Activities of Katrin LANGENSIEPEN related to 2020/2209(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
The protection of persons with disabilities through petitions: lessons learnt (debate)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on the protection of persons with disabilities through petitions: lessons learnt
Amendments (18)
Amendment 1 #
Draft opinion
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs highly appreciates the role of the Committee on Petitions as a bridge between the Union’s citizens, Parliament and the other EU institutions; whereas the Committee on Petitions plays a crucial part in ensuring a participatory democracy, citizens orientated parliamentary activities and citizen involvement, revealing infringements that fall within the European Union's fields of competencies and activities and which affects citizens directly, but also wrongdoing that falls out of scope of EU competences thereby revealing possible loopholes and weaknesses in EU Law that need to be tackled;
Amendment 15 #
Draft opinion
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas approximately 1 % of all petitions received each year by the Committee on Petitions relate to a various disability issues; whereas social protection and employment rights,ety of problems persons with disabilities encounter every day; whereas among the reported problems social protection and inclusion, employment and workers rights, discrimination, ensuring equality, children’s' rights and protection, the use of the European Structural and Investment Funds in compliance with EU regulations and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD), and other issues falling within the competences of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs, are among the most common disability equality concerns voiced in the petitions received by Parliament falling within the competences of the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs;
Amendment 17 #
Draft opinion
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas all EU Members States ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights oft he Child making it binding for them and whereas Article 3(3) of the Treaty of the European Union establishes the objective for the EU to promote protection of Children’s rights; whereas the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights guarantees the protection of the rights of the child by the EU institutions and by EU countries when they implement EU law; whereas the European Parliament with a strong majority voted on its Resolution on a European Child Guarantee strongly asking to ensure that all children have access to inclusive education from early childhood to adolescence, including for Romani children, children with disabilities, stateless and migrant children and those living in humanitarian emergency settings;
Amendment 26 #
Draft opinion
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas it is generally acknowledged that persons with disabilities continue to face multiple and intersectional obstacles and discrimination in everyday life and that they do not enjoy the fundamental freedoms and rights laid down in numerous EU and UN documentthe applicable EU and UN normative and legal frameworks, such as mutual recognition of disability status between Member States, access to public transport, accessibility of the built environment, use of sign languages, financing of and equal access to education and vocational training, access to personal assistance and community inclusion, equality in opportunity and treatment in employment and occupation;
Amendment 36 #
Draft opinion
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. whereas in the report on the Equal treatment in employment and occupation in light of the UNCRPD, the European Parliament revealed the shortcomings of the Council Directive 2000/78/EC establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation;
Amendment 39 #
Draft opinion
Recital C b (new)
Recital C b (new)
Cb. whereas the Directive (EU) 2019/1158 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on the work-life balance for parents and carers and the repealing Council Directive 2010/18/EU requires Member States to assess whether the conditions of access to and the detailed arrangements for parental, carers’ and workers leave should be adapted to the specific needs of parents in particular disadvantaged situations, such as parents with a disability, (adoptive, single, separated) parents of children with a disability or a long-term illness, or parents in particular circumstances;
Amendment 50 #
Draft opinion
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
Da. whereas repeatedly in almost all Petitions the argument of limited competences of the EU is brought forward in the answers by the Commission to the Petitioners; whereas in 2008 the Commission presented a proposal to extend beyond employment the protection from discrimination provided by Directive 2000/78 which prohibits discrimination based on disability, age, sexual orientation and religion or belief in the areas of employment and occupation; whereas the new Directive would make the principle of equality applicable to education, to access to goods and services and to social protection, including social security and health care; whereas this proposal has not been adopted yet and has been blocked within the Council for 13 years by now, where unanimity is required for its adoption;
Amendment 65 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Calls on the Commission to ensure that the Member States comply with theall relevant EU and UN obligations on the rights of persons with disabilities, in particular the UN CRPD and the CRPD Committee’s General Comments to the Convention, and with the relevant EU measures and funding rules, and to provide support to them in this regard;
Amendment 73 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Calls on the Commission to assess if in the PETI Committee mentioned wrong-doing and mentioned missing competences due to a missing legal base, can be approached in future policy making and policy assessment procedures;
Amendment 117 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Welcomes the fact that as part of the Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2021-2030, an EU-wide Disability Card will be available by the end of 2023; and calls on the Commission to grant the EU-wide Disability Card with a strong scope harmonising the status and definition of disability and making the Card mandatory for all Member States;
Amendment 126 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Calls on the Member States to undertake national disability awareness campaigns promoting the UN CRPD and the EU Disability Strategy 2021-2030, and to come up with strong ambitious inclusive national disability strategies that go beyond the minimum targets mentioned in the EU Disability Strategy and to ensure compliance with the commitments outlined in these documents;
Amendment 131 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Calls on the Member States to guarantee the right and access to education for every child and to establish structures of inclusive education, face-to- face or digital when needed, from early childhood to adolescence, including for Romani children, children with disabilities, stateless and migrant children and those living in humanitarian emergency settings; and irrespectively of special circumstances such as Pandemics like COVID 19;
Amendment 135 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4b. Calls on the Council to present a strong Council Recommendation on the European Child Guarantee and calls on the Members States to bring forward multi-annual national strategies for tackling child poverty and social exclusion and Child Guarantee national action plans accordingly, that also ensure inclusive education;
Amendment 146 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Calls on the Commission to start the revision of the Employment Equality Directive as soon as possible with a view to fully harmonising it with the provisions of the UNCRPD and implementing a participatory process aimed at ensuring the direct and full involvement of representative organisations of persons with disabilities;
Amendment 162 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Calls on the Member States to make use of the European Social Fund (ESF+), the Youth Employment Initiative (YEI), the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD), the Erasmus programme, and the Just Transition Fund, which provide EU financial assistance for improving the situation of persons with disabilities;
Amendment 168 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 b (new)
Paragraph 6 b (new)
6b. Calls on the European Court of Auditors to assess the performance of EU programmes, with special emphasis on education and employment programmes, for example the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+), the Youth Employment Initiative (YEI), the European Regional Development Fund(ERDF), and Erasmus+, in a thorough manner; as they often times fail to reach out to the most deprived groups, including persons with disabilities;
Amendment 173 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 c (new)
Paragraph 6 c (new)
Amendment 179 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 d (new)
Paragraph 6 d (new)
6d. Calls on the Council to unblock the negotiations on the proposed horizontal anti-discrimination directive without any further delay and move towards an agreement, thereby extending the protection to persons with disabilities in all spheres where EU and national legislation could have a positive influence on persons with disabilities;