DECS-RPD(2015)3rev

28 April 2015

 

 

Committee of experts on the rights of people with disabilities

(DECS-RPD)

 

4th Meeting 22-24 april 2015

 

 

List of decisions/Abridged report

 

 

1. OPENING OF THE MEETING

 

The meeting was opened by Mr Dimitrios NIKOLSKY, Chair of the Council of Europe Committee of Experts on the Rights of People with Disabilities.  His address appears in Appendix 1 of the meeting report.

 

Mrs Marja RUOTANEN, Director of Human Dignity and Equality of DGII – Democracy, welcomed participants and gave some guidance in relation to the future in the field of disability.  She introduced Ms Liri KOPACI-DI MICHELE, Head of the Equality Division in which the Disability Unit is currently situated, and Mr Gianluca ESPOSITO, Head of the Equality and Human Dignity Department.

 

The list of all the participants in the meeting is set out in Appendix 2.  The new representatives of Member States in the DECS-RPD introduced themselves briefly (Austria, Azerbaijan, Iceland, Finland, Hungary, Portugal, Romania, Switzerland, Turkey and the Holy See).

 

2. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA AND ORDER OF BUSINESS

 

The Committee adopted its agenda as it appears in Appendix 3 to the meeting report and gave its               agreement to the order of business proposed by the Secretariat (document DECS-RPD(2015)2).

 

3.COMMUNICATION BY THE CHAIR AND THE SECRETARIAT

 

The Chair DECS-RPD took note of the information provided by the Secretariat on, recent events where the Committee was represented. In particular it commended the Secretariat for strengthening its contacts with the various United Nations bodies and asked it to convey the Committee’s thanks for the video message which Ms Daniela BAS from DESA (UN New York) kindly sent to the DECS-RPD.

 

The Committee exchanged views with Ms Gerison LANSDOWN, British expert on the Rights of the Child, on the project to be developed at the crossroads of three areas of action of the Council of Europe: Children’s rights, disability and Internet governance.

 

 

4.ELECTION OR REAPPOINTMENT OF THE CHAIR AND THE VICE-CHAIR

 

The Committee reappointed its Chair, Mr D. NIKOLSKY (Greece) and its Vice-Chair,
Ms A. KRZNAR (Croatia), in their respective posts for 2015.

 

It elected Mr Alfredo FERRANTE (Italy) as Bureau member for a one year term to replace
Mr J. VASQUEZ (Norway).

 

The other two Bureau members (Ms B. PLUMET – Belgium, and Ms N. HARIZANOVA - Bulgaria), elected for two years in 2014, continue their terms of office on the Bureau.

 

5. ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT IN MEMBER STATES

 

5.1. Report for 2014

 

The DECS-RPD took note of the activities organised by the Secretariat between September 2014 and April 2015 in the Republic of Moldova, in Georgia and in Belgium, as presented in document DECS-RPD(2015)6.

 

5.2. Projects underway, 2015

 

The Committee was informed of the upcoming Training for Trainers of personal assistants and carers of people with disabilities in Georgia before the summer and of a seminar in Montenegro in autumn 2015 in view of the new national strategy on               the rights of people with disabilities.

 

6. EVALUATION REPORT ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DISABILITY ACTION PLAN 2006-2015

 

6.1.Self-assessment by member states

 

The last version of the Draft Evaluation Report on the implementation of the Council of Europe Disability Action Plan 2006-2015 (document DECS-RPD(2015)18) as reviewed at the DECS-RPD Taskforce meeting held in Paris on 29-30 January 2015 and by the designated rapporteurs, Mr Joseph VASQUEZ (Norway) and Mr Alfredo FERRANTE (Italy), together with the Secretariat was presented to the delegates.

 

The Committee decided to ask the Secretariat to send the final call for contributions on examples of good practice to be submitted by 22 May 2015 for their inclusion in the Report with a view to ensuring the representation of all member States in the document.

 

It was decided to update the information and use the charts prepared by the Secretariat and supplemented with relevant explanations, visualising the work carried out in the course of the implementation of the Action Plan since 2006 as an appendix to the Report.

 

Finally, it was decided to prepare the additional part of the Evaluation Report considering the Cross-cutting aspects of the Action Plan and the situations of people with disabilities at risk of multiple discrimination.

 

The DECS-RPD entrusted its Task force with the preparation of the final draft of the evaluation report for approval by all Delegates in time before the DAP closing conference (see item 11 below). The Task Force will meeting on 18-19 June 2015 in Strasbourg.

 

At the next CDDECS meeting in May 2015, the parent committee will be informed about the ongoing evaluation process. The self-assessment report is to be submitted to the CDDECS by the end of 2015.

 

6.2.Views of civil society

 

The representatives of civil society (EDF, EASPD, RI and the Conference of INGOs), presented their respective positions in relation to the implementation of the Council of Europe Action Plan for people with disabilities and the lessons arising from it for future Council of Europe actions.

 

The Committee took note and welcomed the recommendation to come from the Conference of INGOs to the Committee of Ministers concerning the follow-up to the 2006-2015 Action Plan.

 

The DECS-RPD decided to transmit the written reports of the EDF, EASPD and the Conference of INGOs (Documents DECS-RPD (2015) 5, 15, 17) to the CDDECS for information or other purpose when reviewing the self-assessment report of the Member States (see item 6.1 above) and the proposals for post-2015.

 

6.3.Comments by an independent expert

 

Mr Marc MAUDINET, independent expert, presented the four major points of his preliminary report on the implementation of the Action Plan.  The Committee congratulated the consultant for his work and thorough analysis of the content of the Plan and actions taken in the 47 Member States of the Council of Europe.  It requested him to take into account the analysis of national case law which the Secretariat presented following on from national contributions.

 

The DECS-RPD decided to transmit the report, when finalised in the light of the present meeting, to the CDDECS for information, and requested the Secretariat to have it published.

 

7.  PRIORITIES FOR THE BIENNIUM 2016-2017

 

The Committee took note of the Organisation’s policy and budgetary orientations for the next two years in the light of the Secretary General document SG/INF(2015) and doc. 13743 of the Committee on Rules of Procedure, Immunities and Institutional Affairs of the Parliamentary Assembly.

 

8.  ROADMAP FOR THE RIGHTS OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES– NEW PLAN OR STRATEGY

 

The Secretariat informed the Committee about the general framework pursued by the Organisation in the preparation of the strategic documents. The Gender Equality Strategy 2014-2017 was presented as an example. The focus is put on ensuring the implementation of existing instruments and addressing the areas, where the Council of Europe could bring  added value in coordination with other major international stakeholders.

 

The DECS-RPD decided to elaborate a 4-year strategy that would be consistent with the biannual budgetary cycles of the Council of Europe. The Committee stressed that human rights should remain in the center of the disability work and identified the following future priority areas: 1. Legal capacity; 2. Access to justice; 3. Tackling poverty; 4. Participation in political and public life; 5. Violence against people with disabilities; 6. Independent living; 7. New technologies; 8. Awareness raising; 9. Social inclusion.

 

The Committee also stressed the importance of mainstreaming disability within other sectors, in particular with a view to addressing the issues concerning multiple discrimination of people with disabilities.

 

Future evaluation of the implementation of the priority areas will be applied to the real situation of persons with disabilities and a global perspective.

 

The DECS-RPD decided to ask the Secretariat to prepare a preliminary draft strategy, taking into account the above-mentioned guidelines and priorities, as well as the positions of civil society organisations, bearing in mind the need to avoid duplication, ensure the added value provided by the Organisation and the follow-up to the past activities.

 

The Committee decided to consider further the need for the elaboration of a legally binding European instrument in the area of disability.

 

It was proposed to aim at a stronger mandate of the Committee and support for the Secretariat in light of the new legal context.

 

9. REVIEW OF COUNCIL OF EUROPE CONVENTIONS – CETS No. 12, 13, 14, 20, 33, 38, 40, 59, 64, 78, 154 and 210

 

In the light of the responses received from Member States, the Committee concluded that among the conventions mentioned above, and apart from the Istanbul Convention CETS 210, no convention is likely to become operational in and amongst Member States concerning the rights of people with disabilities in the new legal context of commitments under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. 

 

The DECS-RPD decided to inform the CDDECS of its conclusion above and to ask that it be transmitted to the Committee of Ministers.  In addition, the Committee recommended that the passage under review of the Council of Europe Conventions be exclusively entrusted to the legal advisers of the Council of Europe Secretariat and to national Ministries of Justice and Foreign Affairs.  The Committee expressed the wish to be informed of the outcome of the review of the passage.

 

10. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE DISABILITY ACTION PLAN
    2006-2015 – Oral presentations and statements by the representatives of member states and other stakeholders

 

13 National delegations within the DECS-RPD (Bulgaria, Croatia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Montenegro, Norway, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and Ukraine) made oral presentations on the implementation of the Action Plan, highlighting the links between the provisions of the Plan and the measures taken and applied in their countries.

 

The Representative of the European Commission referred to the on-going review of the Strategy of the European Union 2010-2020 in the field of disability. This review aims at proposing new activities               for the next 5 years in the light of the UN Committee’s comments on disability rights following the               review of the European Union’s report to the Monitoring Committee of the UN Convention on the rights of people with disabilities.

 

The Committee agreed to send written versions of national communications to the Secretariat. The               deadline of 22 May 2015 was set for any contributions – already made or planned - for inclusion               in the Addendum to the meeting report.

 

11.HIGH-LEVEL CLOSING CONFERENCE OF THE ACTION PLAN FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE 2006-2015 (RUSSIAN FEDERATION,               SAINT-PETERSBURG, 24-25.09.2015)

 

The representative of the Russian Federation informed the Committee that the made proposal to host the Disability Action Plan closing conference in St Petersburg had to be withdrawn due to internal reasons.

 

The Norwegian and Irish members of the Committee proposed to take over hosting of this event in their countries. The DECS-RPD thanked the Delegates for the invitations and decided to accept the invitation of the Irish Delegate due to the suitability of the suggested dates (same as the initial proposal by Russia) and subject to official invitation.

 

12.ACTIVITIES OF OTHER INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS IN THE FIELD OF THE RIGHTS OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES (Oral statements and hearings)

 

The DECS-RPD congratulated the representative of the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), Ms Martha STICKINGS, for the FRA’s research work in general and especially for its research on violence against children with disabilities, as presented at the meeting.

 

The Committee noted with interest the presentation entitled “The European Ombudsman, an               independent actor to protect the rights of persons with disabilities at EU level” by Ms Astrid               EICHSTÄDT, Administrator for fundamental rights and disability in the Secretariat General of               the European Union’s Ombudsman.

 

The Committee expressed its appreciation of the work of the Nordic countries on disability issues and thanked Ms Maria MONTEFUSCO, Nordic Centre for Welfare and Social Issues (NVC), for her brief presentation of the Nordic Action Plan and research on violence against women, men, girls and boys with disabilities.

 

13.WORK CARRIED OUT BY OTHER COUNCIL OF EUROPE BODIES RELEVANT TO DISABILITY ISSUES – Oral reports and hearings

 

The Committee took note of information provided by other sectors of the Council of Europe and their               activities in relation to the rights of people with disabilities.  It thanked the following speakers for their contributions and for answering questions:

 

• Mr R. BRILLAT, Head of the Department of the European Charter,
• Ms G. PAJARDI, Head of the Partial Agreement of the Council of Europe Development Bank,
• Ms S. WITTMANN, lawyer in the 5th section of the Registry of the European Court of Human Rights,
• Ms Laurence LWOFF, Secretary of the Bioethics Committee (DH-BIO).

 

The DECS-RPD noted that its opinions on Recommendations 2064 (2015) of the Parliamentary Assembly “Equality and inclusion for people with disabilities” and 361 (2014) of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities “Promoting equal opportunities for people with disabilities and their participation at local and regional levels” were transmitted to the Committee of Ministers. The Committee of Ministers has proposed to reply to the two recommendations before summer 2015. The DECS-RPD will receive the replies electronically.

 

14.PARTICIPATION OF THE DECS-RPD IN THE WORK OF OTHER COUNCIL OF EUROPE BODIES AND OTHER EVENTS

 

The DECS-RPD decided to be represented at the following meetings:

 

• DECS-ENF, Strasbourg, 12-13 May 2015 by Ms Andrea KRZNAR (Croatia);
• CDDECS, Strasbourg, 27-29 May 2015, by Ms Nadezhda HARIZANOVA (Bulgaria);
• Gender Equality Commission meeting, Strasbourg, 17-18 November  2015, Ms Ekaterina ZIVKO (Russian Federation)

 

15. OTHER BUSINESS

 

The DECS-RPD requested the Secretariat to make available on the Committee’s restricted site all the Power Point presentations made during the meeting as well as the updated chart of the Secretariat of the Directorate of Human Dignity and Equality.

 

The Latvian member of the Committee informed the DECS-RPD about the Latvian Presidency to the EU Council with regards to the disability issues.

 

The Committee agreed on the composition of the Taskforce (Strasbourg, 18-19 June 2015) and on the participation of the Irish delegate in place of the Italian delegate, who was elected as a member of the Bureau.

 

16. ADOPTION OF THE ABRIDGED MEETING REPORT

 

The Report was adopted.