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Glossary of terms
Benchmarking This means measuring how well one country, business, industry, etc. is performing compared to other countries, businesses, industries, and so on. The 'benchmark' is the standard by which performance will be judged.
Best practice One way of improving policies in the EU is for governments to look at what is going on in other EU countries and to see what works best. They can then adopt this 'best practice', adapting it to their own national and local circumstances.
Civil society This is the collective name for all kinds of organisations and associations that are not part of government but that represent professions, interest groups or sections of society. It includes (for example) trade unions, employers' associations, environmental lobbies and groups representing women, farmers, people with disabilities and so on. Since these organisations have a lot of expertise in particular areas and are involved in implementing and monitoring European Union policies, the EU regularly consults civil society and wants it to become more involved in European policymaking.
Charter of Fundamental Rights In 1999, the Cologne European Council started the work on drafting a Charter of Fundamental Rights. The aim was to consolidate in a single document the fundamental rights applicable at Union level. The Charter, based on the Community Treaties and international conventions and finally adopted in Nice in 2000, contains two articles of particular importance for disabled people: Article 21 on ‘non-discrimination’ and Article 26 on the ‘Integration of persons with disabilities’. This Charter should be integrated in the future new EU Constitutional Treaty, to become legally binding.
Disability Intergroup of the European Parliament Informal grouping of Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) from all nationalities and the major political groups committed to disability issues. This group was established in 1980 and represents an important ally for the European Disability Forum to advance disability rights in the European Union.
Disability comprehensive legislation In 2000, a European Directive was adopted on Equal Treatment in Employment and Occupation. Yet, discrimination does not merely occur in the field of employment. To guarantee equal access to the employment market, disabled people need assured access to quality education, transportation, products and services.
Economic, social and territorial cohesion It is an expression of solidarity between the Member States and regions of the European Union. The aim is balanced development throughout the EU, reducing structural disparities between regions and promoting equal opportunities for all. In practical terms, this is achieved by means of a variety of financing operations, principally through the Structural Funds and the Cohesion Fund. Every three years the European Commission presents a report on progress made in achieving economic and social cohesion and on how Community policies have contributed to it.
General-interest services ‘General-interest services’ are services considered to be in the general interest by the public authorities and accordingly subjected to specific public-service obligations. They include non-market services (e.g. compulsory education, social protection), obligations of the State (e.g. security and justice) and services of general economic interest (e.g. energy and communications). Article 86 of the Treaty (formerly Article 90) does not apply to the first two categories (non-market services and state obligations). In May 2003 the European Commission adopted a Green Paper on services of general-interest in Europe. This opened a debate on the role of the European Union in promoting the supply of general-interest services, in defining their general-interest objectives and the way they are organised, financed and evaluated. In May 2004 the Commission went on to issue a White Paper on services of general interest, in which it sets out the approach taken by the European Union to promoting the development of quality general-interest services. It presents the elements of a strategy to ensure that all citizens and firms in the Union have access to quality general-interest services at affordable prices. The Commission has decided to develop its sectoral approach without issuing a general directive for the moment.
High Level Group on Disability Composed of one representative per Member State of the European Union, the High Level Group monitors the latest policies and priorities of governments regarding disability. With its information and experience, it advises the European Commission on methods for reporting in future on the EU-wide situation with regards to disability.
Social Agenda The term means literally ‘things to be done’. It normally refers to the list of items for discussion at a meeting, but politicians also use it as a jargon term meaning ‘things we want to achieve’. For example, the EU’s ‘Social Agenda’ sets out what the Union wants to achieve, over the next few years, in terms of employment and social policies, as part of the ‘Lisbon Strategy’.
Social policy The Treaty of Amsterdam incorporated the Agreement on social policy signed by eleven Member States into the Treaty establishing the European Community, thus bringing a complicated situation to an end. Between 1993 and 1999, there were two distinct legal bases for social policy: the EC Treaty itself and a separate agreement that the United Kingdom had not signed. Now, all the measures are brought together in Title XI of the EC Treaty.The social policy objectives defined in the EC Treaty and included in the text of the European Constitution were inspired by the 1961 European Social Charter and the 1989 Community Charter of the Fundamental Social Rights of Workers: promoting employment, improving working conditions, proper social protection, social dialogue, workforce training to achieve a high and sustainable level of employment and combating exclusion.
Social Policy Agreement The Social Policy Agreement was signed by 11 of the Member States in December 1991. The United Kingdom opted out. It sets out the policy objectives for which the 1989 Social Charter paved the way: promoting employment, improving living and working conditions, combating exclusion, developing human resources, etc. It also lays down the procedure for adopting social policy measures and acknowledges the vital part played by management and labour in this field.
Social Charter (Charter of the Fundamental Social Rights of Workers) The Charter of the Fundamental Social Rights of Workers, known as the Social Charter, was adopted in 1989, in the form of a declaration by all Member States except the United Kingdom, which did not sign it until 1998. It is seen as a political instrument containing ‘moral obligations’ whose object is to guarantee that certain social rights are respected in the countries concerned. These relate primarily to the labour market, vocational training, social protection, equal opportunities and health and safety at work. It also contains an explicit request to the Commission to put forward proposals for translating the content of the Social Charter into legislation. The Social Charter has been followed up by action programmes and specific legislative proposals. The Charter of Fundamental Rights, proclaimed in Nice on 7 December 2000, includes the rights set out in this Social Charter.
Social dialogue This means discussion, negotiation and joint action between the European social partners and discussions between these social partners and the EU institutions.
Social partners This is jargon for the two sides of industry – i.e. employers and workers. At EU level they are represented by three main organisations:
Stakeholder Any person or organisation with an interest in or affected by EU legislation and policymaking is a 'stakeholder' in that process. For instance, the European Commission makes a point of consulting as wide a range of stakeholders as possible before proposing new legislation or new policy initiatives.
The Madrid Declaration The Madrid Declaration is a key document that defined the vision and political priorities of the European disability movement, in view of the European Year of People with Disabilities (2003). The Declaration was the result of a consensus between the European Disability Forum, the Spanish Presidency of the European Union and the European Commission. It was adopted and proclaimed by more than 600 participants from 34 countries during the European Congress of People with Disabilities, held in Madrid in March 2002.
UN Convention on the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities After 5 years of negotiation a UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was finally adopted in 2007 by the UN General Assembly. The Convention is based on existing Human Rights Treaties and their application to people with disabilities. Its aim is to guarantee an effective protection of disabled people and ensure that they can enjoy from the most basic human rights. The text prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities in all areas of life and addresses access to the full range of human rights: civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including through positive actions. The Convention binds the signatory States to implement its provisions. A monitoring mechanism reports the advances in each State. |
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