Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-09-02-Speech-2-290"
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"en.20030902.11.2-290"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to start by thanking the rapporteur, Mrs Lynne, for her excellent report, which was, moreover, adopted unanimously in the Parliamentary committee: a report which is evidence of her particular sensitivity and experience, not least as rapporteur of the document launching the European Year of People with Disabilities 2003.
The unanimous vote in committee also serves to prove that disability is not a left- or right-wing issue, but an issue promoted by those who care about respect for the rights, equal opportunities and dignity of all citizens. Moreover, the figures are no joking matter: there are 600 million people with disabilities in the world, 38 million of which live in Europe, and there will be 45 million in the enlarged Europe next year. It should be pointed out that anyone can become disabled at any point in life. It happens, in particular, as a result of the ageing of society, but that is not the only cause: consider – and I am quoting a figure relating to Italy – the 24 000 young people who become disabled each year as a result of accidents caused by the frenetic approach to life and social activity today.
These are figures which give cause for thought. Hence the importance of establishing binding international standards seeking to protect the rights of people with disabilities with an appropriate built-in monitoring mechanism. The binding UN Convention adopted last June, which has just such a monitoring mechanism, like the six human rights conventions, will have to bring to light the considerable, widespread problems encountered by people with disabilities in their everyday lives, whether in terms of access or bureaucracy or social attitudes. It will therefore form the basis for the rights of all people with disabilities throughout the world.
I therefore trust that the European Presidency too, the Council in its role of negotiator, will make every endeavour to achieve a better-defined, more specific text in early 2004 than that presented in Mexico, in order to define practical standards to guide the approach of governments. However, I regret the position adopted thus far by the European Commission, which has not yet provided a timetable for a future horizontal directive on the rights of people with disabilities in Europe and has not given specific or genuine undertakings to incorporate the rights of people with disabilities into its policies. The directive on employment and occupation is important, as is the directive on access to transport, but we need to go further, Commissioner. In particular, we cannot let the different countries get away with inertia as regards their legislation."@en1
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