European Association of Service Providers for Persons with Disabilities: Mixed messages from the European Commission on how the European Semester can implement the CRPD
The European Association of Service Providers for Persons with Disabilities (EASPD) organised a Seminar on how the European Semester (ES) can help to implement the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD), following up on Marianne Thyssen’s positive statements in this regard. Representatives from the European Commission (EC) expressed mixed messages as to if the ES should be seen as a tool to implement the CRPD. The EC’s unclear stance represents a missed opportunity to fulfil the EU’s human rights obligations.
The seminar, organised on 9 December, allowed EASPD and Disabled People’s Organisations (DPOs) to jointly call on the European Commission and Member States to use the European Semester to implement the UN CRPD. Despite recent statements from the European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Labour Mobility and Skills, Ms Marianne Thyssen calling for a similar approach, the Commission representatives expressed their scepticism with regard to the implementation of the CRPD through the European Semester.
The event followed the publication of the new EASPD report on “How the European Semester can help to implement the UN CRPD”. The report proposes recommendations on how the EU and its Member States can further develop disability friendly legislation and practices through the European Semester; especially in areas such as inclusive labour markets, inclusive education settings and living in the community. This report includes key messages from the sector mainly focused on articles 19, 24 and 27 of the CRPD and highlights that the European Semester is fundamental if Europe is to reach its human rights obligations and medium to long-term strategies such as the Europe 2020 Strategy and the Stability and Growth Pact.
Mr Franz Wolfmayr, EASPD President stressed during the welcoming session that “this report brings key recommendations from the sector which should be used by the EC and Member States to make improvements on the implementation of the Convention”.
Commenting on the impact of the European Semester on national social policies, Mr Luk Zelderloo, EASPD Secretary General, stated that “we all, policy makers, support services and persons with disabilities, need to ensure that the European Semester process and the recommendations from the European Commission to Member States do not bring a bad effect and serve on the contrary to empower persons with disabilities”.
Mrs Ruth Paserman, Deputy Head of Cabinet of Commissioner Marianne Thyssen, added that there is a need for more collaboration with Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and civil society and not just relying on the reports given by national authorities.
The seminar included three specific panels focused on three rights of the Convention: the right to live independently, the right to education and the right to work and employment. Referring to article 19 of the CRPD on independent living, Ms Jamie Bolling, Executive Director of the European Network for Independent Living stressed that “austerity measures and cuts have particularly affected persons with disabilities and there is great need to invest more on individualised support services. Social investment can give economic return in time and promote active inclusion”.
With regard to Article 24 on education, Mrs Bernadette Grosyeux, Chair of the EASPD Standing Committee on Education and Mrs Jose Smits of Inclusion Europe both stressed that the country reports could be a tool to assess policies and initiatives at the national level intended to promote inclusive education. The main economic argument being that failures in education have an impact on the labour market and the economy of the future.
Ms Sabrina Ferraina, Senior Policy Officer at EASPD stated that the lack of reliable employment data at European and national level makes it difficult to have reliable policies. Mr Luc Henau, EUSE Board member, stressed that “to fully facilitate the right to work and employment of persons with disabilities there is a need to reinforce cooperation with trade unions and employers”.
Mrs Kirsi Konola, EASPD Vice-president and Mrs Catherine Naughton, Director of the European Disability Forum concluded that now is the moment to foster social investment. We see some progress but we still have to improve consultation and ownership at national level. Fiscal consolidation measures have had a significant indirect impact on social well-being in the majority of EU countries; concluding that time has come to find a better balance between economic and social priorities.
Support services and the DPOs represented at the event call on the European Commission to assess the impact of the European Semester on the implementation of the CRPD and reinforce the engagement of decision-makers with NGOs.
