Translation of "Le groupe des personnes handicapées " (French → English) :

The European High-Level Group for matters relating to disability (expert group chaired by the Commission, bringing together specialists from the Member States) has the task of developing greater interaction between national policies.

A further point to note is that only 42 % of people with disabilities are employed (compared to almost 65 % of non-disabled people), and 52 % of people with disabilities are economically inactive (compared to 28 % of non-disabled people).

social partners at EU level should consider to make use of the EU social dialogue mechanisms to propose new initiatives for the employment of disabled people; the EU directives on public procurement should be modified to allow for public authorities to include the employment of disabled people as an award criteria; national and EU networks of employers and trade unions involved in the employment of disabled people could be established and, finally, the EU Labour Force Survey should include permanently information on the situation of disabled people in the labour market.

Among the personalities participating in the ceremony were Mr. Panayotis Kouroublis, MP and a founder of the European movement in favour of the handicapped groups.

Three bodies will help the Commission to implement the programme, namely the Advisory Committee, the European Forum for the disabled, and the Liaison Group, thus bringing together the representatives of the Member States and the European organisations for the disabled.

BRONZE AWARD: St. Michael's House Research, Stillorgan, Ireland - For work to develop an inclusive shared educational curriculum for groups with and without disabilities.