The past year, EDF has had a successful year advancing the rights of people with disabilities throughout the European Union. Combining European and national policy campaigns, holding meetings with high level decision- and policy makers, providing training and capacity building to disability organizations, benefiting from the commitment and mobilization of its membership on key disability policy EU campaigns, EDF aimed to continue to lead the way in promoting the disability rights and full participation in society of people with disabilities.
The 2005 General Assembly renewed the composition of all EDF governing bodies including now a balanced representation of new and old EU Member States in the Board and Executive Committee. Also, policy and target group committees have been renewed for a new mandate from 2005 to 2009.
More concretely, EDF main achievements in 2005 include:
- Air Passenger Rights , and the almost unanimous voting by the European Parliament in favour of the proposal for a “Regulation on the rights of passengers with reduced mobility in air travel”. This new EU regulation will mean a radical change in the lives of millions disabled air passengers, who have been facing discrimination and humiliation for countless years. The new initiative, in line with the common rules on compensation and assistance to passengers and the recently published EU blacklist of unsafe airlines, aims to reinforce the rights of European consumers, without forgetting 50 million people with disabilities. In particular, it reinforces disabled people’s rights regarding denied boarding, right to receive assistance, quality of assistance, disability awareness training for air careers and airport, compensation for lost or damaged wheelchairs or mobility equipment and assistive devices.
- Structural Funds, which constitute one of the most important financial instruments at European level for improving the situation for disabled people and their families. They have the potential to bring about concrete change for disabled people across Europe in terms of improving accessibility to transport systems, infrastructural development, access to information communication technologies and to vocational training.
EDF actively campaigned on the issue of non discrimination and of accessibility of infrastructure and projects of a public use. EDF managed to obtain from the Council of Ministers the inclusion of Article 13 of the EU Treaty, non-discrimination article, in the general regulations of the Structural Funds, as well as access to transport. Moreover, the European Parliament fully supported EDF proposals for accessibility as a requirement for funding. In addition, provisions have been reinforced for the involvement of civil society in the development, monitoring and implementation of the use of the funds at national and regional level.
- Employment, through the project “Activitsts and Advocates Disability Rights Training” led by NCDP, the Greek Confederation of Disabled People, EDF encouraged its members to take actions to ensure the implementation of the EU equal treatment directive in access to employment. Several members organised events in order to raise awareness of their membership towards this new legislation and many have participated actively in national debates for the implementation of the legislation. In addition, dialogue with employers and trade unions has been put in place.
- Human Rights, and the UN Convention on the Rights People with Disabilities. In the past year, EDF adopted two position papers in view of the negotiations at the AdHoc Committee sessions at the UN Headquarters in New York. EDF co-organised with the UK Presidency the first European seminar with government officials involved in the negotiations and national and European NGOs. In addition, EDF was invited to address the last EU Council working group on human rights. These actions resulted in the inclusion of many EDF concerns in the definition of an EU position on the UN Convention.
- Information society and telecommunications, EDF has continued to participate actively in several EU working groups on e-accessibility, telecommunications and standardisation. The main work in these areas related to the access to telecommunication tools, including digital TV and mobile phones.
- Built environment, EDF supported the Build for All project led by the Luxembourg National Disability Council (Info-Handicap) on the preparation of a toolkit to public procurement authorities and industry on the accessibility requirements introduced in public procurement legislation. This toolkit was officially launched in Brussels on 16 January 2006. The value of the project is the cooperation with construction industry and architects, and also the accessibility awareness raising of industry.
- Capacity Building, in 2005 EDF started a project on the capacity building of disability organisations in the Balkan countries (South East Europe) under EC programme CARDS. The overall objective of the project is the strengthening of the capacity of disability organisation in the Balkan region through the establishment of national councils with strong connections with the European disability movement in view of their preparation to future EU accession. The project started in April 2005 and will end in September 2006.
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