Question Time on the UN Convention on the rights of people with disabilities

Speech by Liz Lynne on Wed 16th Jan 2008

The speaker is absolutely right: I thought the answer from the Council was not sufficient. Before accession, we called on all Member States who wanted to come into the European Union to abide by European Union rules. I know Bulgaria has signed up to the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities, but it has not ratified it. Can you put pressure on those countries that have not ratified that Convention to do just that? I know the Bulgarian authorities are trying to address this problem, but we need to keep up the pressure.