Progress: Procedure completed
Legal Basis:
RoP 132-p2Subjects
Events
The Commission presents a document containing the replies of the European Union to the questions of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities concerning the EU’s report on the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which entered into force in 2011. The Commission prepared the replies in liaison with other EU institutions, bodies and agencies.
The List of Issues and the Commission’s responses include action taken to promote and protect the rights of persons with disabilities in the EU as well as a detailed discussion of specific rights such as equality and non-discrimination, accessibility, and health and employment.
In this connection, the Commission noted that the European Disability Strategy 2010-2020 lays down actions to implement the Convention at EU level.
The Commission implements some actions directly; others require the agreement of Parliament and Council, while for others implementation is shared with Member States.
The Commission regularly discusses implementation of the Convention at EU and Member State level in the High-level Group on Disability and the Work Forum. The Commission prepares an annual report of the High-level Group with input from Member States. The Work Forum brings together focal points, coordination and monitoring mechanisms, and civil society organisations, from the EU and its Member States.
In its Resolution of 20 May 2015 on the List of Issues, the European Parliament called on the Commission, inter alia , to present an ambitious proposal for a European Accessibility Act, with the full involvement of persons with disabilities.
Other salient issues highlighted included:
Equal treatment : the Commission also noted that in 2008, it proposed an Equal Treatment Directive to extend the existing EU anti-discrimination legal framework beyond employment to social protection, healthcare, education and access to goods and services available to the public, including housing. The proposal is still being considered by Council. Health : in its proposed 2008 Directive, the Commission proposed to extend protection from discrimination in the provision of health care services on different grounds, including disability. In 2015, with financial support from Parliament, the Commission will launch a pilot project to develop strategies to address the health needs of vulnerable groups. A particular focus will be on those living in geographically and socially isolated communities, including the elderly and persons with disabilities. 112 emergency number : in the Parliament’s resolution the need to highlight the Europe-wide emergency number 112 was stressed. The document noted that in 2015, 22 Member States reported the implementation of an alternative access to 112. 18 Member States reported the take-up of SMS to 112; while three Member States reported the deployment of similar alternative means to contact emergency services. Situations of risk and humanitarian emergencies : the document recalled that the Commission’s mandate in humanitarian aid includes the provision of needs-based assistance in particular to the most vulnerable, which often includes persons with disabilities; the needs of persons with disabilities are expected to be mainstreamed in operations within all sectors of humanitarian aid. The Commission is working on humanitarian guidelines on shelter and settlements, where the needs of persons with disabilities will be considered. In 2015, the Commission and the Latvian Presidency of the Council organised a conference to raise awareness of disability among those responsible for response to emergency situations.
The European Parliament adopted a resolution on the List of Issues adopted by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in relation to the initial report of the European Union.
The resolution was tabled by the S&D, ECR, EFD, Greens/EFA, ALDE, GUE/NGL, and EPP groups.
Noting that the EU had formally ratified the CRPD, and that Parliament formed part of the EU Framework to monitor the implementation of the CRPD, Members assured the CRPD Committee that the European Parliament would respond to questions directly addressed to it , while also urging the Commission to take Parliament’s views into account when formulating its own answers to the committee. They recalled that the Commission had been designated to answer the List of Issues adopted by the CRPD Committee.
Review process : recalling that several civil society organisations had submitted information to the CRPD Committee for the List of Issues, Parliament urged the Commission to further develop a structured dialogue and to consult and cooperate with organisations representing persons with disabilities as part of the review process, including in formulating an answer to the CRPD Committee on its List of Issues, and in developing, implementing and monitoring EU policies in this area.
List of Issues : Members went on to note Parliament’s actions in respect of the List of Issues raised in relation to the initial report of the EU as part of the CRPD review, and these include:
highlighting the need for accessibility in respect of universal service and the 112 emergency number; setting up an inter-committee coordination working group arranging awareness-raising events open to staff and MEPs, including the organisation of sign language courses as part of professional training.
Legislation: Parliament highlighted the following:
an EU anti-discrimination directive was proposed by the Commission in 2008, but it remained blocked in the Council. Members deplored the lack of progress within the Council on this proposal and urged Member States to work towards the adoption of a common position without any further delay. This directive would seek to protect people with disabilities against discrimination in social protection, health care and rehabilitation, education and access to and supply of goods and services, such as housing, transport and insurance; the Commission was asked to present an ambitious proposal for a European Accessibility Act, which should include a full range of policy areas with regard to the accessibility of goods and services for all EU citizens, fostering the independent living and full inclusion of people with disabilities and establishing an effective and independent monitoring and enforcement mechanism.
In addition:
the Council was urged to accelerate its work on the proposal for a directive on the accessibility of public sector bodies’ websites , with a view to reaching a common position; Member States must translate into national law the obligations derived from Article 12 of the CRPD, most specifically to ease any restrictions on rights of disabled people to cast their vote and to be elected.
Lastly, Parliament considered it regrettable that the Code of Conduct was adopted by the Commission and the Council without the involvement of Parliament, with the result that Parliament had limited competences with regard to the monitoring of the CRPD.
Documents
- Commission response to text adopted in plenary: SP(2015)470
- Follow-up document: SWD(2015)0127
- Results of vote in Parliament: Results of vote in Parliament
- Decision by Parliament: T8-0208/2015
- Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
- Motion for a resolution: B8-0460/2015
- Motion for a resolution: B8-0460/2015
- Follow-up document: SWD(2015)0127
- Commission response to text adopted in plenary: SP(2015)470
Activities
- Hugues BAYET
Plenary Speeches (2)Institutional Motions (1)
- Soledad CABEZÓN RUIZ
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- Norbert ERDŐS
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- Marian HARKIN
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- Marina ALBIOL GUZMÁN
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- José BLANCO LÓPEZ
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- Marielle DE SARNEZ
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- Michela GIUFFRIDA
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- Tania GONZÁLEZ PEÑAS
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- Sergio GUTIÉRREZ PRIETO
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- Pablo IGLESIAS
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- Kostadinka KUNEVA
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- Ulrike LUNACEK
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- Notis MARIAS
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- Luigi MORGANO
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- Elisabeth MORIN-CHARTIER
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- Liadh NÍ RIADA
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- Soraya POST
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- Claude ROLIN
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- Lola SÁNCHEZ CALDENTEY
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- Maria Lidia SENRA RODRÍGUEZ
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- Siôn SIMON
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- Ángela VALLINA
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- Jana ŽITŇANSKÁ
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- Inês Cristina ZUBER
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- Laura AGEA
- Inés AYALA SENDER
- Zigmantas BALČYTIS
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- Alain CADEC
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- Nessa CHILDERS
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- Salvatore CICU
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- Anna Maria CORAZZA BILDT
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- Silvia COSTA
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- Michael CRAMER
- Pál CSÁKY
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- Javier COUSO PERMUY
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- Michel DANTIN
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- Philippe DE BACKER
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- Rachida DATI
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- Isabella DE MONTE
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- Ian DUNCAN
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- Georgios EPITIDEIOS
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- Lorenzo FONTANA
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- Doru-Claudian FRUNZULICĂ
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- Ildikó GÁLL-PELCZ
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- Francisco de Paula GAMBUS MILLET
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- Elisabetta GARDINI
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- Enrico GASBARRA
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- Elena GENTILE
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- Adam GIEREK
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- Enrique GUERRERO SALOM
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- Antanas GUOGA
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- Rebecca HARMS
- Brian HAYES
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- Gunnar HÖKMARK
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- Richard HOWITT
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- Ian HUDGHTON
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- Filiz HYUSMENOVA
- Danuta JAZŁOWIECKA
- Marc JOULAUD
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- Ivan JAKOVČIĆ
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- Philippe JUVIN
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- Barbara KAPPEL
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- Sylvia-Yvonne KAUFMANN
- Tunne KELAM
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- Afzal KHAN
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- Timothy KIRKHOPE
- Dieter-Lebrecht KOCH
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- Béla KOVÁCS
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- Agnieszka KOZŁOWSKA
- Miltiadis KYRKOS
- Cécile Kashetu KYENGE
- Giovanni LA VIA
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- Marine LE PEN
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- Paloma LÓPEZ BERMEJO
- Vladimír MAŇKA
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- Ivana MALETIĆ
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- Andrejs MAMIKINS
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- Barbara MATERA
- David MARTIN
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- Tamás MESZERICS
- Jean-Luc MÉLENCHON
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- Miroslav MIKOLÁŠIK
- Louis MICHEL
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- Marlene MIZZI
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- Sophie MONTEL
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- Alessia Maria MOSCA
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- József NAGY
- Péter NIEDERMÜLLER
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- Norica NICOLAI
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- Franz OBERMAYR
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- Pier Antonio PANZERI
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- Marijana PETIR
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- Julia PITERA
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- Andrej PLENKOVIĆ
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- Salvatore Domenico POGLIESE
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- Franck PROUST
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- Sofia RIBEIRO
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- Robert ROCHEFORT
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- Liliana RODRIGUES
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- Judith SARGENTINI
- György SCHÖPFLIN
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- Olga SEHNALOVÁ
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- Branislav ŠKRIPEK
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- Monika SMOLKOVÁ
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- Davor ŠKRLEC
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- Csaba SÓGOR
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- Renato SORU
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- Bart STAES
- Catherine STIHLER
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- Patricija ŠULIN
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- Neoklis SYLIKIOTIS
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- Eleftherios SYNADINOS
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- Tibor SZANYI
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- Pavel TELIČKA
- László TŐKÉS
- Helga TRÜPEL
- Claude TURMES
- Ramon TREMOSA i BALCELLS
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- Derek VAUGHAN
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- Marie-Christine VERGIAT
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- Miguel VIEGAS
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- Jarosław WAŁĘSA
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- Cecilia WIKSTRÖM
- Anna ZÁBORSKÁ
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B8-0460/2015 - Am 1 #
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