El 18th of November, EUD participated in the webinar of MEP Katrin Langensiepen on the employment situation of persons with disabilities, together with MEP Marc Angel. The webinar was based on the new report on the ‘Implementation of Council Directive 2000/78/EC establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation in light of the UN CRPD’. EUD has actively inputted the report and has provided extensive feedback to Ms. Langensiepen and her team through brainstorming meetings from the month of June until September 2020.
During the webinar, different organisations presented their priorities. EUD highlighted its main proposals to the EU and the Member States:
- Reasonable accommodation must become the norm
- Data disaggregated by disability type as well as other grounds is needed
- Awareness raising campaigns need to be designed to counter stereotypes
- The EU Council must unblock the Equal Treatment Directive
- Guarantee the free movement of deaf persons through mutual recognition of the disability status between Member States
The Employment Equality Directive (EED) was adopted prior to the adoption of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD), which has resulted in the EED lacking important provisions set forth in the UN CRPD. Indeed, the EED, as a piece of secondary legislation, is bound by the UN CRPD.
La EUD agradece profundamente la naturaleza abierta y colaborativa del trabajo sobre este informe con el equipo de la eurodiputada Katrin Langensiepen. La EUD desea subrayar la importancia de que los diputados al Parlamento Europeo lleven a cabo procesos de consulta abiertos, transparentes e inclusivos con las organizaciones de personas con discapacidad, como elemento fundamental para garantizar la plena inclusión de todas las personas con discapacidad, tal y como se establece en el artículo 4, apartado 3, y en el artículo 33, apartado 3, de la CDPD de las Naciones Unidas para garantizar la participación de las personas con discapacidad en la aplicación y el seguimiento de la Convención.
EUD would like to thank MEP Katirn Langensiepen for organising this webinar.
Access the report aquí.
Access the website with key political demands aquí.