“The business case of accessibility: an opportunity not only for business but also for regions”

7 October 2010, Committee of the Regions, Open Days, Brussels Workshop on Ageing and Persons with Disabilities

Miguel Angel Cabra de LunaEESC Member

Index

♦ About the EESC

♦ About ONCE and its Foundation

♦ EESC work on accessibility policy

♦ The business case of accessibility

♦ The « regional case » of accessibility

♦ A best practice – Article 16 Structural Funds General Regulation – Innet16

♦ Final considerations/conclusions

About the EESC

• EU institution already created by the Treaty of Rome (1957)

• Consultative role – approximatevely 150 opinions per year

• Facilitator and promoter of the civil dialogue

• A real impact on the EU’s legislative process

About ONCE and its Foundation

• Focused on employment for people with disabilities and promoting accessibility (both in the physical and digital environment)

•Employs 125,000 people – more than 100,000 are disabled people

• Approx. €3bn turnover – all profits re-invested in the company

• Largely financed with a social lottery (« el cupon »)

• Active in many business sectors (ICT, hotels, media, automotive, waste, health, industrial laundry, etc.)

• Close collaboration with companies and public administrations (including regions and local authorities)

EESC work on EU accessibility policy

Recent Opinions

• People with disabilities: employment and accessibility by stages for people with disabilities in the EU. Post-2010 Lisbon Strategy (SOC/363) (2010)

• eAccessibility (TEN/228) (2006)

• eEurope 2002: Accessibility of Public Web Sites and their Content (TEN/99) (2003)

• Equal opportunities for people with disabilities (SOC/249) (2007)

• Equal opportunities for people with disabilities: a European Action Plan (SOC/163) (2004)

• Harmonised indicators in the field of disability as an instrument for monitoring European policies (SOC/270) (2007)

Recent Events

• Conference on Reasonable Adjustments (2010)

• Public hearing on the future EU Disability Action Plan (2010)

• Seminar on UN Convention national monitoring bodies (2009)

The business case of accessibility

• Access to markets

• Access to talent

• Retention of staff

• Retention of clients

• Reputation management

• Competitive edge

• Case study: ONCE – Microsoft partnership

The « regional case » of accessibility

• Business case vs. Regional case

• Untapped potential for regions – in the context of ageing but also of increased mobility

• The Europe of the Regions can create a virtuous circle

• Structural Funds and other EU programmes as a lever

• Accessible Cities Award

• Case studies

A best practice – Article 16 Structural Funds General regulation–Innet16

• Article 16 establishes access and non discrimination for PwD as a compulsory requirement to implement EU structural funding

• EU Cohesion policy brings development of EU regions through accessible environments and inclusive employment initiatives

• Need to reinforce implementation of this article through observation ⇨ FONCE’s initiative Innet16

• Innet16 is an observation scheme for Art. 16 through a European network

• Aims at exchanging best practice, evaluation, technical support for stakeholders, participation of civil society and ensuring efficient implementation

F inal considerations/conclusions

• Regional governments need to strengthen consultation and involvement of disability organisations

• Need of multistakeholder (public administrations, companies and disabled organisations) collaboration and partnerships

• Importance of getting right the post 2013 Structural Funds and EU programmes

• New EU public procurement legislation as an opportunity

• Maximise impact of Accessible Cities Awards

… Thanks a lot for your attention!!