European Disability Strategy :
Initial plan to implement the Strategy: List of Actions :
United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: