FIMITIC

09 June 2010 - The European social affairs Ministers met 7-8 June in Luxembourg and adopted a resolution on the new European disability framework. Although the Council is calling for the inclusion of persons with disabilities by mainstreaming disability issues, the European Disability Forum (EDF) urges the Ministers to define concrete indications, targets and commitments to concretely improve the life of 65 millions Europeans with disabilities.

EDF President met the European Ombudsman on 28 May in Athens to discuss possible ways of cooperation.

More issues were on the agenda of the meeting, among which the Article 33.2 of the CRPD and the relations with the Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA).

The complete minutes of the General Assembly will be soon available on the Members’ Only website. In the meantime, here there are a few highlights of this year’s AGA.

Slovakia and Lithuania ratified the UN Convention for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

However, the Lithuanian Parliament ratified the UN Convention and the Optional Protocol with a reservation on article 25, which is as follows:

As part of the PROGRESS programme, which supports national activities raising awareness of discrimination and promoting equality, the Royal Association for Disability and Rehabilitation (RADAR) has published a handbook and DVD in the UK on the Disability Equality Duty. This legislative tool requires that public authorities actively promote the equality of disabled people when carrying out their functions. It lays down specific legal responsibilities, including the elimination of discrimination and harassment and the need to take account of a disabled person's disabilities.

27/04/2010 - Within the framework of the EU PROGRESS programme supporting national activities for the detection of good practice in fighting discrimination and the promotion of equality the Ludwig Boltzmann society - institute for human rights (BIM), Vienna has published a manual (in German) about the practical implementation of measures for the fight against structural discriminations and for supporting equality.

27 April 2010 - In case you don’t remember the 1million4disability campaign, 1 364 984 citizens are still waiting for an answer from the EU institutions. The European Parliament called yesterday for concrete and adequate actions from the European Commission.

21/04/2010 - The ratifications of the CRPD by United Arab Emirates and Maldives have increased to 85 the number of States Parties to the CRPD, while the Optional Protocol has 52 ratifications. The number of signatures to the CRPD is 144, while the Optional Protocol has 88 signatures.

16 April 2010 - The European Disability Forum EDF, the voice of 65 million European citizens with disabilities, met the President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy to ensure that the strategy Europe 2020 will include the Disability Pact in its flagship priorities.

On 16 April 2010 Herman Van Rompuy received the leaders of the European disability movement Yannis Vardakastanis, EDF President, and Pierre Gyselinck, President of the Belgian Disability Forum. The new permanent President of the European Council stressed “I understand the necessity of a new approach to disability policies in the EU.”

A new economic strategy which aims to help the European Union exit the recent recession and guide the economy over the next decade also promises to have a significant impact on social issues, such as poverty and inclusion.

The main building blocks of the Europe 2020 Strategy were agreed by the European Council on March 25 and 26. The decision to back the Commission’s proposal on the new strategy comes in the wake of the worst financial crisis the EU has faced in a generation.

Building on the work of the Lisbon strategy for growth and jobs, Europe 2020 promises closer economic policy coordination to help Member States put their economies back on track and address global challenges in a coherent and effective way.