At its 520th plenary session, held on the 19 and 20 October 2016, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) adopted the opinion SOC/538 “UN CRPD/EU Disability Strategy”.
The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD) and its Optional Protocol were adopted by the EU in 2010. It is the first international human rights convention ever to be signed and ratified by the EU. The EU has to periodically submit a report to the UN CPRD Committee detailing the measures taken to implement the convention. The first report was submitted in 2014, and in 2015 the UN Committee responded with a series of recommendations (“concluding observations” – COs) on how the EU can, within its remit, promote and safeguard the rights of people with disabilities in Europe.
It is on the basis of these recommendations by the UN Committee that the EESC has constructed its new opinion. The document puts particular emphasis on how the EU can enforce the UN’s observations to improve the place of persons with disabilities in society, and to better fulfill its obligations as a party to the convention.
Download the Concluding observations of the UN CRPD Committee to the European Union – A new strategy for persons with disabilities in the European Union (available in all EU language versions)