The use of European structural investment funds (ESIF) under Article 19 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
19.2.2019
Question for written answer E-000912-19
to the Commission
Rule 130
Marisa Matias (GUE/NGL)
On 10 December 2018, President Juncker received a letter from the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD/2018/HF/CC), concerning the Legal Service Opinion of 29 June 2018 (Ares (2018)2249997). The opinion concluded that under Article 19 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) ‘Member States can choose to co-finance infrastructures and services concerning long-stay residential institutions with ESI Funds’. The letter from the CRPD Committee suggests that if the Commission were to adopt the position of its Legal Service, it would be in direct violation of its obligations under Article 19 CRPD.
Without prejudice to the role of the Commission’s legal service as its independent legal adviser:
- 1.What is the position of the Commission in respect of the issues raised in the letter to President Juncker?
- 2.What action has it taken, or will it take, to ensure that the EU complies with its CRPD obligations, in particular with Article 19 and the use of ESIF?
- 3.What action has it taken, or will it take, to ensure that persons with disabilities and their representative organisations are involved in the interpretation and application of the CRPD?