The European Union ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) as a Regional Integration Organisation. In the European Disability Strategy (EDS) 2010-2020 the Commission announced that it would report on the progress achieved through the Strategy by the end of 2013. The project aimed to conduct research to support the European Commission in the preparation of the initial EU CRPD report and its progress report on the European Disability Strategy 2010-2020.
The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol were adopted by consensus by the UN General Assembly on 13 December 2006 and entered into force on 3 May 2008.
In addition to the EU Member States, the European Union signed the Convention as a Regional Integration Organisation. This is the first time that the EU has been a party to a comprehensive international human rights treaty, along with its Member States.
Article 35 of the Convention (Reports by States Parties) provides that each State Party shall submit to the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities a comprehensive report on measures taken to give effect to its obligations under the Convention, and on the progress made in that regard, within two years after the entry into force of the Convention for the State Party concerned.
In the European Disability Strategy the Commission announced that by the end of 2013 it will report on progress achieved through the Strategy, covering actions implemented, national progress and the EU report to the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
The purpose of the project was to collect data and carry out analyses to support the European Commission in the preparation of the initial EU report to the UN on the implementation of the CRPD and the progress report on the European Disability Strategy 2010-2020.
Two studies were being conducted for the project:
For the review of the implementation and impact of the CRPD data and information was collected and included in a report to the Commission on an article-by-article basis, following a standard structure for each article.
Much of the data and information needed for the template for the article chapters had already been gathered through other projects, predominantly the Academic Network of European Disability Experts (ANED)
(www.disability-europe.net). However, additional desk research was undertaken.
The knowledge and views of civil society organisations representing persons with disabilities and disability service organisations with interests and expertise in EU-level disability developments were an important and indispensable source of information. Therefore a relevant cross-section of representatives of these organisations was interviewed to inform the drafting of the study and to complement the results of the research by the core team.
For the progress report on the first phase of implementation of the European Disability Strategy 2010-2020, the main aim was to measure progress on the actions identified in the EDS implementation plan which are articulated up to 2015 (the actions will subsequently be updated, but it is unlikely that the overall themes will change). A particular focus was to look at the Strategy's policy objectives: what could be done in the years to come from the perspective of progressive implementation.
National experts collected data and information relevant to the implementation and impact of actions undertaken within the framework of the EDS. They identified relevant national research, information and data according to prescribed formats and provide it to the core research team.
The project has resulted in two studies for the Commission as indicated under the aims of the project informing the report on the implementation of CRPD by the EU, see http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1138&langId=en.
Study of progress achieved in the implementation by the EU of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the European Disability Strategy 2010-2020 (2013)
European Union
Report on the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) by the European Union, see http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1138&langId=en.
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