The European Union and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: A Story of Exclusive and Shared Competences
| Date | 01 December 2011 |
| DOI | 10.1177/1023263X1101800404 |
| Published date | 01 December 2011 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
18 MJ 4 (2011) 431
THE EUROPEAN UNION AND THE UNITED
NATIONS CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF
PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES: A STORY OF
EXCLUSIVE AND SHARED COMPETENCES
L W *
ABSTRACT
e signature and conclusion of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons
with Disabilities (CRPD) by the European Community (now European Union) marks a
signicant step forward in the protection of human rights by the EU. Whilst the EU has
become a party to international treaties in the past, thi s is the rst such accession to a
human rights treaty. As a consequ ence, the conclusion of the CRPD by the EU raises many
interesting questions , and the path to be followed by the EU in identifying which C onvention
obligations it is bound by, or should act on , and which obligations fall primarily within the
responsibility of the Member States, is, as yet, untrod . is article is a rst at tempt to
examine some of those issues and, specically, to reect on what fac tors will determine
whether EU action to implement the Convention would be appropriate in those many
areas that fall within the shared compete nce of the EU and the Member States.
Keywords: competence; disability r ights; European Union; mixed agreement; United
Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Dis abilities
* European Dis ability Forum C hair in Europea n Disability L aw, Maastricht Universit y (NLs). is paper
is based on the clos ing lecture the aut hor gave at the summer scho ol on e United Nations Convention
on the Rights of Pers ons with Disabilities: Fr om Paper Rules to Action, organiz ed and hosted by the
Centre for Disabi lity Law, National Univer sity of Ireland, G alway, in cooperation with the Har vard
Project on Disabi lity, in June 2011. e author is grateful to Prof s. Quinn and Stein for giv ing her the
opportunit y to present at the summer scho ol, and to two anonymous pee r reviewers, who commented
on an earlier vers ion of this paper.
Lisa Waddington
432 18 MJ 4 (2011)
§1. INTRODUCTION
e European Union concluded the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons
with Disabilit ies (CRPD) in December 2010, with the Convention coming into force
for the EU a month later, in January 2011. e European Community, represented by
the Commission, had previously played an important role in the negotiation of the
Convention, and the Community sig ned the Convention in 2007. e signature and
conclusion of the CRPD marks a signi cant step forward in the protection of human
rights by the EU. Whilst t he EU has become a party to international treat ies in the past,
this is the rs t such accession to a human rights treaty. As a consequence, the conclusion
of the CRPD by the EU raises ma ny interesting questions, and the path to be fol lowed by
the EU in identify ing which Convention obligations it is bound by, or should act on, and
which obligations fall pr imarily within t he responsibility of the Member States, is, as yet ,
untrod. is ar ticle is a rst attempt to examine some of those issues .
Drawing on the Counci l Decision to conclude the Convention,1 the article identies
areas that fal l within the exclusive competence of the EU, where the EU is bound to
comply in full wit h the Convention. e article also identies the much wider range
of elds that fall within the shared competence of t he EU and the Member States. In
particular, the article reects on what factors will determi ne whether EU action to
implement the Convention would be appropriate in these areas of share d competence.
e article begins by providing a brief overview of the general competence the EU
has to address disabil ity issues, par ticularly in t he context of fundamental or human
rights. e art icle proceeds with an introduction to the CR PD and a short discussion on
its status as a mixe d agreement under EU law. ere follows an examin ation of the legal
instruments wh ich resulted in the EC/EU concluding the Convention, and a reec tion on
what those tell us about the EU’s vision of its own comm itments under the Convention,
and its understandi ng of the competence it has to act. One area of shared competence,
non-discriminat ion, is examined in detail, and the possible releva nce of the CRPD for
the adoption of EU legislation in this eld is considered. Lastly, the article reects on
the factors that may inuence t he implementation of the Convention by the EU more
generally, particul arly in those areas of shared competence.
1 Council Decision of 26 November 2009 concerning t he conclusion, by the European Com munity, of
the United Nations Conve ntion on the Rights of Per sons with Disa bilities(2010/48/EC), [2010] OJ L
303/16 .
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