Verbatim report of proceedings

Tuesday, 19 May 2015 - Strasbourg

UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (debate)

  Marian Harkin, on behalf of the ALDE Group. – Mr President, the EU has ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and that brings with it significant responsibilities for all EU institutions, as indeed for all the Member States that have ratified it. In this context, I would agree with my colleague Adám Kósa, and strongly ask my own country, Ireland, to ratify this Convention. Yes, I know there are legal difficulties, but we have to get on with it. People with disabilities need to be able to assert their rights today – not next year or the year after.

The resolution this evening expresses the views of Parliament, but because of time constraints I have the opportunity to mention only one or two issues. First of all, we are calling on the Commission to present an ambitious proposal for a European accessibility act, and I am pleased to hear what the Commissioner has to say about that. But we are also strongly calling on the Council to speed up its work on the Directive on the accessibility of public sector bodies’ websites for persons with disabilities, and also on the Commission to explain in full how, in both current and future legislation, we can ensure that persons with disabilities will be guaranteed equal access and equal opportunities.

Finally, I am asking for support for our amendment which urges Member States to work towards the adoption of the EU Anti-Discrimination Directive, because it seeks to protect persons with disabilities against discrimination in social protection, healthcare, rehabilitation, education and access to the supply of goods and services such as housing, transport and insurance. If we could make progress here, that would be a major step forward.