Marrakesh Treaty
As far as we can tell 2 EU countries still need to adopt national legislation and communicate it to the Commission: Greece and Luxembourg, over two years after deadline.
Looking at wider Europe: the Serbian Parliament has adopted a law opening the way for signature of the Treaty; a draft bill is in preparation in Montenegro.
MISCELLANEOUS
High level meeting at the European Commission
On 11 December, the EBU President and head of Campaigning, as a follow-up to the EBU letter to Commissioner for Equality Helena Dalli upon her designation, met with her cabinet member in charge of disability policy, Nora Bednarski. On that occasion, we had a good exchange on our respective priorities, including on the future EU Disability Strategy.
EU Disability Strategy
On 20 February, EBU participated in a useful meeting of EU-level DPOs around the European Disability Forum, on the future EU Disability Strategy. The meeting was attended by the Head of Unit EMPL-C.3 (Disability) at the European Commission, who briefed us on the state of play.
It is now confirmed that there will be new Disability Strategy for the next decade (2021-2030). It is expected that DPOs and social partners will be consulted in October-November 2020, that a final proposal will be presented at the European Day of Persons with Disabilities at the end of the year, and that the Strategy will adopted in January or February 2021.
European Parliament’s Disability Intergroup
The Bureau of the European Parliament’s Disability Intergroup was established on 13 February and the chair and vice-chairs will be elected soon. The latest composition of the intergroup counts 73 members, which is as many as in the previous legislature.