Brussels, 02/12/2008 (Agence Europe) - Ahead of the European Day of People with Disabilities on 3 December, the European Commission held a conference, “Acting locally for a society for all”, in Brussels on Monday 1 and Tuesday 2 December. The conference, organised jointly with the European Disability Forum (EDF) and supported by the EU-wide “For Diversity. Against Discrimination.” information campaign, gave key players in the disability field the opportunity to discuss follow-up to the current European Disability Action Plan, which comes to an end in 2010, and to discuss the European Commission's recent proposal for legislation to combat discrimination in access to goods and services, social protection and social advantages, education and healthcare. The conference was built around of three plenary sessions, each focusing on one of the following issues: (1) Disability rights through mainstreaming at regional and local level: putting the UN Convention into practice; (2) Involving persons with disabilities in all decisions affecting them; and (3) From EU to local community and from local community to EU. Richard Howitt, President of the European Parliament Disability Intergroup, Member of the European Parliament employment and social affairs committee, chaired a plenary debate with the Commission, member states and industry representatives, the panel and the audience on Tuesday morning.
The conference was opened on Monday morning by European Social Affairs Commissioner Vladimir Špidla, Yannis Vardakastanis, President of the European Disability Forum, and French Secretary of State for Solidarity Valérie Létard, giving their thoughts on “From the EU to the people and from the people to the EU”. Nikolaus van der Pas, Director General of DG Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities of the European Commission, and John Patrick Clarke, member of the EDF Executive Committee, closed the conference on Tuesday. For further information, go to: http: //ec.europa.eu/social (G.B./transl.rt)