Activities of Laura AGEA related to 2015/2258(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (debate) IT
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, with special regard to the Concluding Observations of the UN CRPD Committee PDF (1 MB) DOC (391 KB)
Amendments (46)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Highlights the strong correlation between disability, which touches about 13 % of the EU’s population, and ill- health, with difficulties and barriers in accessand deplores the fact that barriers in access to health services persist, leading to thean inadequate or unmet provision of healthcare services to people with disabilities;
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1 a. Recalls that the UN CRPD Committee in its Concluding Observations highlighted the disproportionately adverse and retrogressive effect the austerity measures in the EU have been producing on the adequate standard of living of persons with disabilities, thus suggesting the provision of a minimum social protection floor, to be introduced in accordance with national practices;
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Deplores the discrimination and exclusion which persons with disabilities still suffer today; calls on the Commission to maximise synergies between the European Disability Strategy 2010-2020 and the provisions of the CEDAW and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, in order to ensure, not least by harmonising and implementing the legislative framework, that the rights granted under those instruments can in fact be exercised;
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1b. Calls on the Commission to assess whether EU legislation is compatible with the requirements of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; urges that any loopholes hampering the implementation of the Convention should be closed;
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Calls on the Member States and the EU institutions to ensure that opportunities to take part in public consultation procedures are effectively and widely publicised by means of communications which are accessible to persons with disabilities who use languages such as braille and Easy Read;
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Stresses the need to provide for a uniform system of sanctions throughout the EU to punish any behaviour, wherever it might be, that involves unequal treatment on grounds of disability;
Amendment 18 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2b. Calls on the EU institutions and the Member States to give persons with disabilities an active role in decision- making processes, also through their representative organisations, in accordance with Article 4(3) of the CPRD; urges, further, that due account should be taken of the views expressed by persons with disabilities in the course of such processes;
Amendment 23 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Emphasises that, if the rights of children with disabilities are to be protected, their families must be guaranteed proper support by strengthening and building on the legislative instruments available to the EU, such as that providing for extended parental leave for parents of children with disabilities;
Amendment 29 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Calls on the Commission to refrain from supporting austerity measures which are likely to produce widespread adverse effects across the EU on adequate health standards for persons with disabilities.
Amendment 30 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Considers full and complete access to the political system for persons with disabilities to be a priority; recognises that this access must bcalls, in this regard, on the Commission to include an assessment of compatibility with the UNCRPD in its reporting on the implementation of Council Directives 93/109/EC and 94/80/EC, which lay down the right to vote and stand as a candidate in elections to the European Parliament and local elections; deplores the fact that, in the EU, many persons with disabilities who do not have legal capacity are also denied the right to vote; urges the Member States, therefore, to revise their national laws in such a way as to ensure that the right to vote is not systematically denied to persons with disabilities who do not have legal capacity, and instead to assess each case on its merits and provide persons with disabilities with assistance during the voting procedure; recognises that the right to vote must constitute more than mere physical access to cast a vote, and that it should include a wide range of initiatives to open the democratic process to all citizens; calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure that the provisions of Article 3(2) of Directive 2012/29/EU establishing minimum standards on the rights, support and protection of victims of crime and of Directives 2010/64/EU on the right to interpretation and translation in criminal proceedings and 2012/13/EU on the right to information in criminal proceedings, and in particular Directive 2013/48/EU on the right of access to a lawyer in criminal proceedings and in European arrest warrant proceedings, and on the right to have a third party informed upon deprivation of liberty and to communicate with third persons and with consular authorities while deprived of liberty, are properly and fully implemented, especially in the case of persons with disabilities;
Amendment 33 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4 b. Calls on the Member States to refrain from cuts on disability-related benefits, community-based services and health services that deteriorate the health and wellbeing of persons with disabilities and of family caregivers;
Amendment 36 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12 a. urges all the EU Member States to properly acknowledge the key role of family caregivers, ensuring them a proper social and economic recognition and implementing measures of direct material support such as protection of pension entitlements or subsidies that reduce the full costs of services for carers; calls on the Commission to carry out a study aimed at analyzing the legal status, or the lack thereof, of family caregivers in all Member States;
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Calls foron the EU to ratify the Optional Protocol to the CRPD;
Amendment 39 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Urges the Commission and the Member States to evaluate the Cross-Border Healthcare Directive and its effective implementation from the perspective also of the needs of people with disabilities and their right to know, and effectively avail of, the provisions and instruments contained thereinprovided for by said Directive, awareness of which is low even among the general population;
Amendment 40 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14 a. Calls on the EU and Member States to deliver effective measures aimed at tackling segregation and rejection of students with disabilities in schools and learning environments, making all the necessary efforts to ensure they fully enjoy their right to inclusive and quality formal, non-formal and informal education, including accommodation and support needed;
Amendment 41 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5b. Urges that such data collection and such surveys must be as specific and as targeted as possible and that they should be followed by appropriate studies and workshops which result in suitable and effective forms of action;
Amendment 45 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Calls on the Commission to promote and enhance the use of Structural Funds by Member States, with a view to developing high-quality social services for people with disabilities and ensuring the transition from institutional care to community-based care; expresses its deep concern about the number of young people with disabilities living in institutions across the European Union who have no access to mainstream inclusive quality education;
Amendment 48 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Emphasises that, if the rights of persons with disabilities are to be safeguarded in full, it is essential that such persons should be guaranteed the right to choose how they want to live and how they want to maximise their potential, for example by making greater use of arrangements such as caregivers;
Amendment 49 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15 a. calls on the Commission and the Member States to involve as much as possible national, regional and local organisations of persons with disabilities in the programming of Operational Programmes in the context of ESI Funds; stresses, moreover, the importance of guaranteeing full accessibility of people with disabilities to Erasmus +, Youth Guarantee and EURES initiatives;
Amendment 50 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Asks the Commission to proposefor an update of the declaration of competence in light of the Concluding Observations, to be repeated periodically with the formal involvement of disability organisations and the European Parliament;
Amendment 50 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 15 b (new)
Paragraph 15 b (new)
15 b. calls on Member States to refrain from cuts on disability related benefits, community based services, health services, training and education programmes that will undermine the UN CRPD and will increase even more levels of poverty and social exclusion;
Amendment 51 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 15 c (new)
Paragraph 15 c (new)
15 c. calls on the European Commission and Member States to focus ESI Funds in the development of support services in local communities for young people with disabilities and their families, in order to foster deinstitutionalisation and prevent any new institutionalisation, promoting at the same time social inclusion focused on an individual-based approach and access to mainstream inclusive quality education for students with disabilities;
Amendment 53 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 b (new)
Paragraph 6 b (new)
6b. Urges that, with a view to guaranteeing social inclusion for persons with disabilities, it is essential to do away with all the barriers and obstacles which still hamper their integration into education systems, at the workplace, into public life and into the communities to which they belong;
Amendment 54 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Calls on the Commission to set up a structured dialogue with disability organisations; recommends, in addition, that the opinion of, and information provided by, disability organisations be taken into due consideration when proposals are drawn up;
Amendment 54 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6 a. Urges the Commission and the Member States to properly acknowledge the key role of family caregivers and to ensure that they also have appropriate access to health services in view of the impact that caring for persons with disabilities has on their own physical and mental health and well-being;
Amendment 54 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 16 a (new)
Paragraph 16 a (new)
16 a. stresses that the European Union should take appropriate measures to ensure that all persons with disabilities deprived of their legal capacity can exercise all the rights enshrined in EU treaties and legislation such as on access to justice, to goods and services, including banking and employment, and to healthcare, as well as voting and consumer rights;
Amendment 55 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 c (new)
Paragraph 6 c (new)
6c. Urges that the principle of freedom of movement for persons with disabilities within the EU must be guaranteed by removing all the remaining barriers to the exercise of that freedom;
Amendment 56 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to involve as much as possible national, regional and local organizations of persons with disabilities in the programming of Operational programmes in the context of ESI Funds; stresses moreover the importance of guaranteeing full accessibility of people with disabilities to Erasmus +, Youth Guarantee and EURES initiatives;
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Calls on the Commission to review the European Disability Strategy and to develop a comprehensive EU CRPD strategy with a clear timeframe, benchmarks and indicators; advocates that benchmarks and indicators should not be general ones, but should be specific and precise;
Amendment 57 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 d (new)
Paragraph 6 d (new)
6d. Urges that, with a view to guaranteeing proper social integration for persons with disabilities, incentives must be provided for the correct use of EU funds which are intended to foster that process by means of research into and the development, implementation and dissemination of new ideas, new technologies and new methods;
Amendment 72 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Calls on the Member States and the Commission to take steps to combat all forms of discrimination, including multiple and intersectional discrimination based on disability, with special regard to women and children with disabilities and to those whose disabilities change over time; calls furthermore on the Commission to improve and strengthen the provisions of Directive 2010/18/EU regarding the conditions of eligibility and detailed rules for granting parental leave to those who have children with a disability or serious or long-term incapacitating illness;
Amendment 79 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Stresses the need to provide for a uniform system of sanctions throughout the EU to punish any behaviour, wherever it might be, that is in breach of the CRPD or that involves unequal treatment on grounds of disability;
Amendment 88 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Stresses that the European Union should take appropriate measures to ensure that all persons with disabilities deprived of their legal capacities can exercise all the rights enshrined in EU Treaties and legislation such as access to justice, to goods and services, including banking and employment and healthcare, as well as voting and consumer rights;
Amendment 89 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Regrets the fact that in many Member States there are still school buildings with architectural barriers that constitute an odious form of discrimination against children and young people with disabilities; calls on the Commission and the Member States, therefore, to increase available funding to ensure that architectural barriers in schools and universities are banished forever;
Amendment 96 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Is concerned about the lack of accessibility of the EU-wide 112 emergency number, which is causing unnecessary deaths and injuries; stresses that accessibility must be improved for people with disabilities and calls upon Member States to take urgently all the necessary steps to ensure a high-quality emergency service for persons with disabilities;
Amendment 102 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to finance start-ups which operate in the field of security and safety for persons with disabilities through technological innovation;
Amendment 104 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Calls on the Member States and the Commission to ensure that employment- related rights and services, including reasonable accommodation in the context of the Employment Equality Directive, are portable and in line with the freedom of movement for persons with disabilities; recommends, moreover, that the right to free movement for persons with disabilities be guaranteed by all Member States;
Amendment 112 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12a. Calls for all possible measures to be taken to ensure that persons with disabilities are integrated into the labour market in accordance with their 'disability ID cards' and function cards to ensure that legal requirements are complied with and to prevent workers with disabilities from having to perform tasks that are not appropriate for their condition;
Amendment 115 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 b (new)
Paragraph 12 b (new)
12b. Points out that in order to prevent persons with disabilities from being made redundant, it is vital to allow them to perform their work in accordance with specific legislation; recommends, moreover, that proper controls be implemented, in addition to cooperation with job centres and companies, in order to prevent persons with disabilities from being marginalised from the labour market and in order to harness their full potential;
Amendment 134 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14a. Stresses that with regard to the European Structural and Investment Funds, too, it should be affirmed that transparency principles should govern the entire procedure, from the allocation of funds to their actual use;
Amendment 137 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Calls on the Member States to prevent or alleviate poverty, vulnerability and social exclusion among persons with disabilities and their families in the context of a European Pillar of Social Rights; recalls that the UNCRPD committee in its concluding observations highlighted the disproportionately adverse and retrogressive effect the austerity measures in the EU have been producing on the adequate standard of living of persons with disabilities, thus suggesting the provision of a minimum social protection floor, to be introduced in accordance with national practice;
Amendment 143 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15a. Calls on Member States to refrain from cuts on disability-related benefits, community-based services, health services, training and education programmes that will undermine the UNCRPD and will increase even more the level of poverty and social exclusion;
Amendment 144 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 a (new)
Paragraph 15 a (new)
15a. Urges the Commission and the Member States, once again for the purpose of combating the social exclusion of persons with disabilities and their families, to promote, on the basis of common rules, measures to combat the poverty faced by many families of disadvantaged individuals, with reference to clear indicators on which to base the necessary care;
Amendment 170 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 a (new)
Paragraph 23 a (new)
23a. Urges all the EU Member States to properly acknowledge the key role of family caregivers, ensuring them a proper social and economic recognition and implementing measures of direct material support, such as protection of pension entitlements or subsidies that reduce the full cost of service for carers; calls on the Commission to carry out a study aimed at analysing the legal status, or the lack thereof, of family caregivers in all Member States;
Amendment 173 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 a (new)
Paragraph 24 a (new)
24a. Calls on the EU institutions to facilitate smart working among employees with disabilities;
Amendment 178 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 27 a (new)
Paragraph 27 a (new)
27a. Calls on the EU and Member States to deliver effective measures aimed at tackling segregation and rejection of students with disabilities in schools and learning environments, making all the necessary efforts to ensure they fully enjoy their right to inclusive and quality formal, non-formal and informal education, including accommodation and support needed;