Activities of Samira RAFAELA related to 2020/2209(INI)
Opinions (1)
Opinion on The protection of persons with disabilities through petitions: lessons learnt
Amendments (40)
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas the European Parliament does not conduct satisfaction surveys among petitioners, making it difficult to assess the petitions process and its accessibility for persons with disabilities and to draw lessons therefrom; whereas Parliament has not yet developed an index of effectiveness of its petition system nor collected and published statistical data on the treatment of petitions;
Amendment 10 #
Draft opinion
Recital A b (new)
Recital A b (new)
Ab. whereas principle 17 of the European Pillar of Social Rights states that people with disabilities have the right to income support that ensures living in dignity, services that enable them to participate in the labour market and in society, and a work environment adapted to their needs;
Amendment 12 #
Draft opinion
Recital A c (new)
Recital A c (new)
Ac. whereas Member States signed ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities whose Article 24 stipulates that signatories shall ensure that persons with disabilities are able to access lifelong learning, adult education, vocational training, general tertiary and secondary education as well as free and compulsory primary education;
Amendment 21 #
Draft opinion
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas, in 2019, 28.4% of the EU population with a disability (aged 16 or over) was at risk of social exclusion or poverty1a; _________________ 1a Eurostat 2021 https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/product s-eurostat-news/-/ddn-20210208-1
Amendment 22 #
Draft opinion
Recital B b (new)
Recital B b (new)
Bb. whereas the collection of EU Statistics on Population (ESOP) overlooks the nature of a person's disability as well as the number of persons with disabilities living in residential care, hampering compliance with Article 31 of the UNCRPD;
Amendment 24 #
C. whereas it is generally acknowledged that persons with disabilities continue to face multiple obstacles and discrimination in everyday life and that they do notwhich prevents them from enjoying the fundamental freedoms and rights laid down in numerous EU and UN documentlegislation and conventions on an equal basis with others, such as mutual recognition of disability status between Member States, access to public transport, physical, sensory and cognitive accessibility of the built environment, use of sign languages, financing of and equal access to education and vocational training, access to personal assistance and community inclusionproducts, services and programmes, use of hearing assistive devices, haptic aids, sign languages and all other means and formats of accessible communication and information, financing of and equal access to inclusive education, vocational training and employment;
Amendment 35 #
Draft opinion
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. whereas civil society and Third Sector organisations working in the disability sector have shown, yet again during the COVID-19 crisis, their paramount importance and resilience; whereas their role should be acknowledged by the EU institutions and Member States;
Amendment 40 #
Draft opinion
Recital C b (new)
Recital C b (new)
Cb. whereas persons with disabilities face numerous hurdles in their everyday life, inter alia, when trying to access personal assistance and community inclusion; adequate and affordable accessible housing; access to affordable and accessible health; person-centred social and health care;
Amendment 43 #
Draft opinion
Recital C c (new)
Recital C c (new)
Cc. whereas the employment rates of persons with disabilities, especially of women and those with primary education remains unacceptably low;
Amendment 45 #
Draft opinion
Recital C d (new)
Recital C d (new)
Cd. whereas the COVID-19 crisis and its economic and social consequences has exacerbated existing obstacles and inequalities for people with disabilities; whereas the EU through NextGenerationEU must support a disability-inclusive COVID-19response and recovery;
Amendment 49 #
Draft opinion
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas several petitions were submitted in regard to the misuse of EU funds for deinstitutionalisation of persons with disabilities; whereas Member States must speed up the process of deinstitutionalisation and the Commission must carefully monitor their progress;
Amendment 62 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Calls on the Commission to ensure that the Member States comply with theall relevant EU and UN obligations on the rights of persons with disabilities, in particular the UN CRPD and the CRPD Committee’s General Comments to the Convention, and with the relevant EU measures and funding rules, and to provide support to them in this regardand their families in this regard; calls for the EU and those Member States who have not yet done so to ratify the Optional Protocol to the UNCRPD; highlights that a social model where disability is mainstreamed across public policies is necessary;
Amendment 74 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Stresses the need for Member States to provide primary health care; programmes for the prevention of accidents, including adaptation of workplaces to prevent occupational diseases and injury2a; _________________ 2aKhasnabis C, Heinicke Motsch K, Achu K, et al., editors. Community-Based Rehabilitation: CBR Guidelines. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2010. Prevention. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK 310943/
Amendment 77 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1b. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to support Social Economy organisations as they are a lever to boost the creation of decent jobs including for people with disabilities; invites the Commission to develop a crosscutting disability approach and adequate supports within the European Action Plan for the Social Economy;
Amendment 81 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 c (new)
Paragraph 1 c (new)
1c. Highlights that job-matching, vocational profiling, concurrent employment and training, in-work induction and training support, as well as career development opportunities play an important role in persons with disabilities securing and retaining paid employment;
Amendment 83 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 d (new)
Paragraph 1 d (new)
1d. Recalls that Parliament has asked the Member States to examine the introduction of quotas for persons with disabilities to foster inclusive workplaces; invites Member States and the EU institutions to lead by example by introducing them in their administrations;
Amendment 85 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 e (new)
Paragraph 1 e (new)
1e. Urges Member States to develop national action plans that address the shortcomings in the access to public safety-related information, distance and online learning, personal assistance, care and support services for people with disabilities;
Amendment 87 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 f (new)
Paragraph 1 f (new)
1f. Invites the Commission to ensure that the design of the Europass Digital Credentials Infrastructure is accessible to all individuals; regrets the very limited attention paid to the needs of persons with disabilities in the Final Report on a European Approach to Micro-credentials published by the Commission’s Higher Education Consultation Group; calls on the Commission to ensure that the upcoming EU approach to micro- credentials for lifelong learning and employability is accessible and reflects on how to improve the employability of persons with disabilities;
Amendment 89 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 g (new)
Paragraph 1 g (new)
1g. Calls on the Member States to use incentives and financial support for micro and small and medium enterprises that recruit and train persons with disabilities, as well as to ensure that general self- employment schemes are accessible to and supportive of persons with disabilities;
Amendment 91 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 h (new)
Paragraph 1 h (new)
1h. Invites the Commission and the Member States to ensure that rural development programmes and strategies include specific outreach measures for rural persons with disabilities and involve them in the design and implementation of said programmes and strategies;
Amendment 93 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 i (new)
Paragraph 1 i (new)
1i. Calls on the Member States to improve the accessibility of information provided by the public administration in open and accessible formats;
Amendment 95 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 j (new)
Paragraph 1 j (new)
1j. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to ensure the cognitive, sensory and physical accessibility of EU initiatives on the digitalisation of the labour market;
Amendment 96 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 k (new)
Paragraph 1 k (new)
1k. Calls on the Member States to uphold the right of persons with disabilities to live independently and be included in the community by enabling the transition from institutional to quality, accessible, affordable and person-centred community-and family-based care;
Amendment 97 #
1l. Encourages Member States to facilitate early access to public pension schemes for persons with significant and severe disabilities to combat the risk of poverty and social exclusion in old age;
Amendment 98 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 m (new)
Paragraph 1 m (new)
1m. Invites the Committee on Petitions to collect and provide publicly statistical data on the treatment of petitions, including on the satisfaction of petitioners with the petitions process; calls on the Committee of Petitions to develop an index of conformity and successful implementation of the recommendations issued to national authorities by the Committee of Petitions; stresses the need for the Committee on Petitions to ensure the possibility of interpreting in sign language in relevant hearings;
Amendment 99 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
Amendment 107 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Notes that Article 27 of the UNCRPD recognises the right of persons with disabilities to work on an equal basis with others and to gain a living by work freely chosen; calls on the Member States to ensure that the labour market and work environments are open, inclusive and accessible to persons with disabilities;
Amendment 108 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2b. Looks forward to the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities’ upcoming General comment No. 8 on Article 27 of the CRDP on the right to work and employment; urges the Member States to create an inclusive and non-discriminatory working environment for persons with disabilities taking into consideration their low rate of employment;
Amendment 109 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 c (new)
Paragraph 2 c (new)
2c. Calls on the Member States to address the underdevelopment and underfunding of public employment services with a view to improving the employment rate of persons with disabilities; urges the Member States to strengthen the links of public employment services with referring agencies;
Amendment 110 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 d (new)
Paragraph 2 d (new)
2d. Highlights the positive role played by UNCRPD-compliant sheltered workplaces in the transition of persons with disabilities to the open labour market;
Amendment 111 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 e (new)
Paragraph 2 e (new)
2e. Urges the Member States to support rights-based, inclusive and decent Individual Placement and Support (“Supported Employment”) models as a means of transition, when possible, into the open labour market for persons with disabilities;
Amendment 112 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 f (new)
Paragraph 2 f (new)
2f. Reiterates Parliament's call on the Member States to support inclusive companies that provide employment for workers with disabilities in the open labour market through public procurement, as well as Social Economy organisations;
Amendment 114 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Welcomes the fact that as part of the Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2021-2030, an EU-wide Disability Card will be available by the end of 2023to expand the scope of the mutual recognition of disability status in areas such as labour mobility and benefits related to conditions of service provision will be available by the end of 2023; and calls on the Commission and the Member States to be bold regarding the scope of entitlements the Card will afford its users as well as in ensuring that it is implemented in every Member State, by way of binding EU legislation;
Amendment 125 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Calls on the Commission and the Member States to undertake national disability awareness campaigns promoting the UN CRPD and the EU Disability Strategy 2021-2030, that are accessible for all and which involve persons with disabilities, their representative family members and organisations; stresses that those national disability awareness campaigns should place a special focus on the business environment as a lever for inclusion as well as the public administration and to ensure compliance with the obligations and commitments outlined in these documents;
Amendment 139 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Calls on the Member States to fully implement without delay Directive (EU) 2019/882 (the Europeanand continuously monitor all accessibility-related legislation, including the European Accessibility Act, the Audiovisual Media Services Directive, the Telecoms Package and the Web Accessibility Act)Directive in order to effectively remove barriers for workerand prevent barriers and to improve accessibility to products and services for persons with disabilities, ands well as to ensure the availability of accessible services and the suitability of the conditions under which these services are provided;
Amendment 143 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Stresses the need to step up research and innovation in the field of accessible technology, including solutions for broadening teleworking opportunities, in order to strengthen the inclusiveness of labour markets for persons with disabilities; reiterates Parliament's call on the Commission to propose a legislative framework with a view to regulating telework conditions across the EU and ensure decent and accessible working and employment conditions;
Amendment 155 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Urges the Member States to ensure adequate social security coordination for persons with disabilities, including through the ongoing revision of Regulation (EC) No 883/2004.Reminds the Member States of Action line No.5 ix of the Council of Europe Disability Action Plan whereby disincentives to work in disability benefit systems shall be removed and beneficiaries encouraged to work when they can; urges the Member States to ensure adequate social security for persons with disabilities, including by ensuring they continue to receive disability supports covering their disability-related extra costs even when entering the labour market or when surpassing a certain income threshold in order to support their labour market integration and help guarantee their dignity and equality as well as improving social security portability for persons with disabilities through the ongoing revision of Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 and working alongside representative organisations of persons with disabilities;
Amendment 161 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Urges Member States to develop employment prospects for persons with disabilities by improving their implementation of Council Directive 2000/78/EC on non-discrimination in employment, particularly Article 5 on reasonable accommodation; calls on Member States to invest EU funds and Recovery and Resilience Facility funding in job creation and training for persons with disabilities;
Amendment 169 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 b (new)
Paragraph 6 b (new)
6b. Welcomes the efforts to revise Regulation 1260/2013 on European demographic statistics; invites the Commission to include in its modernisation of European population statistics the need to disaggregate data according to the nature of a person's disability, building on the Washington Group on Disability Statistics; highlights the importance of up-to-date, quality, disaggregated data for policy-making;
Amendment 176 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 c (new)
Paragraph 6 c (new)
6c. Calls on the Council to unblock the proposed horizontal anti- discrimination directive without any further delay, thereby extending EU protection of people with disabilities beyond the sphere of employment;