Appendix – Opinion on Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation 1854 (2009) adopted by the European Co‑ordination Forum for the
Council of Europe Disability Action Plan 2006-2015 (CAHPAH) on 13 April 2009
1. Recommendation 1854 (2009) “Access to rights for people with disabilities and their
full and active participation in society” was adopted by the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe on 26 January 2009. It was circulated
by the Secretariat to the European Co-ordination Forum for the Council
of Europe Disability Action Plan 2006-2015 (CAHPAH) on 6 February
2009. The Recommendation was examined by the Ministers’ Deputies
at the 1048th meeting (11-12 February 2009), who decided, on that
occasion, to communicate it to the European Co-ordination Forum
for the Council of Europe Disability Action Plan 2006-2015 (CAHPAH)
for information and possible comments. Furthermore, it invited their
Rapporteur Group on Social and Health Questions (GR-SOC) to prepare,
in the light of the above, a draft reply for adoption at one of
their forthcoming meetings. (Decision CM/Del/Dec(2009)1048, item
3.1.). That Decision was circulated by the Secretariat to CAHPAH
on 18 February 2009.
2. Having examined Parliamentary Assembly
Recommendation 1854 (2009) and
Resolution
1642 (2009) “Access to rights for people with disabilities and their
full and active participation in society”, the European Co-ordination
Forum for the Council of Europe Disability Action Plan 2006-2015
(CAHPAH) wishes to express its great satisfaction with the commitment
and determination of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
to work towards the full social inclusion and active participation
of people with disabilities in society.
3. CAHPAH would like to emphasise that the general philosophy
on which the Parliamentary Assembly Recommendation and Resolution
are based is very much in keeping with the Forum’s own approach
towards social cohesion, namely to promote equal opportunities,
independent living, full citizenship and active participation of
people with disabilities in the life of the community. It is also
very much in line with and complementary to the Council of Europe
Disability Action Plan 2006-2015 (Recommendation Rec 2006)5) of the
Committee of Ministers to member states).
4. With reference to the Parliamentary Assembly recommendation
on promoting the exchange of best practices between member states
on access to rights for people with disabilities and their full
and active participation in society and on the implementation of
the Council of Europe Disability Action Plan 2006-2015 (
Recommendation 1854 (2009), paragraph 1.2.), CAHPAH wishes to point out that the
exchange of information, experience and best practices constitutes
one of the core issues of CAHPAH’s terms of reference with a view
to improving the transfer of knowledge amongst and between member
states and other stakeholders.
5. CAHPAH welcomes the Parliamentary Assembly’s call to all member
states for full participation in its activities (
Recommendation 1854 (2009), paragraph 1.3.) and wishes to stress that CAHPAH is
the first and only Council of Europe body to exclusively discuss
disability policy and legislation at the level of all member states.
The Forum provides a pan-European platform of multi-disciplinary
disability experts from Council of Europe member and observer states,
other Council of Europe bodies and committees as well as international organisations,
both governmental and non-governmental, including organisations
of and for people with disabilities.
6. Grateful for the Parliamentary Assembly’s recommendation to
prolong CAHPAH’s terms of reference for the whole duration of the
Council of Europe Disability Action Plan 2006-2015 (
Recommendation 1854 (2009), paragraph 1.3.), the Forum wishes to show its appreciation
for the Parliamentary Assembly for its support and to state that
such prolongation could indeed help to facilitate better and multi-annual,
medium-term planning, programming and budgeting of the Forum’s activities,
which are closely linked to the promotion, implementation and follow-up
of the Disability Action Plan.
7. As to the mid-term review of the Council of Europe Disability
Action Plan 2006-2015 (
Recommendation 1854
(2009), paragraph 1.4.), CAHPAH wishes to state that discussions
and negotiations are currently under way amongst its delegations
on the best possible way to carry out a mid-term review in 2010,
including its form and resourcing.
8. CAHPAH takes the view that
Recommendation 1854 (2009) and
Resolution
1642 (2009) contain several practical proposals for improving the
situation of people with disabilities in Europe and for implementing
the Council of Europe Disability Action Plan 2006-2015, notably
in the fields of education, employment, health care, community living,
accessibility of the built environment and transport, legal protection,
participation in cultural life and sport, and awareness raising.
They also contain recommendations for strengthening CAHPAH’s work within
the Council of Europe and beyond. Consequently, CAHPAH generally
supports the proposed measures.
9. CAHPAH very much welcomes the Parliamentary Assembly’s consideration
“that the Council of Europe Disability Action Plan must serve as
a reference tool for any new disability-related policies and activities
that are adopted and as a practical tool for Europe to promote the
UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities” (
Resolution 1642 (2009), paragraph 4).
10. In particular, CAHPAH wishes to stress that Universal Design
and the mainstreaming of disability issues into all policy areas,
sometimes also referred to as “sector responsibility”, are core
elements in the strategy to implement the Council of Europe Disability
Action Plan 2006-2015. (Recommendation Rec(2006)5, chapters 5.1.1.
and 5.1.3.). CAHPAH is currently reviewing Resolution ResAP(2007)3
“Achieving full participation through Universal Design”, elaborated
by the member states of the Partial Agreement in the Social and
Public Health Field, with a view to approving the text at the level
of all member states.
11. CAHPAH also welcomes the numerous explicit references in the
Parliamentary Assembly texts to ageing and disability and wishes
to recall that the Council of Europe Disability Action Plan addresses
those issues as one of its so-called “cross-cutting aspects” i.e.
issues that permeate the 15 action lines of the Plan in a horizontal
way. Furthermore, the Committee of experts on ageing of people with
disabilities and older people with disabilities (CAHPAH-VPH) has
produced a draft report “Enhancing rights and inclusion of ageing people
with disabilities and older people with disabilities: a European
perspective” and draft recommendations on “Ageing and disability
in the 21st century: sustainable frameworks to enable greater quality
of life in an inclusive society”, which CAHPAH will be reviewing
during 2009.
12. CAHPAH wishes to stress that particular attention should also
be paid to the gender perspective in all disability policy and legislation
by taking into account the specific situation and needs of women
and girls with disabilities in order to ensure non-discrimination,
equal opportunities and protection of their dignity. That approach
is also envisaged by the cross-cutting aspects of the Council of
Europe Disability Action Plan.
13. The issue of community living for people with disabilities
(
Resolution 1642 (2009), paragraph 8) is dealt with in the Council of Europe
Disability Action Plan 2006-2015 in Action Line 8. “Recommendations
and guidelines to promote community living for children with disabilities
and deinstitutionalisation as well as to help families to take care
of their disabled child at home” were adopted in 2007 by the Committee
of the Rehabilitation and Integration of People with disabilities
(Partial Agreement) (CD-P-RR), which CAHPAH will examine at its
3rd meeting, Strasbourg, September 2009.
14. The issue of education of people with disabilities (
Resolution 1642 (2009), paragraph 10) is dealt with in Action Line 4 of the
Council of Europe Disability Action Plan 2006-2015. CAHPAH is currently
reviewing Resolution ResAP(2007)4 on the education and social inclusion
of children and young people with autism spectrum disorders, elaborated
by the member states of the Partial Agreement in the Social and
Public Health Field, with a view to approving the text at the level
of all member states.
15. CAHPAH welcomes the Parliamentary Assembly’s initiative to
improve the vocational training and increase the employment level
of people with disabilities (
Resolution
1642 (2009), paragraph 9). However, CAHPAH is rather sceptical towards
the usefulness of creating, reserving or earmarking certain posts especially
for people with disabilities (
Resolution
1642 (2009), paragraph 9.7.). Its philosophy has rather been the
opposite: all jobs should in principle be open to people with disabilities,
no ‘special’ jobs should be particularly reserved for them, and
people with disabilities in earmarked posts should be enabled and encouraged
to leave them and take up jobs in the ordinary work environment.
For people with disabilities, one main obstacle to employment is
the vocational assessment. As long as it still concentrates on deficiencies
and weak points it will lead to exclusion. But since performing
a task of a particular job may require only a limited number of
abilities, there is no justification for putting at a disadvantage
people whose disabilities would have no effect on their performance
in that job. Resolution AP (95) 3 on a charter on the vocational
assessment of people with disabilities (1995), calls for a shift
in focus: from disability to ability. The person’s vocational abilities,
and not disabilities, should be assessed and related to specific
job requirements. Comparison and matching of vocational aptitudes
and specific job requirements should facilitate employment.
16. In conclusion, and without prejudice to the foregoing comments,
CAHPAH generally welcomes Parliamentary Assembly
Recommendation 1854 (2009) and
Resolution
1642 (2009) as further substantial steps in securing human rights
and dignity, full citizenship and active participation in the life
of the community for all people with disabilities in Europe in line
with the Council of Europe Disability Action Plan 2006-2015.
