Resolution on a Human Rights Way out of the Crisis

Resolution on a human rights way out of the crisis

Recalling thatpersons with disabilitiesare80 million in the European Union (16% of the population), and that one in four Europeans has a family member with a disability;

Highlighting that before the financial crisis, and due to the lack of measures to ensure equal access to employment and education, people with disabilities were two to three times more likely to be unemployed than non-disabled people; the more severe the degree of disability, the lower the participation in the labour force. Only 20% of people with severe disabilities, compared to 68% of those without disabilities, had a job. Persons with disabilities were less likely to reach third level education as non disabled persons by more than 50%.38% of people with disabilities aged 16 - 34 across Europe had an earned income, compared to 64% of non-disabled people. People with disabilities’ income were dramatically lower than the income of non-disabled people;

Reminding that persons with disabilities are not responsible for the crisis and that mechanisms have to be put in place, at EU and international level, to prevent further damage caused by speculators or irresponsible financial management by banks and governments.

Recalling that according to EU figures, 80 million people in Europe are exposed to the risk of poverty, that more than 5 million people have lost their job with a 10% increase in the unemployment rates of some EU countries;

Considering that persons with disabilities and their families have been hitdisproportionally hard by the crisis;

Regretting that the Stability Pact has neglected the impact of austerity measures on the rights of people with disabilities;

Regretting the lack of long term vision of national reforms focused on immediate tax recovery hitting mainly low and middle income, as well as services for disadvantaged population, and undermining the consolidation of a European social model based on social inclusion;

Acknowledging that recovery measures have neglected the important contribution for growth and employment that could be brought by people with disabilities themselves and the services they receive;

Denouncing that the current economic, social and political policies adopted by Member States and the European Union have led to an increase in the numbers of people experiencing social exclusion in Europe;

Noting the dramatic reduction of subsidies to education and employment of persons with disabilities, increase in unemployment, increase in schools drops out, reduction of subsidies to transport and services to the persons, including health services,hindering persons with disabilities rights to live independently and participate in society;

Alarmed by the worsening of living standards of persons with disabilities, who face a real threat to their social rights, including cuts in benefits and services;

Recognising the need to monitor and respond to the reasons behind the dramatic increase in desperate acts such as suicide, where persons with psychosocial disabilities are clearly overrepresented;

Alarmed by the rise of discrimination against persons from ethnic minorities as well as immigrants, hitting more particularly persons with disabilities from those groups;

Acknowledging that the EU is far from the Europe 2020 targets and that it will be impossible to achieve them without the contribution of European citizens with disabilities, representing 16% of the population;

Alarmed by the reduction of capacity of representative organisations of people with disabilities to participate in the democratic process thus undermining the quality of European democracies;

Highlighting the lack of trust of European citizens towards their national governments and European institutions;

Recalling that by ratifying the United Nations Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities the EU and 23of its member statesundertake to refrain from engaging in any act or practice that is inconsistent with the present Convention and to ensure that public authorities and institutions act in conformity with the present Convention;

Recalling that equality is a fundamental right in the treaties, but now needs to be implemented in practice by mainstreaming it in all relevant decisions at EU level including public finances and growth measures;

Reminding that according to article 3.3 of the Treaty on the European Union, the Union shall work for the sustainable development of Europe, based on balanced economic growth and price stability, a highly competitive social market economy, aiming at full employment and social progress and a high level of protection and improvement of the quality of the environment;

Regretting that the EU institutions have not taken concrete actions and measures to protect persons with disabilities from the repercussions of the crisis and denouncing the behavior and practice of member states by not excluding persons with disabilities and their families from the austerity measures;

Taking note of the discussions at the informal dinner of European heads of government and state on 23May in Brussels, and in view of the upcoming European Summit in June, the European Disability Forum calls on:

-the European Council,

-the Council of the European Union,

-the European Commission,

-the European Parliament,

-the European Central Bank,

-the International Monetary Fund,

-the World Bank,

-and all the Governments of Europe,

• From now on put in place much stricter regulation to prevent any recurrence of such speculation.
• To lay down the foundations of a new deal for the European Union, promoting sustainable growth for all,reinstating fundamental rights, investing in the value of their citizens, starting from the most exposed to the consequences of the crisis;
• To recognise that equality is the precondition of future prosperity, in other terms of growth, as it is pursued by the EU and its Member States;
• To be the guardians of the common good as well as of the implementation of human rights obligations;
• To recognise the contribution made by its citizens with disabilities as a labour force, as customers and as rights holders, and as to the well-being and growth of society;
• To safeguardcore values and people’s rights, as they are enshrined in the European Charter on Fundamental Rights and in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities through the creation of new opportunities for dialogue, exchange and innovation;
• To ratify, for those who did not do it yet, and implement the UN Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities and its Optional Protocol by ensuring an adequate standard of living to persons with disabilities;
• To implement the European Union “Europe 2020” strategy including the third pillar,social inclusion to bring Europe out the crisis,
• To develop measures to ensure access for persons with disabilities to the mainstream labour market including through individualised support services.
• To showcase a diversity of welfare systems based on the underlined objective of protecting its people and enabling them to be citizens;
• To boost employment through the development of sustainable services promoting independent living for all persons with disabilities as well as life in the community, and also through support for education;
• To support persons with disabilities and their families as a means to ensure their participation in society;
• To engagein an open and constructive dialogue with the representative organisations of persons with disabilities at all levels;
• To immediately promote the development and modernisation of accessible infrastructure, transport, goods and services to increase education, employment, access to culture, as well as participation of persons with disabilities in society;
• To use accessibility as a driver for innovation in the design of ICT devices and servicesfor full implementation of the Digital Agenda for Europe and for the European industry to lead the digital accessibility research and markets worldwide;

• To use EU legislations, policies and funding programmes in order to ensure a social way out of the crisis by starting investing in social, innovative and sustainable growth;
• To use Structural Funds to support the fundamental rights of persons with disabilities across the EU. To uphold the general ex-ante conditionalities regarding non-discrimination, gender equality and disability under Annex IV of the Commission proposal for the Common Provisions Regulation.
• To stop impoverishingpersons with disabilities and their families through the implementation of the austerity measures at Member State level and to undertake all the necessary initiatives and to put into place all the necessary policies and actions to protect persons with disabilities and their families from the new forms of exclusion, poverty and discrimination that the crisis brings.

EDF and its members will closely monitor further developments and the actions taken by governments and will mobilise against austerity measures by using all possible democratic and legal instruments to make the voice of the 80 million European citizens with disabilities heard.

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