European Disability Forum: On the way to the final dialogue between the EU and the UN CRPD Committee

The EU has signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD) and its work to implement the Convention is now reviewed by the UN Committee in Geneva. The UN Committee examined the report that the European Union (EU) submitted explaining the actions it has taken to apply the principles of the Convention and on 2 April it adopted a “List of Issues” for the EU to answer. The EU published its answers to the List of Issues on 22 June. They are available on the UN’s website.

The European Disability Forum (EDF) has also prepared its answers to the List of Issues and sent it to the UN Committee. You can download them in word format here. The List of issues is written together with its members and partners. EDF members and partners European Network on Independent Living (ENIL), European Union of the Deaf (EUD), Autism Europe, Inclusion Europe, European Network of (ex-) Users and Survivors of Psychiatry (ENUSP), International Federation for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus (IF), Mental Health Europe (MHE), and CBM/IDDC are also preparing their answers to the list of issues on specific rights.

With this submission, EDF, its members and partner organisations aim to provide additional information to the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities from the point of view of persons with disabilities and their representative organisations in Europe.

Next steps

  • On 27 and 28 August, the UN Committee holds its constructive dialogue with the EU.
  • EDF and its members are organising a side event on 27 August to present to the UN Committee the perspective of people with disabilities in the EU.
  • On 3 September, the final recommendations, called the Concluding Observations from the UN Committee on how the EU can improve the implementation of the CRPD in Europe, will be adopted.

EDF hopes that its answers to the List of Issues will be a useful input to the Constructive Dialogue and the Concluding Observations of the EU.

EDF’s main analysis can be found in its alternative report, where an extensive overview of the implementation of the CRPD at the EU level from the perspective of persons with disabilities and their representative organisations is given.

Full article.