VZCZCXRO2457
RR RUEHIK
DE RUEHBS #1544/01 3231016
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 191016Z NOV 09
FM USEU BRUSSELS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC
INFO RUCNMEU/EU INTEREST COLLECTIVE
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRUSSELS 001544 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EUR/ERA, DRL/AE and DRL/ILCSR 
LABOR FOR ODEP and ILAB 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB PGOV PHUM EUN
SUBJECT: U.S. AND EU RENEW DIALOGUE ON EMPLOYMENT OF PERSONS WITH 
DISABILITIES 
 
BRUSSELS 00001544  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY:  Assistant Secretary in the Office of Disability 
Employment Policy Kathleen Martinez led a U.S. delegation in frank 
discussions with their EU counterparts during the U.S.-EU Seminar on 
Employment of Persons with Disabilities on November 5 and 6.  A set 
of common approaches and problems emerged during discussions, 
although policy and definition differences among member states make 
data collection and review in the EU especially difficult.  Both 
sides expressed hope that the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons 
with Disabilities will mainstream the issue in the United States, 
Europe, and the rest of the world.  END SUMMARY. 
 
---------------------- 
INCREASING COOPERATION 
---------------------- 
 
¶2.  European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal 
Opportunities Vladimir Spidla and Assistant Secretary of Labor for 
Disability Employment Policy Kathleen Martinez opened the two day 
seminar by addressing the U.S. and EU's shared challenges and recent 
developments for improving employment policy and opportunities for 
persons with disabilities.  Commisioner Spidla said that he hoped 
the seminar was indicative of a new and stronger relationship 
between the U.S. and the EU.  Martinez echoed this sentiment by 
explaining that disability rights are a priority for the Obama 
Administration. 
 
¶3.  Speakers from the U.S. and EU described several similar 
obstacles for developing and implementing effective policy.  Ryan 
Easterly, Program Coordinator for the HSC Foundation in Washington 
DC, and Mary Kyriazopoulou, Project Manager for the European Agency 
for Development in Special Needs Education, presented almost 
identical presentations on the transition from education to 
employment for young persons with disabilities.  Commonalities were 
evident throughout the session, for example, around disability 
pensions and benefits.  Both sides also provided striking examples 
of the inability for neither the U.S. federal government, nor the EU 
institutions, to "practice what they preach" in their own hiring 
practices.  Belinda Pyke, Director for Equality between Men and 
Women, Action against Discrimination, Civil Society at the European 
Commission, said that the EU institutions are "not particularly good 
examples" of best hiring practices and "not enough has been 
addressed on accessibility or recruitment" for persons with 
disabilities. 
 
-------------------------------- 
27 MEMBER STATES, 27 DEFINITIONS 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  Commissioner Spidla said that policy making is further 
complicated in the EU by differences in definitions among member 
states which makes collecting data very difficult.  According to the 
OECD's Christopher Prinz, Project Leader, Sickness & Disability 
Policy Reviews, most EU countries do not have a definition for 
"disability", and the definition in those countries that do have one 
is so limited it does not accurately reflect the population.  The 
complexity, according to Pyke, is that all member states need to 
agree on whether or not to try to define disability, a difficult 
task that must be completed before even discussing the actual 
definition.  Member states also interpret "reasonable accommodation" 
differently.  The European Commission recently sent letters to Italy 
and Germany inquiring into "unnecessarily severe" definitions of 
reasonable accommodation, although the Commission has few 
enforcement mechanisms without a common definition. 
 
¶5.  The lack of cohesiveness also makes gathering comparable 
statistics, for example data on need for services and the 
effectiveness of existing services, difficult to collect.  Although 
sixteen of the EU's twenty-seven member states have a quota system 
to include persons with disabilities in the workforce, the evidence 
that these systems are effective is still very limited.  Berth 
Danemark from the Swedish Institute for Disability Research at 
Orebro University explained, "We don't know the effectiveness of 
programs, but we continue to invest huge amounts of resources."  In 
an effort to stem these problems, Pyke announced that the European 
Commission is launching an EU wide analysis of member states' 
supported-employment programs.  The results will be released in 
¶2010.  Several panelists also called for additional steps, including 
a review of the EU's Employment Guidelines. 
 
------------------------------------------- 
UN CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  Both U.S. and EU speakers expressed hope that the UN Convention 
on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities will be an important 
impetus for change.  Yannis Vardakastanis, European Disability 
Forum, called President Obama's signing of the treaty "very crucial" 
 
BRUSSELS 00001544  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
and an important step forward.  Pyke said that ratifying the 
convention is a priority for the Swedish Presidency, which ends 
December 31, 2009.  Ratification, she said, will most likely be 
completed by the end of the year and in time for the International 
Day of Persons with Disabilities (December 3) and to avoid what she 
termed, "issues with the Lisbon Treaty."  Panelists agreed that the 
convention will help the EU prepare the framework for its policy. 
Pyke said that the EU will likely attempt to use the convention's 
open definition of disability.  "This will allow member states to 
continue to make their own definition," she explained.  She 
expressed hope that the convention will encourage better hiring and 
retention policies for persons with disabilities in the EU 
workforce.  She will also brief the European Parliament about the 
convention and how the Parliament can apply the principles to the 
hiring practices in their own secretariat. 
 
---------- 
NEXT STEPS 
---------- 
 
¶7.  The seminar concluded positively, with both sides agreeite him on ts priorities. 
Martinez ierred aining that the civilizat)ons of Europe and America 
have enough similarities to productively pursue further discussio 
on standards. 
 
MURRAY