Disability issues have featured to different degrees in the process of European integration, to progressively consolidate in an EU disability acquis. This panel critically addresses the role of different institutions and civil society, particularly, persons with disabilities in the consolidation of EU disability law and policy, and examines the role of the EU as global actor in promoting disability rights in third countries. In particular the panel, presents interim findings of the project European Research Council (ERC) funded project ‘Protecting the Right to Culture of Persons with Disabilities and Enhancing Cultural Diversity through European Union Law: Exploring New Paths – DANCING’ led by Professor Delia Ferri. It consist of three papers and will be chaired by Professor Ferri. The first paper, presented by Eva Sophie Krolla (early career researcher in DANCING), will focus on the role of the European Commission as leading institutional actor within the EU legal order and as driving force behind the development of EU disability law as a distinct field of EU action. The following paper will be presented by Iryna Tekuchova (PhD Candidate in DANCING) and investigates the role of the EU in protecting and promoting the rights of persons with disabilities in its external relations through the Eastern Partnerships and illustrated by a case study on Ukraine. The third paper, presented by Léa Urzel Francil (PhD Candidate in DANCING), will present a case study by looking at the role of EU law and at the interaction among different institutional and non-institutional actors in protecting the right to cultural participation of persons with disabilities. Prof. Ferrri in her role of chair will also act as discussant teasing out connections and highlighting specific federal trends and participatory approaches emerging in the shaping of EU disability law.

Making use of its ‘right of initiative’ and its role of policy-maker the European Commission (Commission) has played a vital role in the promotion and protection of disability rights. In particular, by means of policy strategies, legislative proposals, and by developing multifaceted consultative processes with stakeholders, the Commission has substantially contributed to the advancement and evolution of disability law in the European Union (EU). This contribution uses a socio-legal approach incorporating doctrinal desk-based research and a set of empirical data from qualitative interviews with EU policy-makers. It interrogates the Commission’s role and function in proposing disability-specific legislation and examines its role within the dynamic lawmaking structure of the EU. In that connection, discrepancies between the Commission’s proposals and ultimate legal outcomes are highlighted. Further, the Commission’s efforts to put in place participatory mechanisms to involve persons with disabilities and the extent to which the Commission has taken on board inputs deriving from participatory mechanisms are examined to gauge the effects of these tools on policy outcomes. This investigation contextualises the Commission as an institutional actor within the EU legal order that extensively interacts with other EU institutional and non-institutional actors in the area of disability law but must observe the inherent constraints of the EU legal order. Yet, it will be argued that the Commission has been the institutional driving force of EU disability law as a distinct field of EU action.

In the last decades, the EU has enhanced its role as a global actor in the realm of human rights broadly and disability rights particularly. The role of the EU as advocate for the rights of persons with disabilities externally was initially envisaged in the European Disability Strategy 2010-2020 and has been renewed in the Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2021-2030, in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), which the EU concluded in 2010.

As yet, the EU has tried to enhance its role in the Eastern Partnership countries. A significant case study is Ukraine, given that the evolving nature of the relationship with this country and its changed status as candidate country in the context of the ongoing war. Notably, in the case of Ukraine, the Association Agreement (AA) signed with the EU in 2014 impacted the domestic regulatory and legal framework in the disability domain. Although, disability matters were not explicitly addressed in the body of the agreement, the Annexes to various chapters of the document outline a set of regulations to be transposed in domestic legal order. Numerous legal acts that Ukraine should adopt to align with EU directives and regulations, mainstream disability rights. On the whole, it appears that the legal approximation process facilitated by the AA has prompted Ukraine to enhance mechanisms for protection and promotion of rights of people with disabilities.

This presentation examines the role that European Union (EU) law plays in advancing the participation of persons with disabilities in cultural life. As such, it briefly presents the rationale for this presentation, before outlining at greater length the relationship between the EU and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). It then focuses at greater length on persons with disabilities as professionals of the cultural and creative sectors (CCS). Indeed, working in the CCS is often perceived as a specific exercise which differs from the mainstream labour market, and as such is often thought to not fall under the common regulatory framework. In this context, the situation of cultural and creative professionals, as well as legislative framework that applies in many instances, can be overlooked. To investigate these claims, this paper identifies an already present EU framework that is instrumental to realising the inclusion and participation in the CCS of professionals with disabilities, on an equal basis with others. On foot of a socio-legal research, it discusses two EU instruments: the Directive 2000/78 (or Employment Equality Directive) and the Creative Europe Programme. Starting with EU anti-discrimination legislation, it highlights how the Employment Equality Directive contributes to advancing the participation of cultural and creative professionals with disabilities, with a particular emphasis on the provision of reasonable accommodation. Finally, it considers how the cultural action of the EU can help to promote equal opportunities for persons with disabilities in the CCS through the Creative Europe Programme.