The EU Strategy on Disability Wallis Goelen Directorate General Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities Head of Unit Integration of People with Disabilities Unit (G3) June 2006

Introduction Equal opportunities – objective of the EU's long-term strategy on disability. Underpins the set of common EU social and economic values. European Year of People with Disabilities in 2003: major initiative of the European Commission. People with disabilities have similar concerns throughout the Union, face same obstacles, experience same discriminations, share same hopes and fears. Disability policies are essentially the responsibility of individual MS but European community policies and actions impact in many ways on situation of people with disabilities. December 2003: the European Commission commits itself to regularly issue a public report on the situation of disabled people in the EU and to develop an European Disability Action Plan to sustain the long-term effects of the EYPD. Council called on MS to take the EU Action Plan into account when developing their national disability policies

The four pillars of the EU disability strategy EU ANTI-DISCRIMINATION LEGISLATION AND MEASURES Providing access to individual rights (Directive 2000/78/EC, Anti-Discrimination Programme) ELIMINATION OF BARRIERS Elimination of obstacles preventing disabled people from exercising their abilities MAINSTREAMING OF DISABILITY ISSUES Mainstreaming in order to facilitate active inclusion of disabled people MOBILISING STAKEHOLDERS THROUGH DIALOGUE Nothing about people with disabilities without people with disabilities. Dialogue through regular meetings with MS, pwd and civil society representatives and stakeholders

Long lasting effects of the European Year of People with Disabilities Commission Communication of October 2003: "Equal opportunities for people with disabilities: A European Action Plan" A strategic framework: principles and concepts for the for reinforcement of the disability dimension in all relevant EU policies, while supporting and stimulating policies at national level A reference point: the EU biennial report on the situation of people with disabilities in the enlarged Union for all stakeholders involved or concerned. To inform policy makers. The EU Disability Action Plan: to reinforce mainstreaming

Mainstreaming: a crucial tool in the EU disability strategy Requires : Political understanding of its significance: moving to a full participation model Taking into account the needs of people with disabilities at all stages of policy development Involvement of all relevant actors, including NGOs and representative organisations of people with disabilities i.e. active participation of all stakeholders at every stage of policy making, starting at planning and design stage Methodological tools, suitable co-ordination, adequate monitoring and impact assessment across the board

The European Disability Action Plan ROLLING and MULTI-ANNUAL TIME HORIZON 2010 THREE CENTRAL OBJECTIVES 1. Achieving full implementation of the Employment Equality Directive 2. Delivering mainstreaming 3. Improving accessibility for all

Apart from the priorities outlined, the AP is guided by following principles and concepts - Independent living - Active Inclusion - Citizenship concept Principles and concepts of the second phase of the EU disability action plan

The 2005 Communication MAIN BODY First Biennial Report: Provides overview of the main developments, trends and analysis recent statistics, mainly within the area of active inclusion and employment of disabled people and integration of disabled people into society in general. EU Disability Action Plan for : Outlines policy priorities and identifies priority areas for the forthcoming years. ANNEXES Annex 1: Overview of the ongoing actions within the framework of DAP Annex 2: Overview of the actions forecasted within the framework of DAP Annex 3: Examples of mainstreaming of disability issues in practice in MS

The 2005 Communication in detail Part 1. Biennial Report – main findings (1) : Lack of common EU definition of disability constitutes an obstacle for efficient data collection and analysis throughout Europe million – one in six –persons aged between 16 and 64 report that they have a long standing health problem or disability. They represent at least 16% of the overall EU working age population There is a strong correlation between disability and increasing aging of the European population. - Nearly 30% of people in the age group report a disability and 63% of people with disabilities are older than Surveys show that disability schemes affect early retirement. This development calls for further actions to support active aging and active labour force participation.

The 2005 Communication in detail Part 1. Biennial Report – main findings (2) : Figures indicate gap between the employment rate of disabled and non-disabled people. –40% of disabled persons are employed compared to 64.2% of non disabled persons. The ratio for those with a relatively light level of disability that does not limit daily life is 50%. –The inactivity rate of disabled persons is twice that of non-disabled. 50% of people whose relatively light level of disability does not hamper their daily activities are inactive as compared to 26.9 % for non disabled persons. –Only 15.9 % of working disabled persons are provided with some assistance to work. At the same time, 43.7 % of respondents believe they could work if they were given adequate assistance. Correlation between disability and level of education. Modern technologies (ICT) constitute one of the main tools for overcoming environmental barriers

The 2005 Communication in detail Part 2. Priorities of the EU Disability Action Plan : Encouraging activity: Objective is to attract more people into active employment in the open labour market (where possible). ESF is one of the most important tools in this respect. Promoting access to quality support and care services Commission will, inter alia, present a proposal to streamline different Open Methods of Coordination in social protection and social inclusion and will develop policy cooperation on health and long-term care. Commission will also issue Communication on Social Services. Fostering accessibility of goods and services Work on transport services and increased ICT accessibility, including access to the new generation of assistive technologies. Increasing the EU's analytical capacity Quality and quantity of disability-related statistical data will be increased through cooperation with Eurostat and through 7 th Framework Programme on Research. 2.

The 2005 Communication in detail Annexes: DAP (examples of actions): : Commission Discussion Paper: Disability mainstreaming in the ESS : MS submit information on implementation of the Anti-Discrimination Directive. Commission will analyse the implementation and submit a report : Publication of the eAccessiblity Communication DAP (examples of actions): : Seven projects selected and launched within the framework of the Pilot Projects on Actions to Mainstream Disability (EP) : ESF Conference will be organised, focusing on equal opportunities Mainstreaming of disability issues in practice (Annex 3): Contains examples of good practices in individual Member States in various areas – employment, life long learning, public built environment, etc. Particular focus is devoted to the role of the ESF and other Community programmes in promotion of equal opportunities

Implementation of EU Action Plan Through institutional framework Disability High Level Group meetings, comprising MS and third sector representatives. Disability Inter-Service Group meetings, comprising civil servants from different directorates general. Dialogue with the EP, monitoring of Parliamentary Inter-Service group activities Dialogue with CoR and EESC Through other means Dialogue with Social Partners and other relevant stakeholders Establishment of the Action Plan scoreboard allowing continual monitoring of the implementation process Through eventual meetings of MS disability ministers