NEWS RELEASE 			Brussels 12.10.2011

Disability Support Group wants changes to the Staff Regulations

A general revision of the Staff Regulations of the officials of the European Community is foreseen in 2013 and the European Commission has already made its proposals public.  The Disability Support Group (DSG) of the European Parliament is now releasing its proposals for amending the Staff Regulations (SR). DSG asks the European Commission and the Staff Representatives to carefully study its proposals and integrate them into the new SR. In its view, the European Institutions should be a model of positive practice with regard to the employment and working conditions for persons with a disability. If the EU Disability Strategy as well EU disability legislation remain largely a dead letter within the Institutions, the Commission may find it increasingly difficult to persuade the Member States to follow its guidance in this policy area.
	 
DSG is a well-established group within the EP Secretariat comprising staff with a disability, parents and carers of disabled persons, and professionals in the domain. DSG has made proposals on the implementation of the existing Staff Regulations and drafted in co-operation with the administration  the Code of good practice for the employment of people with disabilities, adopted by the Bureau of the European Parliament as part of the Parliament´s Equality and Diversity  Action Plan. It has also participated in working groups on improving accessibility in the EP, and has consulted a wide variety of officials regarding the SR.  
	
The bar has been raised by the UN

The DSG proposals stem essentially from three sources.  First, DSG has taken stock of the successes as well as the bottle-necks in the implementation of the existing SR in all of the EU Institutions. 
	 
Second, we draw out the consequences of the commitments made by the European Union after the adoption of the existing SR. Most importantly, since the European Union ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities on December 23 in 2010, the Institutions have become legally bound to screen and eventually make changes to their regulations and practices. Here, we can do no better than to paraphrase and complement the Commission´s press release (5.1.2011): all legislation, policies and programmes, including the Staff Regulations, at EU level must be made to comply with the Convention's provisions on disability rights. The UN Convention obliges all state parties to take action in access to education and training, employment, transport, infrastructures and buildings open to the public, and improving the participation of persons with a disability.	

The European Commission has also published a Disability Strategy for 2010-2020 which should naturally also inform the strategies and staff policy of the Institutions. In addition, the spirit of the laws is changing, as recent regulations relating to access to transport show.
	
Third, we take note of the stated objectives behind the Commission´s reform proposal, such as the lengthening of careers and working time. 

Costs of failure have increased

Persistent underachievement in the implementation of the present SR proves that it offers insufficient guidance for enactment and little or no sanctions for inaction. The Institutions cannot report significant progress up to now in the mandatory goals of the UN Convention for two related reasons. In the absence of internal coordination, there is no institutionalized knowledge of what the state of play is on the whole. Moreover, despite a degree of welcome improvements in certain Institutions at certain levels, the picture remains discomforting. Consequently, the Institutions run the risk of failing their new legal obligations under the UN Convention on disability rights. The European Commission jeopardizes its credibility as a contracting party in human rights law, unless it addresses its own shortcomings in relation to the objectives of the UN Convention. 

DSG proposals

DSG has formulated well-established and uncontroversial revisions, such as introducing a definition of disability according to the methodology of the WHO; the explicit inclusion of carers of persons with a disability in order to avoid discrimination by association: the definition of the scope of discrimination to explicitly include indirect discrimination; an improved definition and scope of accessibility; the mainstreaming of Universal Design; the strengthening of protection against discrimination by the creation of a discrimination complaint board; and increased protection of the rights and welfare of persons with a disability, including carers.
	
Many of the proposed improvements to the SR are, in essence, a form of cost-effective social insurance for all staff. It should be born in mind that many persons become disabled in the course of their life. Anyone can face a situation, where they would benefit from improvements proposed by the DSG. An impairment, even not a major one, can cause a big problem at work, unless reasonable accommodation is available and smoothly provided. Increased life-expectancy combined with reduced social services and the ever-increasing participation of women in the labour market mean that more staff (predominantly women) will also have to take on the role of a carer. Employers will have to adapt working conditions to these social facts. 
	
Greater accessibility, on the other hand, is an investment that would pay its costs back rapidly and across the board. Improved accessibility of the built environment would benefit parents of small children as well as those who find their mobility gradually reduced through aging. Tested and certified accessibility of IT tools would increase the productivity of all staff in its entirety. The same holds for more effective measures against discrimination and harassment at work. 

Contacts:
Disability-Support@europarl.europa.eu