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The European Communities sign today the first UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

For the first time since its establishment, the European Communities become a State Party of a United Nations Convention.

“Words are there, deeds are waiting” declares Yannis Vardakastanis, President of the European Disability Forum at the signing ceremony in New York.

Brussels, 30 March 2007 – Today’s signature ceremony of the new UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities can be qualified as a historical event. For the first time, a United Nations Treaty focuses on the protection of persons with disabilities’ rights. It is also the first time that the European Communities participate in the negotiations and sign a United Nations Treaty, which is a significant development from the institutional point of vue. People with disabilities will be the first European citizens whose Human Rights will be protected under the Community legal framework.

53 countries will sign today in New York the Convention, the first to be adopted in the past 16 years and on the XXI century. Among these countries, 20 Member States have decided to sign the text at the official opening signature ceremony, which will start today at 16:00 - Brussels time. By signing, a country commits to engage in the ratification process which will make the country a state party to the Convention and its provisions binding.

The representatives from 350 international disability organizations are also attending the official ceremony, including Yannis Vardakastanis - President of the European Disability Forum (EDF), the representative Platform of disabled people in the EU. EDF has played a key role throughout the negotiations, which started in 2001, leading the disability movement during the discussions and acting as facilitator to reach consensus.

“Words are there, deeds are waiting”, stressed Vardakastanis a few minutes before the opening ceremony. “The Convention is a major success for the 650 million disabled people in the world, but the real work starts now. All signatory States, including the European Community have committed and must guarantee that the Convention is much more than a piece of paper. We now expect that in these countries disabled people will enjoy the same Human Rights as non-disabled ”, said Vardakastanis.

EDF President regretted that among the EU-27, France, Denmark and the United Kingdom are not signing the additional protocol of the Convention, which allows individual and collective complains if the Convention is not respected, once national recourse procedures have been exhausted. “It is quite shocking and difficult to understand that these countries, which are considered to be the Human Rights champions in Europe, have refused to sign this important protocol”, declared EDF President.

The European Disability Forum has called on all EU Member States and the European Community for a rapid ratification of the Convention and is currently collection one million signatures across the European Union for a European disability Directive that will be in line with the new international Convention. Vardakastanis: “The EU has spoken in one voice for the adoption of this Convention. A European disability Directive is the only way to guarantee that disability legislation is harmonized in all member States and that discrimination towards disabled people becomes part of EU History”.

The Official ceremony (16:00-19:00 Brussels time) and the press conference will be broadcasted on: http://www.un.org/webcast

The text of the Convention and the Protocol can be downloaded from: http://www.un.org/disabilities/convention/facts.shtml

For more information, please contact: Helena González-Sancho Bodero, EDF Communication and Press Officer; Tel: (+32 2) 282 46 04; Mobile phone: (+ 32 ) 485 64 39 93; E-mail: communication@edf-feph.org

For more information on the EDF campaign “1million4disability”: http://www.1million4disability.eu/