News/Press

Brussels, 17 June 2008

I am writing to you to welcome, on behalf of EDF, the discussions in the College of Commissioners of 11 June last, which resulted in the decision to propose European anti-discrimination legislation on all ‘Article 13’ grounds, as part of the “Social Package” proposal to be adopted by the College on 2 July.

Recalling the demand of the more than 1 300 000 Europeans for COMPREHENSIVE legislative measures to combat discrimination against persons with disabilities in ALL areas of life, expressed last year through the “1million4disability” European wide citizenship campaign, I wish to express serious concerns as to the forthcoming proposal.

EDF is concerned that the decision to protect discriminated groups through a single directive may not respond to the needs of a group as diverse as persons with disabilities. We face not only attitudinal, but also structural discrimination, and it is only by addressing barriers in the society that such discrimination can be removed. We fear that these specificities of disability-based discrimination may be diluted by the broad scope of the proposed legislation.

The future legislation should also meet the ambitious goal of contributing to the implementation process of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the first international Human Rights treaty ever signed by the European Communities, that will extend the Community competencies on disability policies well beyond Article 13 EC and into Article 95 EC.

We believe that these unique specificities of disability, the international obligations of the European Communities, and the assessment of the long-term impact and effectiveness of the future legislative instrument should be the cornerstones of the process which will start on 2 July.

Should the proposal for a single directive be adopted, it should, as a minimum, be composed of specific and separate chapters for each ground. For the ‘disability’ chapter to be effective, it should provide basic minimum requirements, such as accessibility of goods, services and infrastructures, as well as provisions on social protection and social security, health and education, which correspond to the scope of the 2000 Race Directive. The attached summary provides further details on these basic minimum requirements.

For over ten years now, the European Commission and EDF have cooperated in a very constructive and transparent way on all issues promoting the rights of persons with disabilities. Thanks to this fruitful cooperation, not only has EDF been acknowledged as the representative organisation of disabled persons in Europe, but its motto “Nothing about disabled people, without disabled people” has been fully endorsed by the EU institutions.

In accordance with this principle and the transparency policy of the European Commission, EDF strongly regrets that no meaningful consultation was undertaken with the civil society on the content of the proposal. Since the publication of the European Commission 2008 work programme, a lot of precious time has been lost on contradictory messages delivered by the European Commission officials and speculations on the type of forthcoming legislation. This has been preferred to a transparent and open dialogue with representative organisations of millions of Europeans facing discrimination in their daily lives on the content of the proposal. It is also regrettable that dialogue with legal experts, social partners and industry has been limited. On other sensitive issues, containing disability specificities, such as in the field of competition (state aids), transport and information society, the European Commission had undertaken a very open dialogue from the start of legislative process.

In January 2008, with the view to assist the European Commission, EDF presented to EU officials its proposal for a shadow directive fighting discrimination of persons with disabilities, consistent with previous directives adopted on the basis of Article 13, as well as other existing EU legislation, particularly in the area of accessibility, and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Unfortunately, although the proposal was welcomed by the European Commission, no concrete feedback has been received by EDF.

Should the above-mentioned lack of consultation with the stakeholders result in presentation of an unsatisfactory proposal, the European disability movement and its allies would not be in the position to support such a proposal, in the honour of the principles of good governance, better regulation and transparency.

Little time is left until the adoption of the “Social Package” by the College of Commissioners on 2nd July. In these last couple of weeks, EDF would highly appreciate constructive cooperation with the European Commission to contribute to the content of the directive in view to ensure the best possible protection against discrimination on the ground of disability.

Thanking you for your personal attention to this matter and remaining confident that you will take the necessary measures to consult with civil society representatives in a meaningful way.

Yours faithfully,

Yannis Vardakastanis