The disabled People's Parliament of 3 December 1993 passed the following resolution:
"Recognizing that disability is a human rights issue... that disabled people have the right to full and equal participation in the economic and social development of Europe... Considering that any direct discrimination or other negative discriminatory treatment of a disabled person is a violation of his or her rights... (The Disabled People's Parliament) invites the Community Institutions and Member states to ensure that at the time of revision of the Treaty on European Union, a general anti-discrimination provision is included."
This year the European Day of Disabled Persons has published a major new report which documents the discrimination disabled people experience and makes recommendations for change.
"One of the most frequent human rights violations against disabled persons is the experience of disability-based discrimination in all fields of everyday life... including in the countries of the European Union which are regarded as highly developed"
concludes a new report on discrimination against disabled people published in Brussels on 7th December to mark the European Day of Disabled People 1995.
The report, written by a consortium of disabled and non-disable lawyers, makes the case for the introduction of a legal base to combat discrimination on grounds of disability within the Treaties on European Union. It shows how disabled people are invisible in European law and how existing provisions of citizenship in the Treaty do not adequately protect disabled people from discrimination. Disabled people experience discrimination which involves the denial of many of the rights associated with European citizenship.
On 15th and 16th September 1995, disabled people from all over the European Union attended a seminar in Brussels to discuss the themes of non-discrimination, integration, self-determination, family support and full citizenship. The case evidence used in the report documents their real life experiences of discrimination.
Evidence shows how disabled people cannot exercise rights currently granted to non-disabled EU citizens such as free movement, rights to receive services and purchase goods, nor rights to vote. Typical cases reported include:
A wheelchair user was asked by a European airline to fill in a form stating that his appearance and behaviour would not disturb other passengers. The form had to be countersigned by a doctor. The man refused to complete such a form and the airline refused to carry him.
Another European airline requires medical clearance every time a disabled person travels, no matter how often the person has flown before. They also keep disabled passengers in a separate lounge.
Similarly disabled people or families with disabled members wishing to work in other Member states have found that they cannot take up employment in other Member states because of the loss or lack of adequate information about social security entitlements which cover additional costs of disability.
The report shows the high levels of unemployment among disabled people and discriminatory attitudes of employers towards disabled people.
A visually impaired woman in Germany worked as a translator with a Federal Authority on a short term contract. Her disability meant that she took slightly longer than others to finish her work, although her work was always completed in due time. She then applied for a full time post and was not selected, despite having the best test results of all the candidates.
One ex-user of mental health services said: "If you want to get a job you have to lie about your history and if you are found out, you lose the job."
The report also demonstrates how Europe is falling behind comparable economies such as USA and Australia in legislating against discrimination on grounds of disability.
One man with a hearing impairment described how he feels much safer in American hotels than in European hotels. This is because hotels in the USA are required under the Americans with Disabilities Act to have fire alarms which alert deaf people.
One hearing impaired delegate reported that there are currently 7 text phone systems in Europe which are not compatible and there is no European telephone relay service. Action to create a universal telecommunications system which is accessible to all must be coordinated at a European level (as has been done in the USA because of legislative requirements).
Disabled people are both ignored and discriminated against when Europe is harmonising its laws. Proposals from the European Union for example on lifts, buses, currency harmonisation, driver licences in their draft form have had considerable discriminatory impact on disabled people, because they have failed to integrate disabled people as full citizens. For example the draft Directive on Buses and Coaches contains no mandatory access for disabled people. When the European Union is harmonising its laws it must legislate to ensure full accessibility. Cases such as the one below should become a thing of the past:
A disabled man who uses an electric wheelchair was assured that all buses in Berlin were wheelchair accessible, but in fact he was unable to board the bus because of a step of over 30 cm.
The report also shows how the European Union discriminates because there is no legal redress at European level against incidents such as the case where a travel agency was ordered by a court to pay compensation to a group of non-disabled tourists because they had to share their holiday hotel with disabled tourists. Other typical examples of discrimination include disabled people being barred from restaurants because "they do not present the right image" and disabled people who are unable to obtain insurance because they represent a high risk. A woman, for example, was refused travel insurance because her mother had Alzheimers' disease. Cases such as those below are currently lawful under community law:
A disabled teenager was physically removed from a cinema entrance to prevent him from "upsetting" other patrons.
One disabled person was left in tears in a restaurant after the waiter told her assistant to clean up the mess that she made and that she would not be welcome between 12.00 and 14.00 hours.
The report concludes that non binding actions such as recommendations and exchange programmes are useful but are not a substitute for an adequate legal base within the Treaties on the European Union. It is now time to ensure that disabled people can challenge discriminatory treatment at European Union level by extending the legal protection in the Treaty.
New research contained in the report also shows how the European Institutions themselves discriminate in their recruitment and employment practice towards disabled people. The report states:
"Unlike many other public and private employers, the European Union presently has no formal policy to promote or facilitate the integration of disabled workers in its workforce... Preplacement medical examinations are regularly being abused by employers to screen out candidates... It will not come as a surprise that disabled people are disproportionately represented amongst the candidates found unfit for work after undergoing a pre-placement medical examination."
Findings show how upper age limits for recruitment to the Institutions, the practice of general knowledge testing, rather than recruiting for specific job related skills, and preplacement medical examinations all discriminate against disabled applicants.
The report concludes that discrimination against disabled people is a European Union wide phenomenon and that European economies are also suffering as a result because so many disabled people are unable to participate fully in the single market.
The seminar participants passed the following resolution:
"Discrimination against disabled people is pervasive through the European Union; such discrimination is in breach of the human and civil rights of disabled people and the fundamental freedoms guaranteed by the European Treaties; active non-discrimination measures are required at regional, national and European levels; the lack of any reference to disability in the European Treaties limits the effectiveness of the European Union in promoting non-discrimination principles. The commitment of the European Day of Disabled Persons in 1993 to the inclusion of a clause in the main body of the European Treaties is reaffirmed."
The report recommends that European Union law must be revised and that a non-discrimination clause must be added to Article 6 of the Treaty:
"Within the scope of application of this Treaty, and without prejudice to any special provisions contained therein, any discrimination on grounds of nationality, race, sex, disability, sexual orientation or religion shall be prohibited."
For the purpose of this Treaty, discrimination may be defined as including any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference or denial of reasonable accommodation, enjoyment or exercise of the rights of European Union citizens according to this Treaty. For the purpose of this Treaty the principle of equal rights implies that the needs of each and every individual are of equal importance that those needs must be made the basis for the planning of societies and that all resources must be employed in such a way as to ensure that every individual has equal opportunity for participation.
Summary written by Diana Sutton, Secretary of Disability Intergroup
November 1995
E. L. E. F.
European Lupus Erythematosus Federation