The chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities claims that a draft EU regulation on the cross-border protection of adults conflicts with several provisions of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) – the Commission disagrees.
A 2023 Commission proposal for an EU regulation on cross-border protection of adults may breach a UN convention, according to the chair of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
In a letter sent to the EU Executive on 23 May 2024, Gertrude Oforiwa cited concerns within the disability movement and stressed that article 21 of the proposal seems to be in violation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), which has been adopted by all EU member states.
“Current article 21 of the proposed Regulation, which allows for a protection measure of ‘placement’ in an institution [of another EU country], appears to be in violation of articles 5 and 19 of the UN CRPD [regarding non-discrimination and independent living] and should be removed from the regulation,” according to the letter, seen by Euronews.
For advocates of the rights of persons with disabilities, such as the European Disability Forum (EDF), it would be a missed opportunity not to progress towards a model which supports their free will and prevents segregation and isolation.
“We need a paradigm shift away from patronising and infantilising disabled people to empowering them to take their own decisions,” MEP Katrin Langensiepen (Germany/Greens) told Euronews, calling for de-institutionalisation and the strengthening of local care services to facilitate independent living of all persons with disabilities across the EU.
“I am also concerned that the overall scope of the regulation does not take into account the developments brought by the UN CRPD, including measures to ensure equal recognition before the law by moving from substitute decision-making regimes to supported decision-making,” the UN committee chair wrote.
But for EU Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, this legislation will “simplify the lives of adults” and it is not legally possible for the executive to change the scope of the provisions, he told the UN Chair in a letter dated 29 August, seen by Euronews.
“Changing the provisions on scope would have created legal discrepancies between the two legislative instruments, the regulation and the 2000 protection of adults convention [the Hague Convention], that will have to apply in parallel,” the Commissioner said.
Reynders claimed the regulation fully complies with the CRPD and stressed that the issue is a competence of the member states.
Other provisions of the proposed EU regulation conflict with the rights of persons with disabilities in terms of equality and non-discrimination, equality before the law and living in a community, the UN chair stressed.
“We need to change how we view protection. It’s not about the ‘protection of people’ but the protection of their rights,” said Marine Uldry, EDF’s human rights policy coordinator, adding that the “regulation should be amended to ensure people have a right to choice”.
The regulation is currently being negotiated by member states in the Council of the EU, with a working group meeting on Friday (13 September) to progress on the file and the intention to continue discussions at this level over the next few months.
