EU developments
The main purpose of the EU long-term strategy for the active inclusion of people with disabilities, the European Disability Strategy (2004-2010), is to enable people with disabilities to enjoy their rights. The Disability Action Plan (DAP) is a key instrument for achieving this goal.
The aim of this action plan, revised every two years, is to mainstream disability in the relevant Community policies and to implement specific measures in key areas.
In 2007, the European Commission published a Communication on the analysis of the situation of people with disabilities in the European Union and proposed new objectives for the Disability Action Plan 2008-2009. Considering that "disabled people continue to be disproportionately excluded from the labour market" and in order to tackle this situation, the Commission proposed to undertake actions for inclusive participation through accessibility, together with actions towards full enjoyment of fundamental rights.
By 2010, the European Commission wants to see improvements in employment prospects, accessibility and independent living. Disabled people are involved in the process on the basis of the European principle: 'Nothing about disabled people without disabled people'.
The EU promotes the active inclusion and full participation of disabled people in society, in line with the EU human rights approach to disability issues. This approach is also at the core of the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities , to which the European Community is a signatory.
The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol was adopted on 13 December 2006 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, and was opened for signature on 30 March 2007. It is the first comprehensive human rights treaty of the 21st century
The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) is the first legally-binding treaty which protects and promotes the rights of people with disabilities, including those with psycho-social disabilities (mental health problems) or intellectual disabilities.
The CRPD consists of 50 articles covering civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights as well as addressing non-discrimination in all aspects of public and private life.
The Optional Protocol to the CRPD enables individuals to communicate complaints. The Protocol also enables the treaty monitoring body to make inquires in case of grave and systemic violations of rights protected under the Convention.
The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol entered into force on 3 May 2008. Since this date, the Convention (CRPD) and its Optional Protocol has been ratified by 29 countries including 8 countries in Europe (Austria, Azerbaijan, Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden)
The EU is in favour of independent living. The aim is to provide disabled people with the same individual choices and control in their daily lives as non-disabled people. Care and support services are to be more tailored to the specific needs of people with disabilities. The European Commission promotes affordable, accessible and quality social services, and support through consolidated social and inclusion provisions.
The EU also supports the case for the de-institutionalisation of disabled people. The European Commission funds studies on the delivery of community-based services needed by disabled people to attain the right levels of security, freedom and independence for community living.
In July 2007, the first provisions of the EU regulation on the rights of disabled air-passengers (adopted on 5 July 2005 by the European Union) entered into force. The overall aim of the regulation is to guarantee equal treatment for all passengers, including "any person with reduced mobility or sensory impairment, intellectual disability or any other cause of disability, age, and whose situation needs appropriate attention and the adaptation to his or her particular needs of the service made available to all passengers".
