As described in module 1, the EU ratified the CRPD in December 2010 and this was the first time the EU ratified any international convention relating to human rights. The CRPD provides disabled persons with comprehensive protection of a wide range of human rights in the fields of civil, political and socio-economic rights. These include rights relating to non-discrimination, freedom from torture or inhumane and degrading treatment, freedom from violence and exploitation, respect for privacy, respect for private and family life, education, health, and an adequate standard of living.
In addition, the CRPD requires all States Parties to designate one or more focal points to monitor the implementation of the Convention. The EU institutions are still in the process of finalizing which EU bodies will fulfill that role in relation to the EU.
Finally, the Optional Protocol to the Convention provides a mechanism by which States Parties can agree to individuals bringing complaints to the United Nations that their rights under the Convention have been breached. The EU is yet to ratify the Optional Protocol.
You can view the full Convention and its Optional Protocol here.
The effect of ratification is that all the EU institutions (including the European Commission and Court of Justice of the EU) must comply with the CRPD in developing, implementing and interpreting EU law. In practice this means that the EU institutions and Member States must interpret and implement the Framework Directive consistently with the CRPD and its core human rights principles of respect for the dignity of disabled persons; their autonomy, participation and full inclusion in society, and non-discrimination (Article 3 CRPD).
The CRPD will also be relevant in interpreting any of the rights which are particularly relevant to disabled persons in the Charter of Fundamental Right such as the rights to the integrity of the person (Article 3 CFR), the right not be subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment (Article 4 CFR), the right to private and family life (Article 7 CFR), the right to non-discrimination (Article 2 CFR) and the right to measures designed to ensure the integration and participation of disabled persons in society (Article 26 CFR).
The effect of the Convention on the interpretation of the Framework Directive is discussed further below.