www.edf-feph.org

Disability in

Structural Funds Regulations

2014-2020

23rd International Conference for Spina Bifida and Hydrocefalus

15 - 16 June 2012, Stockholm

Simona Giarratano

Social Policy Officer

European Disability Forum

Who are we?

• EDF is an independent EU umbrella organisation

• Represents more than 80 million persons with disabilities in Europe

• It is the voice of disabled people in the European Union fighting to have equal rights

• EDF adopts the Human rights approach to disability (away from a charitable and medical approach)

• EDF is an organisation of disabled people

Disability – Structural Funds

Importance of the Structural Funds Structural Funds account for € 50 billion of spending per year more than one-

third of the total EU expenditure in the current programming period the ESF alone has allocated almost € 10

billion on the inclusion of disadvantaged persons, including persons with disabilities

EU Disability Strategy 2010 – 2020 One in six people in the European Union (EU) has a disability that ranges from

mild to severe making around 80 million who are often prevented from taking part fully in society and the economy because of environmental and attitudinal barriers.

For people with disabilities the rate of poverty is 70 % higher than the average partly due to limited access to employment.

Over a third of people aged over 75 have disabilities, over 20 % are considerably restricted. These numbers are set to rise as the EU‘s population ages.

Employment and disability

Persons with disabilities and the EU 2020 goals:

Employment rate of persons with disabilities is far below the EU

average (EU-SILC 2008)

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

RO HU PL IE EL CZ BG BE ES IT LT EU UK SI DK AT NL PT FI EE SK DE LU SE CY LV

%

Persons with disabilities

Persons without disabilities

EU 2020

Education and disability

Persons with disabilities and the EU 2020 goals Persons with disabilities have a significant lower level of tertiary

education (EU-SILC 2008)

-40

-30

-20

-10

0

10

20

PT RO EL DE HU IT PL CZ AT SK BG EU LV SI EE UK IE LT LU BE CY ES NL FI SE DK

Disabled: Distance from EU2020 in percentage points

Non-disabled: Distance from EU2020 in percentage points

Poverty and disability

Persons with disabilities and the EU 2020 goals Persons with disabilities are at higher risk of living below the poverty

line (EU-SILC 2008)

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

SK CZ HU LU NL DK AT PL SE DE EU IT BE IE RO UK PT FI ES EL SI BG LT EE CY LV

%

Persons with disabilities

Persons without disabilities

Legal basis 1/3

The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

(UNCRPD)

Became a legally binding document for the EU in January 2011.

Article 4: States Parties are bound to take into account the protection and promotion of the human rights of persons with disabilities in all policies and programmes

UN Convention as a frame of reference for the future Structural Funds’ (SF) General Regulation. Key substantive provisions: • Accessibility (Article 9) • Education (Article 24) • Employment (Article 27) • Community living (article 19) • Participation (articles 4 and 33) • Statistics (Article 31)

Legal basis 2/3

Commission Staff Working Paper : Operational Guidance on

taking account of fundamental Rights in Commission Impact

Assesments

In addition, the Union has singed and formally confirmed tha UN

Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This, the first legally binding human rights instrument to which the Union is party, entered into force on 22 January 2011. The purpose of this Convention is to promote, protect and ensure full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by all persons with disabilities. The Union is bound by the Convention to the extent of its area of competence specified in the “Declaration of competence“ annexed to Council Decision 2010/48/EC

Legal basis 3/3

Council Decision concerning the conclusion, by the

European Community, of the UNCRPD

Includes the Council Regulation laying down provisions on the European Regional Developmùent Fund, the European Social Fund and the Cohesion Fund and repealing regulation

Current programming period:

Lessons learnt 1/2

Article 16 current regulation:

8% of the programmes reviewed demonstrated a “comprehensive integration“– 22% just as a declarative integration (Public Policy and Management Institute)

1,2 million people with disabilities live in institutions (Report ad-Hoc Expert group on the Transition from Institutional to community based services) – Institutions in Hungary and Romania (European Coalition of Community Living

Austria: Buildings were financed in inaccessible way “Genusshotel Riesersburg”

Germany: Concept of accessibility not used in programes “Rückenwind – für die Beschäftingen in der Sozialwirtschaft”

Current programming period:

Lessons learnt 2/2

Spain: Operational Programme Fighting Discrimination

Bulgaria: Operational Programme for Regional Development – renovation of social infrastructures – Alternative services for children currently living in residential institutions

Operational programmes in Stockholm, West Wales and the Valleys, United Kingdom-Ireland – good practice of programme design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation with adequate institutional structure.

General Regulation 1/2

Draft proposal launched in October 2011

Includes:

Common Provision Regulation and 5

specific Regulations on

- European Regional Development Fund

- European Social Fund

- Cohesion Fund

- European Agricultural Fund for Rural

Development

- European Maritime and Fisheries Fund

General Regulation 2/2

THEMATIC OBJECTIVES

• enhancing access to ICT

• promoting employment and supporting labour mobility

• promoting social inclusion and combating poverty

• investing in education, skills and lifelong learning

Other objectives that can promote accessibility for persons with disabilities are:

• strengthening research, technological development, innovation

• promoting sustainable transport and removing bottlenecks in key network infrastructures

POSITIVE PROPOSAL

• Equality and non-discrimination (new art. 7, ex art. 16)

• Partnership with equality bodies and civil society

• Common Strategic Framework

• Operational Programmes to aim at antidiscrimination and accessibility for persons with disabilities

• Ex-ante conditionality: implementation of the UN CRPD

• Annual implementation reports to include accessibility for persons with disabilities

• Reference to the UN CRPD: e.g. education, employment, accessibility and shift from institutional to community-based care

• Reference to persons with disabilities in the Fund’s mission

• Scope of Support: Combating discrimination as a thematic objective and mention of disability among other vulnerable groups

• Inclusion of disability under the new concentration requirements

• Direct reference to disability related indicators

• Specific actions targeted at persons with disabilities to increase labour market participation, social inclusion, reduce educational and health inequalities

ESF: WHAT’S NEW?

ERDF: window of opportunity

• Scope of Support Investments in social and educational infrastructure; in infrastructure providing basic services to citizens in transport and ICT • Investment Priorities in health and social infrastructure which contribute to (…) transition from institutional to community-based services • Common indicators to be used to measure the results of investments in growth and jobs

ACCESSIBILITY TO BE INCLUDED!

WHAT DO WE WANT? 1/4

• Reference to the UN CRPD to be included as a recital in the CPR and specific regulations

• Maintain article 5 on partnership principle

• Reference to accessibility to be included under article 7 of the CPR

• Recognition of disability and accessibility as investment priorities under the Common Strategic Framework

• Defend the provision that includes the implementation of the UN CRPD as ex-ante conditionality and extend it to cover the whole UN CRPD

• Defend the thematic conditionality 10 promoting transition from institutions to community based care and fight against segregation

WHAT DO WE WANT? 2/4

• Defend accessibility for persons with disability in article 87 on operational programmes

• Maintain accessibility and disability under article 100 (monitoring committee ) and 101 (annual reporting obligations)

• Include accessibility requirements for persons with disabilities among the investment priorities of the ERDF

WHAT DO WE WANT? 3/4

• Include “accessible infrastructure” under the scope of action of the ERDF

• Include accessibility indicators in the ANNEX to the ERDF regulation

• Defend the thematic concentration of 20% of the total ESF resources to social inclusion and combating poverty

WHAT DO WE WANT? 4/4

• Ask your managing authorities to include you in the process of developing the Partnership Contracts

• Ask the managing authorities to invite you to the monitoring committees once the programmes will start

• Contact your national authorities and disseminate our key messages. This will prepare the Members States to the debate that they will have in the Council during the negotiations with the Parliament

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!

Simona Giarratano Social Policy Officer

simona.giarratano@edf-feph.org