What could "disability rights" possibly mean under the terms of your social
model? The right to be oppressed? The right to be discriminated against?
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mark Priestley" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, January 19, 2004 4:10 AM
Subject: European research agendas
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)
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