WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1391/98 by Richard HOWITT to the Council. High-Level Disability Group
C 31/38 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 5. 2. 1999 (1999/C 31/046) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1391/98 by Richard Howitt (PSE) to the Council (6 May 1998) Subject: High-Level Disability Group What progress can the Council report following the first meetings of the High-Level Group on Disability set up after the adoption of the Council Resolution on Equality of Opportunity for People with Disabilities? Given the UK Presidencyís priority for employment, can the Council give its preliminary assessment of how far Member States have ensured integration of disabled people in their employment plans drawn up after the Luxembourg Summit? Given the existence of discrimination against disabled people in other spheres of life outside employment, will the Council welcome a proposal from the Commission for a new disability programme on the basis of the non- discrimination clause in the unratified Amsterdam Treaty? Reply (6 October 1998) The High-Level Disability Group comprises experts from the Commission, which is therefore best placed to provide information on the Groupís progress. At the Cardiff European Council meeting on 15 and 16 June 1998, during which the Commissionís and the Councilís initial assessments of the employment action plans were presented, the Heads of State and of Government added to the list of guidelines laid down for future discussions on employment the need to tackle discrimination against disabled people in the labour market. The Council will also examine any proposal from the Commission on measures to tackle discrimination against disabled people. Furthermore, following the Councilís adoption on 20 December 1996 of a Resolution on the social and occupational integration of people with disabilities (1), the Council General Secretariat is endeavouring › in terms of its own policies and practices › to play its part in implementing the principles contained in this Resolution. Accordingly, it now applies an interinstitutional code of good conduct to the recruitment of disabled persons. (1) OJ C 12, 13. 1. 1997. (1999/C 31/047) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1398/98 by JosØ ApolinÆrio (PSE) to the Commission (7 May 1998) Subject: Agriculture Can the Commission state its views on the outlook for agriculture in the outermost regions and on how it intends to reduce the imbalances linked to farming in such remote areas? Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission (10 June 1998) The Commission has always been anxious to take into account the specific characteristics of certain regions or activities in the definition or implementation of Community policies and also to answer the requests expressed by certain Member States. Thus the Council adopted the three decisions instituting the Poseií in 1989 and 1991, which recognise the specific characteristics of these regions, and the Commission proposed the Community initiative REGIS (isolated regions) as a response to the specific characteristics of these regions within the framework of the Structural Funds