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Hi European research 'Framework Programme 7' will commence in 2006 and now would be a very good time to start influencing the agenda if we want to ensure that disability issues are more prominent and more progressive than they were last time. Colleagues in the UK may wish to know that the Office of Science and Technology (OST) is carrying out a consultation exercise, inviting each UK university to put forward its view on the types of science and technology that should be funded at the European level, and what could be done to improve the Framework Programme management, instruments, etc. It might be helpful if you could contact your University's European Office and make sure that disability rights and equality issues feature as a priority in their response (we have just been asked to comment today and they need their answer by tomorrow!!!). For info, I've copied the letter we sent to the European Commission last year about the inadequacies in Framework 6. You can use anything from this if it helps... Best wishes Mark Priestley Centre for Disability Studies University of Leeds -----Original Message----- From: Mark Priestley [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: 13 November 2002 09:36 To: Wallis Goelen Cc: EYPD; Frank Mulcahy; Moira Jones Subject: urgent issues - 6FP Letter to: Wallis Goelen Head of Unit DG Employment and Social Affairs Unit of Integration of People with Disabilities B-1049 Brussels Belgium (copied to EYPD, DPI and EDF for information) Dear Wallis On behalf of the European Network on Disability Studies and Disabled People's International (Europe), we write to express our grave concern on a matter of considerable importance and urgency. In particular, we wish to express our concern at the lack of priority given to disability equality issues in the preparation of the Framework Six research programmes for 2003 (FP6). This must also be a matter of considerable concern for DG Employment and Social Affairs and we therefore wish to offer our support in any attempt to amend the final text of the work programmes at this late stage. PRINCIPLES 1. It is our belief that disability in Europe today is fundamentally a human rights and citizenship issue. This position has been clearly and repeatedly expressed through EU/EC policy - for example in the 'Invisible Citizens' report, the Madrid Declaration, the Communication on Non-discrimination, the Employment Framework Directive, and underwritten by Article 13 of the Amsterdam Treaty. This agenda is further emphasised in the priorities for 2003 European Year of Disabled People. 2. We welcome the past actions of the European Parliament and DG Employment and Social Affairs in promoting a disability rights perspective. 3. We believe that active partnerships between disabled people, policy makers and researchers are an essential tool in taking this agenda forward. There is already an existing critical mass of European researchers commited to these policy objectives and ways of working. 4. We believe that the historical dominance of research into the medical, epidemiological and professional 'care' aspects of disability has so far failed to advance the citizenship and human rights of disabled people. There is an urgent need to re-structure European research activity around social models of disability within the context of human rights and citizenship. CONCERNS 1. We are concerned that the draft work programmes for research in Framework Six (FP6) do not reflect the policy priorities of disabled people, the EU/EC, or the European Year of Disabled People. In particular, we are concerned that the priorities for research fail to treat disability as a human rights and citizenship issue. 2. We are concerned that there is no mention of disability or disabled people in any of the major thematic priorities for FP6. In particular, we are concerned that the programme on Citizenship and Governance includes no reference to disability or disabled people (although we attempted to influence this agenda earlier in the year). It is our view that in FP6 disabled people have again become 'Invisible Citizens'. 3. We are concerned that research concerning disabled people has been segregated into the 'Priority 8' area (Research in Support of Policy, 2.4) under the heading of 'health'. This conflicts with the aspirations of the Madrid Declaration to 'mainstream' disability rights issues, and compounds a negative view of disability as a health issue. Moreover, this priority area lacks the financial resources afforded to other themes and therefore rules out any possibility of applying the new large-scale research instruments (such as 'Integrated Projects' or 'Networks of Excellence') to research on disability. It is our view that in FP6 disabled people have been considerably under-valued. 4. We are concerned that the only specific research priorites on disability in the 'first call' are concerned with epidemiology, the delivery of care, and cost-effectiveness. This medical and welfare agenda fails to respond to the current European agenda - that disability is a human rights and citizenship issue. We are also aware that the first call priorites will account for some 60-70% of the total resource allocation in Priority 8. This suggests that there is unlikely to be any substantial investment in disability equality in any theme within the entire Framework. In 2003 European Year of Disabled People this must raise grave concerns about the Commission's commitment to the disabled citizens of Europe. ACTIONS 1. We have already acted to mobilise a critical mass of researchers and disabled people in Europe in order to respond to the policy research needs of 2003 European Year of Disabled People. This Network includes more than 100 research partners in 24 European countries, and includes the representaiton from DPI Europe and the European Disability Forum, with the support of individual MEPs on the Parliamentary Disability Intergroup. 2. In consultation with members of this Network, we find that there is a near unanimous view that the final text of FP6 must be amended to include disability rights and citizenship issues as a priority in 2003. Given the lack of research resources, and the medical focus of Priority 8, we believe that the only way to do this is to identify disabled people as a key group in the priority theme on Citizenship and Governance. 3. We therefore call on DG Employment and Social Affairs to represent the citizenship rights of disabled people in Europe by seeking to influence the final text of the FP6 work programmes. In particular, we call for: (a) the inclusion of disabled people as 'visible citizens' in the 'Citizenship and Governance' programme, and (b) the inclusion of research on disability rights in the first call for the 'Research in Support of Policy' programme. We wish to offer whatever support and assistance we can provide in taking forward these actions as a matter of urgency. Best wishes Mark Priestley Co-ordinator, European Network on Disability Studies Giampiero Griffo Chair, Disabled People's International (Europe) ________________End of message______________________ Archives and tools for the Disability-Research Discussion List are now located at: www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/disability-research.html You can JOIN or LEAVE the list from this web page.