CONTENTS
1 NON-DISCRIMINATION 4 EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL AFFAIRSa) Written Declaration on the Institutionalisation of children with disabilities
In April, various MEPs launched a written declaration on the institutionalisation of children with disabilities in Europe.
The other MEPs were given the time to sign the declaration until the 15 July. For the declaration to be transmitted to the plenary for voting and for its adoption, at least half of the MEPs have to sign it.
b) Hearing on Anti-Discrimination Legislation
A public hearing was celebrated in the European Parliament on the 14th May, organised by the Disability Intergroup, focusing on a directive proposal of non-discrimination which goes beyond the field of employment.
Participants included Donata Vivanti, Vice President of the EDF, as well as the head of the Commission's unit responsible for legal matters regarding the new directive proposal, various MEPs, and a representative of the Slovenian presidency.
The aim was to discuss disability-related discrimination, in the face of a future anti-discrimination legislation.
Most of the MEPs present were in favour of a future directive proposal, at that time prepared by the Commission, comprising a horizontal and coherent approach with all types of discrimination (disability, sexual orientation, age etc.), taking into account the particularities of each type of discrimination. MEP Edit Bauer (EPP Slovakia) was the only one against a horizontal approach, outlining the difficulty of implementing the directives in the fight against discrimination.
Regarding the discrimination of people with disabilities, all agreed that the United Nation's Convention on the Rights of persons with disabilities should serve as a basis for the elaboration of a new European legislation.
c) Non-Discrimination Directive
The directive proposal on fighting discrimination outside employment will probably be presented on 2nd July. It is going to be a horizontal directive comprising all types of discrimination.
This change of approach of the Commission, which, at first, wanted to present a single directive proposal on discrimination of people with disabilities, is due to the pressure exerted by the European Parliament.
The majority of the political groups, except for the European People's Party, was clearly in favour of a horizontal directive, comprising all fields of discrimination outside employment.
Yannis Vardakastanis, President of the European Disability Forum, (EDF), sent out a letter to the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, on the 17th June, stating the EDF's worries regarding the fact that a single directive, covering all fields of discrimination, does not adequately respond to the specific needs of people with disabilities. He also regretted the lack of transparency, as well as the fact that interested parties had not been consulted during the preparation of the directive. He offered the EDF's contribution in the attempt of ensuring that the final contents of the directive would provide the best possible protection from discrimination against people with disabilities.
It is worth mentioning that this new directive proposal in the fight against discrimination is embedded in a larger social package, which will include new legislative initiatives, communications and other documents, referring, among others, to health and patients' rights, mobility of young volunteers, the open coordination method, and mobility in the educational system.
d) Progress Report on Non-Discrimination
On the 20th May, the Plenary of the European Parliament adopted a report on the progress made in the field of non-discrimination and equal opportunities with great majority.
The report of the European Parliament can be accessed at:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+TA+P6-TA-2008-0212+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN
e) Truck Tour 2008 “For Diversity. Against Discrimination”
On 21st June, Commissioner Vladimir Spidla, responsible of Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, visited Prague (Czech Republic) during the launch of the truck tour 2008 entitled "For diversity. Against discrimination. “
During the next months, the truck is going to visit Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Rumania, Slovenia and Slovakia. Besides promoting the fight against discrimination, this campaign will give out a press award which will be presented in August.
More information can be found at:
http://www.stop-discrimination.info/852.0.html
a) Working Document of 2008 on ICT
The working document of the Information and Communication Technologies Support Programme for 2008, (ICT), one of the pillars of the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP) was published.
The second call for proposals in the framework of this programme will fund projects related to E-Inclusion. The closing date to apply is September the 1st.
More information can be found at:
http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/einclusion/call/call_1/index_en.htm
b) Electronic Communications
The three draft reports on the telecommunications package have been published:
1. The draft report on the revision of the universal service and users' rights directive, which is generally positive regarding the interests of people with disabilities.
The proposal of the European Commission has two goals:
The introduced amendments regarding accessibility of services for people with disabilities are in line with the proposal of the European Commission, in some concrete cases they go even beyond what was proposed by the Commission, extending the field of application of accessibility of public telephone services and of electronic communication services in general.
However, amendment no. 55 lifts the obligation for Member States to elaborate an annual report for the European Commission and the European Telecommunications Authority, on measures taken and the progress regarding the improvement of interoperability, use of and access to electronic communication services and terminal equipment by users with disabilities.
2. In the draft report on the regulation proposal for the creation of the European Telecommunications Authority, only three amendments were introduced referring to accessibility for people with disabilities.
3. Regarding the draft report on the revision proposal of the directive on a common regulatory framework for the access and interconnection of telecommunications networks and services, and the authorisation of networks and electronic communications services, two amendments were introduced referring to accessibility:
It is the Parliament's intention to adopt the first reading on this legislation package as soon as possible, with the goal of adopting the second reading, if one should become necessary, before March 2009.
If the proposal is not adopted before the end of March, all the work on legislation already accomplished would have to start from the beginning, after the elections of the European Parliament, which will take place in June 2009.
Besides, there are other reasons why the adoption process should be accelerated, since the new Treaty of Lisbon contains a disposition asking that the parliaments of the 27 Member States must be consulted at the beginning of the legislation process, to evaluate if the proposal respects the subsidiarity principle. This is, assuming the Treaty of Lisbon comes into force on the 1st January 2009.
The closing date for presenting amendments to the reports was the 13th May. The voting on them, intended for July, was postponed to September. This is due to the fact that the treatment of the dossier in the Industry Committee was delayed, and the European Parliament would like to treat the three proposals as a true package.
The Opinion on the electronic communications package was discussed in the plenary of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) at the end of May.
The EESC supported the applications affecting the obligation that the Member States adopt specific measures in favour of users with disabilities to reach the goals of the European Charta of Fundamental Rights and the United Nations Convention on the rights of people with disabilities.
The inclusion of the terminal equipment regarding the application of the regulatory framework was considered to be positive, which might improve the electronic accessibility for end-users with disabilities, as well as establishing binding measures for users with disabilities regarding universal services. Promoting accessibility to telephone services available to the public, including emergency services, directory inquiry services and telephone directories, equal to that of other end-users, as well as other specific measures.
The EESC also supported the substitution of the “possibility” that the Member States will adopt specific actions in favour of users with disabilities by the explicit “obligation” of doing so, also empowering the Competent National Authorities (CNA) to ask of the operators to publish information of interest to users with disabilities.
In the report the speaker expressed his preference for taking the needs of vulnerable groups into account, by including technical requirements in the terminal equipment, improving the electronic accessibility for people with disabilities, and for updating the objectives of the CNAs regarding third age users, and users with social needs.
Finally, the reinforcement of the coercitive powers of the NCAs who have the right to impose specific conditions to general authorisations, to ensure the accessibility for users with disabilities, while ensuring that copyright and intellectual property rights are maintained, and ensuring the communications of the public powers to individuals in case of eminent threats .
In June, the Council of Transport, Telecommunications and Energy celebrated a debate on the legislation package for electronic communications in Luxemburg, where the first exchange of opinions on this matter took place.
It was shown that there is a consensus in favour of strengthening the security of users and creating better access to emergency services for all, with improved access for people with disabilities.
The greatest discrepancy could be seen with respect to the creation of the European electronic communications authority, which was proposed by the European Commission, since the Council does not support the creation of a new authority, nor does the European Parliament.
The adoption of the political agreement by the Council is expected to take place under French presidency at the end of 2008.
c) The I2010 Initiative
The conclusions on the halfway revision of the I2010 Initiative have been adopted by the Council of Transport, Telecommunications and Energy.
The Council welcomes the intention of the European Commission to develop a long-term agenda for the Information Society and communications media policies. Focus is put on the full functioning of the internal market and E-Inclusion, taking the users' needs into account.
Furthermore, it invites the European Commission to initiate the revision of the action plan of the I2010 Initiative in autumn of 2009, consulting the Member States, in order to prepare the future Information Society Policy, as well as decisions and actions to reach the goals of the Lisbon Strategy. It also invites interested parties to develop and promote easy to use products and services to improve accessibility.
The conclusions can be found at:
http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_Data/docs/pressdata/en/trans/101089.pdf
d) Accessibility Guidelines on the Internet
The European working group for digital contents on web pages announced the publication of the accessibility guidelines 2.0 on the 30th April, as a recommendation of the W3 Consortium (W3C).
Those guidelines explain how web pages, applications and other contents can be made accessible for people with disabilities and the elderly.
For more information visit:
http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=4092
d) The I2010 Strategy
The DG Information Society of the European Commission published an information sheet on the I2010 Strategy, where it states, among others, that the Commission is going to publish a guide on users' rights from the perspective of new technologies in 2008.
e) Public Hearing on Copyright
The European Commission organised a public hearing on compensation systems for private copies.
Participants included Charlie McCreevy, Commissioner for the internal market, and various representatives of the Member States , the industry and other interested parties(artists, copyright collecting societies, consumers etc...).
The right of the artists to be compensated for private copies was not questioned during the hearing, nor was the existence of the copyright. The debate focused on the way to improve a system greatly differing from one Member State to another, that is inefficient and lacks transparency, and that needs to be adapted to the new circumstances arising from the development of new digital technologies.
The Commission proposed the creation of a discussion forum, where interested parties could discuss the way in which problems related to copyright, such as the “gray market”, transnational and e-commerce of electronic products, the calculation basis for rates in the different Member States, and the fight against piracy, could be tackled.
Once its work is concluded, the forum will elaborate a report to facilitate the Commission's work regarding future initiatives in this field. Its first meeting might take place in September.
People with disabilities were not mentioned explicitly.
f) E-Governance
The European Commission announced the launch of a pilot project dedicated to ensuring the trans-border recognition of electronic identity cards (eID) and ensuring easy access of public services in 13 Member States.
The project will have a duration of 3 years, and it will receive funding from the Commission of 10 million Euros within the Competitivity and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP).
More information can be found at:
a) Lower VATRates
The European Commission will present a legislation proposal on lower VAT rates in July, which will, at best, be discussed by the Council of Economic and Financial Affairs during its informal meeting in September or October.
Regarding the content of the proposal, there is no in-depth revision of the current system; however, it will most likely include solutions to certain questions, such as audio books, claimed by the RNIB and other organisations via the arrangement set forth by EBU.
It could also include a permanent provision so that the Member States can apply lower rates to a range of services.
b) Social Services of General Interest
A conference entitled “Social Economy: strengthening economic growth and social cohesion” took place on May the 15th. It was organised by the ESP in the European Parliament, and among the participants were the Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities Vladimir Spidla, various socialist MEPs and other speakers representing organisations of the social economy, including Miguel Ángel Cabra de Luna of Fundación ONCE.
There were four round tables: one on the current situation of the social economy, another on the strategies to be carried out in different economic sectors regarding the contribution of social economy to the implementation of aims of the Lisbon Strategy. The third round table was on the opportunity a revision of the internal market would give to social economy, and especially regarding the communication of the Commission on services of general interest, and social services of general interest. The last one dealt with the identification of future challenges and possible coping strategies proposed by the actors of social economy.
Commissioner Spidla mentioned people with disabilities and stated that social economy is practicing an inclusion of the elderly and people with disabilities, and that this gives sense to economic activities.
According to a press release, the French Collective of Social Services of General Interest stated its intention of making the Social Services of General Interest a vividly present item on the agenda of the coming French presidency of the EU, starting on 1st July 2008.
Among others, the Collective plans to present a document on the procedures related to social services of general interest on the collectives territory, and to launch an information campaign on the conditions established by EU legislation regarding social services of general interest.
a) Conference on the Social Agenda
The conference entitled “Developing a social agenda of opportunities, access and solidarity” was held in Brussels on the 5th and 6th May. Participants were Vladimir Spidla, Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, and José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission.
Many representatives of the Member States, the European institutions, Social partners, civil society and academic experts were present, in order to contribute to a communication related to the working plan on opportunities, access and solidarity.
This communication is part of a bigger “social package” which will also include a revision of the directive on Company Committees.
Barroso and Spidla emphasised that equality, solidarity and cohesion were the fundamental values of the European social model.
b) Employment Guidelines
The Parliamentary Committee of Employment and Social Affairs of the European Parliament approved the report on guidelines regarding employment policy.
The MEPs proposed modifications to the text of the European Commission, and the speaker emphasised the importance of quality work by introducing a balanced mechanism into the guidelines to promote flexisecurity, and a clause on active social insertion. The main objective of the report is the fight against discrimination of women and the extension of working life.
Regarding the employment guidelines, the parliamentary speaker said that the Council only took some of the amendments proposed by the Parliament into account. It did not include the parliamentary suggestions insisting in the need for social inclusion to be raised using active insertion measures, combined with a guaranty of a decent wage and the access to quality social services.
In this field of legislation, the European Parliament is only consulted, and thus only has the possibility of adopting an opinion in this respect.
c) Annual Report on the Social Situation
The European commission published the annual report on the social situation for 2007, dedicated to social inclusion, poverty and the transmission of social classes to the next generation.
It is a tool that the Commission has, in which the social progress is evaluated throughout the 27 Member States, and it aims at providing data for the discussion on social policy.
The report can be accessed at:
http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/spsi/docs/social_situation/ssr2007_en.pdf
d) Employment of People with Disabilities
On 18th June, Brenda King, President of the Section Employment and Social Affairs of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), presented the EESC's position regarding people with disabilities before the Polish Parliament. She called for more efforts regarding people with disabilities and their integration into the labour market.
According to Ms. King, job centres needed to adapt with the aim of creating new jobs tailored to the competencies and special needs of people with disabilities.
She also outlined that the European Commission, as well as the Member States should develop a range of indicators and quantitative objectives to be reached by every country regarding their policy on people with disabilities.
Furthermore, the activities which will be developed in the frame of the next European Year on the fight against poverty and social exclusion 2010 have to actively contribute to setting the goals regarding equal opportunities.
a) Rights of Passengers with Disabilities in Air Transport
During the conference celebrated on the 2nd April, the question of what the key elements of an efficient implementation of the Regulation on the rights of passengers with disabilities or reduced mobility in air transport might look like, expected to come into force on the 26 July.
Participants included, among others, Commissioner Jacques Barrot, responsible for Transport, and various organisations representing all people with disabilities, such as the European Disability Forum (EDF) and the European Blind Union (EBU). Some representatives of airlines, airports, and national regulatory authorities also intervened.
One of the questions with great emphasis was giving airport staff and airline personnel the necessary training to be able to treat people with disabilities according to their needs.
The importance of Accessibility was emphasised, including websites for buying tickets, and to forms for filing complaints, and to communication between the passenger, the airline, and the airport, especially regarding the prior notification of the condition or disability of the passenger in question.
The communication on the responsibility of the airlines and airports in case of loss or damage of devices used by passengers with reduced mobility, will be presented by the European Commission in July, and not in June, as originally intended.
b) Urban Transport
The plenary of the European Economic and Social Committee analysed the opinion set out in the Green Book on urban transport, whose speaker is Mr. Hernández Bataller, and co-speaker Mr. Barbadillo López.
The text mentions how the quality of collective transport can be improved by creating coordinating entities for the different services for collective transport, requiring the most satisfactory, least contaminating mobile material, suitable for people with reduced mobility.
c) Sea Transport
The European Commission plans to present a regulation proposal on the rights of passengers with reduced mobility in auto cars in November, and a regulation proposal on the rights of people in sea transport will be presented in December.
The latter will be part of a wider legislation package on sea transport, which will also include a communication on the rights of passengers who had to interrupt their trip, and a proposal related to the compensation in case of delay, cancelation or denial of boarding to people with reduced mobility in sea transport.
a) Emergency Number 112
To better get used to the new number for emergency services 112, Commissioner Viviane Redding, responsible for the Information Society and Communication Media, presented an evaluation on the operation of the new number in the different Member States on June the 3rd.
A new website will also be launched, and an exhibition on the service number 112 will be inaugurated.
More information can be found at:
http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/policy/ecomm/current/pan_european/index_en.htm
b) European Charta on the rights of Energy Consumers
A report on the European Charta of Rights of Energy Consumers was published by the European Parliament, and its rapporteur is the MEP Mia de Vits (ESP Belgium), which was voted on in the Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee.
There is no explicit mention of users with disabilities, although it mentions the need that the essential information (prices, tariffs, conditions etc.), as well as the customer care services via telephone have to be easily accessible.
c) Calls for Tender
The European Commission published the following calls for tender in April and may:
1. Call for tender for an evaluation of the support granted by the European Social Fund 2000-2006 of the open method of coordination in the fields of protection and social inclusion. The closing date to participate was 16th June 2008.
More information can be found at:
http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/emplweb/tenders/tenders_en.cfm?id=3025
2. Call for tender on the programme to support the policy regarding information and communication technology (ICT), within the framework programme for innovation and competitivity (2007 to 2013).
One of the topics to be funded will be the ICT easy to use by people regarding administration, public services and inclusion within it. One of the aims is to provide accessible emergency services for all, or total accessibility. The closing date to participate is 9th September 2008.
More information can be found at:
3. Call for Tender for conducting a study on the participation of interested parties in the application of the open method for coordination in the field of protection and social inclusion. The closing date to participate was 30th June 2008.
More information can be found at:
http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/emplweb/tenders/tenders_en.cfm?id=3105
4. Call for tender for establishing a network of socioeconomic experts in the field of the fight against discrimination. The closing date to participate was July the 30th, 2008.
More information can be found at:
http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/emplweb/tenders/tenders_en.cfm?id=3186
5. A call for tender regarding projects promoting equality in the quality of social services of general interest was published. The closing date to participate is July the 18th, 2008.
More information can be found at:
http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/emplweb/tenders/tenders_en.cfm?id=3186
6. A Call for tender to conduct a study with the aim of monitoring the status and progress regarding the implementation of e-accessibility was also presented. The closing date for submitting applications is the 1st of August 2008.
More information can be found at:
http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/einclusion/call/call_2/index_en.htm
d) 2010: European Year for fighting Poverty and Social Exclusion
In a report adopted on the 17th June on second reading, with the Council, the European Parliament Backed the plans of making the year 2010 the European Year for fighting poverty and social exclusion.
The EU will provide 17 million Euros for events, information campaigns and studies in the course of the European Year. Actions at a European level could receive co-financing of up to 80 %, whereas local, regional or national actions will be co-financed with up to 50 % of EU funding. Questions linked to poverty at work, lack of housing and the needs of people with disabilities and their families will be questions tackled.
e) European Institute for Innovation and Technology
Finally, the headquarters of the European Institute for Innovation and Technology is going to be Budapest (Hungary). The decision was taken on 18th June, during an interministerial conference where the ministers of research of the different Member States got together, and it was organised following a petition of Slovenia, wanting to reach an agreement on that topic during its presidency.
f) Consumer Protection in the Digital Era
Commissioner Meglena Kuneva, responsible for Consumer Protection, said in a conference held this week in London, that the 5 priorities of action regarding consumer policy in the digital era are the development of a simple set of contract laws , the need to reconsider the restrictions imposed by the service providers regarding the distribution via internet, the critical evaluation of the business models based on geographic discrimination online, and to solve problems related to privacy and the treatment of personal user data.