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The European Union:
How does it work and what does it do for people with disabilities?
By Hans Kaltwasser
Secretary of the EBU Commission for Liaising with the EU
Dear Lord Low, Chief Executive Officer of the NCBI, distinguished guests,
friends and colleagues.
My name is Hans Kaltwasser, I am the Secretary of the Cabinet of the EBU
Liaising Commission and I should like to start my presentation by saying
that I am very privileged to be here at this excellent conference today and
speak to you about the European Union.
In my presentation I will deal mainly with three issues:
• Firstly, I will give an overview of the power structure of the European Union and the functions of its main bodies.
• Secondly, what is following then, is a summary of some key elements of the disability policy of the European Union, and
• Thirdly, I will take a look at the role of the European Blind Union as one main representative of the civil society.
Historically, the European Union is a unique political system which does
not fall into any traditional category. A number of states have united to
form a union on which they conferred part of their power. At the same time
the member countries remain sovereign states and are involved as such in the
legislative work carried out by the European Union. Thus the European Union
is more than a confederation of countries while at the same time it is not a
federal state.
Structurally, the European Union is a complicated institutional network. The
main functional components of its power system have been aptly described as
a “political decision triangle”, with the Council of the European Union, the
European Commission and the European Parliament as the main structural
elements of this triangle.
Of course, there are many other European institutions which are important,
such as the European Economic and Social Council, the Committee of the
European Regions, the European Court and the European Central Bank. However,
these are not directly relevant to understanding the European decision
making process and can be skipped here.
Let’s start with the Council of the European Union or the
Council of Ministers or simply “the Council” as it is
sometimes called informally. The Council of Ministers is the main
decision-making body of the European Union. It brings together the national
ministers of the member states. It meets at regular intervals, generally
four times a year with each of the 27 member states sending one minister.
The exact membership of the Council is determined by the topics being
discussed. For instance, if financial matters are on the agenda the
Council’s members will be the national Finance Ministers, like on March 10
when the Council met to discuss the issue of VAT reform and agreed on
including audio books in the list of those goods and services to which
reduced rates of VAT can be applied. The Council does not have a single
president in the traditional sense, but this role is rotated between each
member state every 6 months. The minister coming from the state, which has
the Presidency, is able to set the agenda.
The Council of Ministers has a primary role in making European laws. It
takes decisions on legislative proposals from the European Commission and
shares the budgetary power with the Parliament. This is usually done in
co-decision with the latter.
The Council of Ministers also concludes international treaties.
According to the subject in hand, the Council decides by a simple and
qualified majority. However, for matters which are of special importance
such as amendments of the EU Treaties, or decisions on the accession of new
member countries or the adoption of a new common policy a consensus has to
be found. Practically, this means that a decision can be blocked with a vote
from a single country. In an enlarged European Union this provision is
getting increasingly difficult work with.
It is important to note that the Council of Ministers must not be confounded
with the European Council. The latter is often referred to as a
European Summit. It is the highest political body of the European Union. It
comprises the heads of state or government of the member states of the Union
along with the President of European Commission. The European Council is
convened at least two times a year. Meetings are chaired by the member from
the member state which currently holds the Presidency of the Council of the
European Union.
While the European Council has no formal powers it is certainly an
institution that deals with major political issues and its decisions
(“Conclusions”) provide a major impetus in establishing general political
guidelines of the European Union.
Moving on to the second element of the decision-making triangle we can
say that the European Commission is an executive body that manages and runs
the European Union. Since 2004, the Commission has been comprised of one
Commissioner from each member state. The Commissioners are appointed for a
five-year term by agreement between the member states, “subject to approval
by the European Parliament”.
Simply speaking, the job of the Commission is to uphold the common interest,
which means that it members must not take instructions from any national EU
government.
Each Commissioner has his or her own portfolio for which he or she is
responsible, such as Enterprises and Industry, Transport, Agriculture or
Information Society and Media. The Commission is assisted by a civil service
consisting of 36 directorates-general (DGs) and other services which are
based in Brussels and Luxembourg.
The Commission has powers of implementation and control. It has almost an
exclusive right of initiative, which means it prepares legislation in areas
where the European Union has jurisdiction.
It is also the “Guardian of the Treaties”. As such, its role is to ensure
that the directives and regulations adopted by the Council and Parliament
are transposed in the 27 member states.
Also in this field its powers are very wide. Member states which fail to do
so can be taken to the Court of Justice by the Commission to oblige them to
comply with European law.
While the Commission has widest powers to execute its duties and enjoys a
substantial degree of independence in doing so, its powers are clearly
limited: It is answerable to the European Parliament and has to resign if
the Parliament passes a motion of censure against it.
Among the various European institutions, the European Parliament is the
only one which is directly elected by the EU citizens, by proportional
representation, to serve for a five-year term. Presently, the Parliament has
785 members who combine into 7 transnationally operating political groups
such as the “European People’s Party”, the “Socialist Group” or the
“Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe” to mention just the largest.
Each group must consist of no less than 19 MEPs from at least 5 different EU
Member States. Each group appoints a “ group co-ordinator” whose role is to
decide which way the group should vote in the Parliament, although,
formally, no member is bound by this decision.
It is important to note that the Groups decide which issues will be dealt
with at the plenary session of the European Parliament. They can propose
amendments to reports that are to be voted on. Plenary sessions of the
European Parliament which are chaired by a President, are normally held in
Strasbourg; additional sessions can be convened in Brussels. The Parliament
has 20 Standing Committees which prepare the plenary sessions.
The Parliament takes part in the legislative work of the European Union at
three different levels:
• According to the „cooperation procedure“ the Parliament can give its opinion on draft directives and regulations proposed by the European Commission and can ask the Commission to amend its proposal, taking into account the Parliament’s position.
• Under the „assent procedure“ which provides that the Parliament must give it’s assent to international agreements negotiated by the Commission and to any proposed enlargement of the European Union.
• The “co-decision procedure” which was introduced by the Treaty of Maastrich and which puts the Parliament on an equal footing with the Council as regards with legislative work in a wide range of important policy areas such as education, research, consumer protection, the internal market and others. The Parliament has the power to reject any legislation proposed in these areas if an absolute majority of its members vote against the Councils “common position”. If this happens the EU Treaty has made provision for a conciliation procedure at the end of which both bodies may negotiate a compromise solution.
Thus, while the European Parliament is not invested with the same
powers executed by the national parliament, it is important to note that
over the years its influence has steadily increased in relation to other EU
institutions. In conjunction with the Council of Ministers it takes part in
the legislative work of the European Union. It can accept, amend or reject
legislation submitted to it for voting. It also shares with the Council
equal responsibility for adopting the EU budget and can even reject a
proposed budget which it has already done on several occasions. The
Parliament also examines the Commission’s annual work programme and can
request the Commission to submit legislative proposals to the Council.
The Parliament has even the power to dismiss the Commission by adopting a
motion of censure. However, for which a two-third majority is required which
it is difficult to attain. This shows that the European Parliament is
clearly not the paper tiger which it is sometimes depicted by the media.
What is the position of disability policy within this political decision
triangle as a political outcome?
The European Union, according to its original intention, was deeply
committed to the idea of peace. The establishment of a lasting peace order
was planned to be achieved through creating a common market where nations
which in former times used to be bitter enemies meet and do trade as
economic subjects, united by common interests and the firm will to remove
all barriers to the realization of a common market.
Strictly speaking, within the framework of this economic order, there was little room for social policy in the beginning, although promoting humanistic values, social cohesion and social progress played a certain role in the minds of the founding fathers of the European Union. Obviously, before the Amsterdam Treaty, a single European social policy was rather a mere footnote of economic policy than an important policy area. Consequently, a clear deficit in legislative work can be stated especially in the field of disability policy for this period.
This has changed considerably over the last two decades. Especially since
the mid 90s the European Commission ambition grew to influence the national
disability policy carried out by its member states.
The strategy adopted by the European Union to achieve this goal is based
mainly on three pillars:
3.1 The first of these is anti-discrimination legislation: Article 13 of the Amsterdam Treaty authorizes the EU to pass legislation to “combat discrimination on disability and other grounds in areas where the European Community has competence”.
The European Union has used Article 13 to pass a wide range of directives and regulations which aim at fighting discrimination and achieving equal opportunities. Limitation of time forbids me to go into any greater details, but I may mention here some of the most important:
3.1.1 The employment directive bans discrimination as regards with access to employment as well as harassment in the job or instruction to unequal treatment. Private and public employers are required to make “reasonable accommodation” for people with disabilities. This means that disabled people have a right to a workplace which is adapted to their special needs to enable them to work as efficiently as their non-disabled peers.
Many Member States had to amend their national laws to comply with the requirements of the employment directive.
3.1.2 Passengers Rights Legislation: To promote the mobility of disabled people in the EU Member States legislation has been adopted to ensure equal opportunities for disabled people when travelling.
An example of this is the Disabled Air Passenger Rights regulation which protects the rights of people with disabilities and people with reduced mobility when travelling by air. The legislation ensures, amongst others, that passengers cannot be denied the right to book a flight or board an aircraft on the grounds of disability or reduced mobility. A further important point is that assistance a disabled passenger may need at the airport is adapted to the special personal need, from the moment the passenger arrives at the airport to the departure. This assistance must be provided at no additional charge, by a person who has undergone disability awareness and equality training.
3.1.3 The TV without Frontiers Directive: The directive is
the major legal instrument of the European Union to regulate the audiovisual
sector. In December 2006 the European Parliament adopted legislation
providing for access to TV for blind and partially sighted people. The
directive is being transposed and obliges member states to encourage media
service providers under their jurisdiction to ensure that their services are
gradually made accessible to people with a visual or hearing disability.
3.2 In addition to anti-discrimination legislation „Accessibility“ is
a further pillar in the strategy of the European Union to ban discrimination
and create an inclusive society. This point involves all measures and
initiatives to remove barriers in the access to transport, the environment
and goods and services which make it difficult for disabled people to make
full use of their potentials.
A good example for removing barriers is the pharmaceutical labelling,
which represents an important contribution to ensuring continued access to
medicinal products for blind and partially sighted people.
3.3 Finally, „Disability Mainstreaming“ is the third pillar of the
disability strategy of the European Union. This principle involves that the
entire responsibility for disability issues no longer lies with a special
sector but is a constant duty shared by all departments.
Since 2003 the aim of the disability policy of the European Commission has
been to achieve equal opportunity for people with disabilities. One of the
key instruments of this strategy is the Disability Action Plan
or DAP which seeks to ensure that the needs of disabled people are included
in all relevant policies of the EU. “Disability Mainstreaming” is the EU
jargon for this strategy which means that all issues relevant for disabled
people must not only become the centre of legislative work but of the entire
society. A prerequisite for this is, of course, that all relevant policy
areas must be looked at from the point of view of people with disabilities,
based on a deep understanding of the diversity of needs and fully taking
these into account when programmes and policies are developed and
implemented.
Disability Actions Plans propose concrete measures for legal initiatives,
measures and programmes and cover a period of two years. After each period
the European Commission assesses the progress achieved as regards with the
situation of people with disabilities and proposes priorities for the next
two-year action period.
Council, Commission and Parliament are involved in the legislative work
of the European Union. What is the role of the NGOs and especially the
European Blind Union within the frame of this power structure? The EU Treaty
gives the disability organisations the opportunity to take part in shaping
the social reality of the European Union. Participation within this context
means especially the responsibility to explain and interpret to the European
policy decision makers what diversity is about and to ensure through
appropriate action such developments and structures which take the needs of
different groups of disabled people fully into account.
Explaining diversity is certainly necessary because often the European
Commission is not very knowledgable about the diversity of needs and depends
on getting competent consultation. Thus lobbying for blind and partially
sighted people has become increasingly important for European politicians
because as a rule they do not have the expertise required for drafting
legislation and making decisions which take the needs of blind and partially
sighted people aboard.
In implementing Article 13 of the EU Treaty, the European Blind Union
through good lobbying has contributed to the introduction and adoption of
directives and regulations which help improve the situation of blind and
partially sighted people in all member states because the European
legislation must be transposed into national laws. However, some people
think these developments do not go far enough. They complain that the
changes introduced in the wake of Article 13 of the EU Treaty are merely
symbolic acts.
Has the Pharmaceutical Directive, the Disabled Air Passenger Regulation, the
Employment Directive and other European legislation impacted our lives only
in a symbolic way? Certainly not – because they have brought about concrete
improvements, even if these may only be small steps on the long road to a
society without discrimination of people with disabilities.
The disability policy of the European Union is a bit like a large building
site. Many initiatives, programmes and measures were introduced to build an
inclusive society. Some of these building projects have been completed.
Others are half-finished or require improvements. We will very likely never
live to see an end of this construction work. Rapid developments in the
fields of technologies, transport and the environment lead to ever new kinds
of discrimination emerging at some point of the internal dynamics of
society.
In this sense combating discrimination and achieving equal opportunities for
people with disabilities will remain a vision and permanent challenge which
we will have to face and address at all times over and over again.
To be able to do so, however, the European Blind Union needs to remain a
strong and determined organisation which ensures through good lobbying and
campaigning that the special needs of blind and partially sighted people
will continue to be taken into account by European policy makers.
Distinguished guests, friends and colleagues, let’s keep the EBU strong.
Thank you very much for your attention!
Disclaimer: This document has been supported by the European
Commission. The content of this document is the sole responsibility of its
publishers and represents in no way the views of the Commission and its
services.