Today, 26 November, the EU Council of Ministers approved a decision for the EU to accede to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This is the first time a regional organisation has acceded to a UN human rights convention.

The Convention will provide a clear framework for improving protection and realising the rights of people with disabilities in the EU. Today’s decision is an important step forward for EU human rights policy and a sign of the importance the EU assigns to the rights of people with disabilities.

The Convention was signed by the EU in March 2007 and is the first UN human rights convention that allows the possibility for regional organisations to accede. Today’s Council decision means that the EU will present its formal accession instrument as soon as agreement has been reached in the EU on the institutional arrangements.