Tuesday 11 January 2011

EU Ratifies Convention on Disabilities

The European Union has ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This is the first time that the EU has ratified a human rights treaty. The EU signed the Convention in 2007. 
Article 42 of the Convention says: 'The present Convention shall be open for signature by all States and by regional integration organizations at United Nations Headquarters in New York as of 30 March 2007.' Article 43 says: 'The present Convention shall be subject to ratification by signatory States and to formal confirmation by signatory regional integration organizations.'
The EU is the 97th party to the Convention.
The EU is also in a position to ratify the European Convention on Human Rights. Negotiations are now underway with the Council of Europe in order to work out the details. For a discussion on EU ratification of the European Convention, see the article by my colleague Laurent Pech and Xavier Groussot in European Issues.
Thanks to Clemens Müller and Laurent Pech.

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