On Friday 30 March 2007 the Permanent Representative of the Federal Republic of Germany to the United Nations (UN), representing the EU Presidency, and the Permanent Representative of the EU Commission at the UN in New York, representing the European Community, signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
This is the first time that, alongside the individual Member States, the European Community has signed a UN human rights convention. This signing applies to the European Community and its institutions (the European Parliament, the Commission, the European Court of Justice and the European Court of Auditors) within the scope of their competence.
The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Optional Protocol on Communications were adopted by the UN General Assembly on 31 December 2006. The Convention is the ninth human rights convention to be drawn up under UN auspices and the first to be specially designed for disabled people. Its aim is to promote equal opportunities for, and prevent the discrimination of, persons with disabilities.
The European Union, in close cooperation with civil society, played an active role in ensuring that this new human rights convention now has the potential to improve the lives of over 600 million people with disabilities worldwide.
The disability organizations were involved in the negotiations from the beginning, under the motto of "Nothing about us without us", together with the national representatives, a precedent for the UN.
The Convention will enter into force 30 days after the deposit of the 20th instrument of ratification. The Presidency therefore calls upon all States to sign and ratify the Convention as soon as possible.
