Summary: July 29, 2002: Statement by Minister Counsellor Marianne Løwenhaupt Hoffman, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on behalf of the European Union at the First Session of the Ad Hoc Committee on: Comprehensive and Integral International Convention to Promote and Protect the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities (New York)
Mr. Chairman,
I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union on a Comprehensive and Integral International Convention to Promote and Protect the Rights and dignity of Persons with Disabilities. The Central and Eastern European countries associated with European Union - Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia - and the associated countries Cyprus, Malta and Turkey and the EFTA country of the European Economic Area: Iceland have expressed their wish to align themselves with this statement.
I congratulate the chairman and the distinguished members of the Bureau with their election and trust that you will guide us safely towards the fulfilment of the mandate of the Ad Hoc Committee.
The European Union welcomes the forthcoming work for an integral international convention to promote and protect the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities. We also welcome the resolution of the 56th General Assembly which established an Ad Hoc Committee to consider proposals for this purpose, recommendations of the Commission for Social Development and the Commission on Human Rights as well as reports of the Special Rapporteur on Disability and the recent study on Human Rights and Disability presented at the 58th Session of the Commission on Human Rights.
The European Union hopes that this process will prove to be thorough and inclusive and will create a greater awareness of the disability issues that will further and promote the ongoing discussions in the UN. We wish to ensure the Ad Hoc Committee of the full, flexible and active cooperation by the European Union and its Member States.
With regard to the substantial part of the work of the Ad Hoc Committee, the European Union will be guided inter alia by the Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000 establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation. Furthermore, the European Union has proclaimed 2003 as the European Year of People with Disabilities with the aim of raising awareness of the rights of people with disabilities to protection against discrimination and to full and equal enjoyment of their rights.
According to the mandate of the Ad Hoc Committee the essential task consists of considering proposals for a comprehensive and integral convention. As a result of the Mexican proposal, entitled “Comprehensive and integral international convention to promote and protect the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities”, the Committee has already been furnished with a number of interesting elements, which we hope the Committee will consider alongside other proposals.
The European Union believes, that it is of utmost importance that the discussions in the Ad Hoc Committee would be of an unprejudiced character, focusing on the main principles to be addressed in a realistic and enforceable convention, and at the same time give adequate consideration to the need to mainstream human rights of persons with disabilities in the existing UN human rights instruments and possibly to supplementing the Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities. These various approaches are not mutually exclusive. It must be avoided that any new instrument undermines or duplicates other international human rights rules or standards.
We firmly believe that an open and inclusive approach will in the end allow us to present a proposal to the General Assembly containing a legal framework, which meets with our vision for better protection of the human rights of persons with disabilities and by bringing all discrimination against disabled persons to an end, thus removing the obstacles that prevent persons with disabilities to exercise their rights.
The European Union considers it of paramount importance that all necessary arrangements are made in order to conduct the discussions on a fully participatory basis, including full participation by relevant NGOs. To this end we are pleased to note that the General Assembly has recently adopted two resolutions. One resolution, entitled “Accreditation and participation of non- governmental organizations in the Ad Hoc Committee established to Consider Proposals for a Comprehensive and Integral International Convention to Promote and Protect the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities”, was submitted by the EU, Mexico and others, and is contained in document A/56/510. The other resolution, entitled “Participation of Persons with disabilities in the Ad Hoc Committee on a Comprehensive and Integral International Convention on Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities”, was co-sponsored by all EU Member States, and is contained in document A/56/L. 83.
Finally, let me express the hope that the Ad Hoc Committee at its first session will be able to establish the groundwork for a legally binding instrument and to facilitate more detailed discussions on other ways to guarantee the full enjoyment of human rights for persons with disabilities. We are looking forward to studying the working documents from the Secretary General, as called for by resolution 56/168. The European Union envisages – at an appropriate stage during the meeting – to present a working document setting out our basic position in more detail.
Mr. Chairman, thank you.
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