Commission supports UN action on rights and dignity of people with disabilities

In January 2003, the European Commission issued a Communication setting out its support for the development of a legally binding United Nations instrument to promote and protect the rights and dignity of people with disabilities. The Commission wants to contribute actively to the development of such an instrument.

Discussions are currently taking place within the framework of a United Nations (UN) ad hoc committee to consider proposals for a binding comprehensive and integral international convention to protect and promote the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities. This is the latest step in a debate which has been ongoing in the UN over the past three decades and has led to a number of declarations and instruments already. However, none of the instruments adopted so far are binding, nor do they contain any provisions for the monitoring of disabled people’s rights. Thus, the Mexican government successfully put forward in December 2001 UN Resolution 56/168, calling for the formation of an ad hoc committee to consider proposals for a new instrument to promote and protect the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities.

Involvement of the European Commission

The European Commission believes that the approach of the UN is fully in line with the approach of the EU, which implies that people with disabilities should have the opportunity to enjoy their rights on an equal footing with the rest of the population. It is also in line with policy developments in the EU.

Over the past few years, the Commission argues, the EU has made considerable progress in acknowledging the need to ensure the equal enjoyment of all human rights of people with disabilities. In a Communication issued in 1996 (COM (96) final of 30 July), it argued that 'the old medical-centred approach is now giving way to a social one which puts much stronger emphasis on identifying and removing the various barriers to equal opportunities and full participation in all aspects of life for people with disabilities.'

Most recently, progress has centred on the formulation of Directives under Article 13 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC), in particular the 2000 Directive (2000/78/EC) establishing a framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation, which outlaws discrimination based on a number of grounds, including disability (EU0010274F).

Other recent initiatives include the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, proclaimed at the Nice European Council held in December 2000 (EU0012288F), which includes the prohibition of any discrimination on the ground of disability (Article 21) and recognises as a fundamental right 'the right of persons with disabilities to benefit from measures designed to ensure their independence, social and occupational integration and participation in the life of the community'.

Further, 2003 has been designated European Year of People with Disabilities (EU0209201N). It is hoped that the year will promote equal rights and full participation in society for people with disabilities and improve the knowledge on and the visibility of disability issues.

The Communication

In this context, the Commission issued, on 24 January 2003, a Communication entitled Towards a United Nations legally binding instrument to promote and protect the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities (COM(2003) 16 final). In the Communication, the Commission states that 'active Community participation in efforts at the international level to develop effective mechanisms to combat discrimination against people with disabilities would be a natural complement to the European Year of People with Disabilities.'

Specifically, the Commission states that it will 'soon' propose a Recommendation to the Council in order to authorise the Commission to negotiate in the context of forthcoming session of the UN ad hoc committee and to conduct these negotiations on behalf of the European Community.

Possible content of a UN instrument

The Commission states that a binding UN instrument should be guided by the following three principles:

• a reaffirmation in law of the principle that people with disabilities have the same fundamental rights as the rest of humanity;

• a reaffirmation in law of the core values at stake - equality, dignity, liberty and solidarity; and

• the security of the equal effective enjoyment of all human rights for people with disabilities through the combating of all forms of discrimination on the grounds of disability, including the promotion of equal treatment and the accommodation of difference.

The Communication maintains that the UN instrument should refer to and identify the full spread of human rights and stress that countries should take action to ensure that people with disabilities are in a position to exercise their rights. In particular, it maintains that the establishment of a strong monitoring mechanism and the setting out of enforcement provisions is 'crucial to the successful implementation of this new international instrument'.

The Commission also notes that mechanisms put into place by a range of existing instruments will provide useful guidance in the formulation of a new instrument. The Commission stresses that account needs to be taken of the diversity of people with disabilities, in addition to their common experience of discrimination, which may have something in common with the experience of discrimination on other grounds, such as sex, race, ethnic origin, religion or belief, age or sexual orientation. It also adds that some people with disabilities may be victims of discrimination on multiple grounds.

Commentary

The establishment of a binding UN instrument which promotes and protects the rights and dignity of people with disabilities will be a significant step forward in terms of internationally-set rights. The EU has a considerable track record in this area, in terms of both non-binding and binding initiatives, and thus a significant amount of expertise. It is therefore entirely appropriate that the European Commission should be involved in the drawing up of a UN binding instrument in this area. (Andrea Broughton, IRS)