Marrying Principle with Power in the EU - the Test Case of the EU Structural Funds Negotiations: Update

“[The] European Union is facing a major test of its sincerity and commitment to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Current and positive proposals from the European Commission designed to bring the EU Structural Funds into alignment with the CRPD are under pressure from Council. Failure to take the CRPD seriously will needlessly expose the EU – and its member states – to international legal liability if the Funds are used to build new institutions. And such failure will amount to a wasted opportunity to harness the Funds to ease a major process of transition needed to embed the right to community living for all.”2