The law and policy context

The European Disability Forum asserts the right to education as fundamental and campaigns on these issues. Their Statement on Inclusive Education outlines a number of important principles. EDF also has a specific interest in youth issues. In November 2009, its Youth Committee published a position paper on Being Young and Disabled: Daily Challenges for Equality. 

European strategy and co-operation recognizes that ‘education and training are essential to the development and success of today's knowledge society and economy'. The Lisbon Strategy underlined this and there is evidence of policy linkage in some countries between employment, disability and education. Within the Lisbon Strategy, the objectives agreed by education ministers for 2010 included commitment to ensure that EU education and training systems were ‘accessible to all'.

The Community's general Education and Training 2010 work programme included benchmarks, reporting and exchanges of good practice between countries but did not have a specific focus on disability. A strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training was adopted by the Council in May 2009 with Council Conclusions on a strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training ("ET 2020")  and the 2008 Joint Council/Commission Report on the implementation of the Education & Training 2010 work programme.

Within the new post-Lisbon Strategy (Europe2020) there is concern to reduce the number of young people leaving education and training early, and to improve their level of qualification. There will be a major new initiative ‘Youth on the move' to ‘raise the overall quality of all levels of education and training in the EU, combining both excellence and equity'. This includes both formal and informal learning, and is particularly concerned with reducing youth unemployment. We will use the ANED reporting to represent the interests of young disabled people within the EU2020, ET2020 and Youth Strategy processes.