At Fundación ONCE, guided by our commitment to improve the quality of life of persons with disabilities, we actively monitor the regulatory evolutions on a European and State level affecting the rights of persons with disabilities and their families.
On a State level
Therefore, and in cooperation with CERMI, we work on promoting the improvement in status of persons with disabilities in areas such as employment, tax, health or Social Security. Undoubtedly the main legislative milestone in 2013 was the publication of Legislative Royal Decree 1/2013, 29 November, which approved the Supplementary Text of the General Act on Rights of Persons with Disabilities and their social inclusion, which for the first time, unifies all existing regulations on the matter: Act of Social Integration for Persons with Disabilities (LISMI), 1982; the Act of Equal Opportunities, non-Discrimination and Universal Accessibility of Persons with Disabilities (LIONDAU), 2003, and the Act that establishes the regime of offences and sanctions on equal opportunities, non-discrimination and universal accessibility of persons with disabilities, 2007. However, this Legislative Royal Decree goes beyond a mere compendium of acts. All the aforementioned rules have been updated and harmonized following the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which implies overcoming the assistance concept of previous decades.
Considerable regulatory advances have also been made in terms of accessibility (e.g. Act 8/2013, 26 June, rehabilitation, regeneration and urban renovation), of transport (Act 9/2013, 4 July, which modifies Act 16/1987, 30 July, order of land transportation and Act 21/2003, 7 July, air safety), or employment and Social Security (such as Act 11/2013, 26 July, support measures for entrepreneurs and the stimulus of growth and job creation or Act 14/2013, 27 September, support for entrepreneurs and their internationalisation), to mention some examples.
The involvement of Fundación ONCE in the main legislative observatories has been essential to achieving legislative advances such as these as well as cooperation with the various legal operators, such as the General Council of Spanish Lawyers, the General Council of Notaries, the Justice and Disability Forum promoted by the General Council of Judiciary Power and the Royal Patronage on Disability.
For further information on the regulations that affect disability, please check the following link:
http://www.discapnet.es/Castellano/areastematicas/derechos/Paginas/defa…
On a European level
Between 2012 and 2013, it is worth highlighting on one hand, the adoption of Regulations 1025/2015 on European normalization, which became positively applicable in Spanish legal order, and by virtue of which it provides that the European normalization system must take into account the UN Convention of Rights of Persons with Disabilities and, on the other, the adoption of Directive 2012/29/EU on rights and protection of victims of crimes, of which article 15 states that the member States must ensure the victims with disabilities can fully enjoy the rights established in said Directive under equal terms to the rest, which includes providing access to premises where criminal procedures take place, as well as access to information.
It is also important to highlight the formal adoption of the Regulation to create a European market of social investment funds, as well as the approval of the new Directive on Public Contracting and the Regulations of Structural Funds.
Furthermore, on 8 February 2012, the European Commission presented the project for the regulations of Articles of Association of the European Foundation, which represents a step forward for the recognition of the foundational sector on a European level, as it will allow the foundations established or operating in more than one European country, to create a European foundation registered in a single country with the possibility of operating in several.
The draft directive on accessibility of websites is also under processing.
Should you wish to access detailed information on the main regulatory advances, both on a national and European level, check the following summary: