Disability, life, diversity

The summer issue of Europe Infos (July-August) opens with an editorial by Frank Turner, in which the Jesuit criticizes the excessively limited concept of “education” and “formation” recently underlined by Commissioner Andrea Vassiliou (cf. SIR Europe n. 50/2011); four news items are dedicated to economy and finances: an editorial on the European Council summit of past June 23-24; an analysis of the EU’s poorly transparent behaviour vis a vis the Greek crisis, the process leading to the drafting of a social market economy document by COMECE bishops; the reflections of economics scholar Philippe Herzog on the need to progress from solidarity to integration, along with in-depth reports on social and ethical questions.The EU and the dignity of disabled persons. According to official EU information, one person out of six in the European Union has a disability ranging from mild to severe, thus being prevented from taking part fully in society and the economy because of environmental and attitudinal barriers. The European Union could contribute to significantly improving the lives of disabled people, and notably with the completion of the ratification procedure in December 2010 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. First of all, wrote Alessandro Calcagno, from the COMECE Secretariat, “there is a need for a balanced, rightful and non-instrumental use of the concept of human dignity”, whereby the right to life from conception until natural death is questioned in the name of the concept of ‘quality of life’. The “rights of parents of disabled people” should also be respected by “acknowledging their efforts”. It is also necessary to define “structural, fiscal and non-fiscal, policies that enable these subjects to plan and carry out their activities in a continuous and not in an episodic way”. While the ‘horizontal directive’ on non-discrimination is “floundering in the Council”, now is the moment to “come up with a new legislative package, covering disability in all its facets”. Alternatives to stem cells. Research is consolidating alternatives to stem cells from human embryos. The question raised by José Ramos-Ascensão is whether “the EU is prepared to take the recent scientific advances into consideration when designing the next research framework program that will come into force in 2014”. Indeed, as relates to embryo stem cells there is deep disagreement linked to the insurmountable ethical problem posed by the fact that such cells can only be procured from human embryos that are necessarily destroyed. Alternatives have been put forward. Some of these alternatives, however, still present many biological or ethical shortcomings while umbilical cord blood stem cells already used to treat serious diseases and somatic cells not yet used for clinical purposes, cross the above-mentioned limits. Taking into consideration the need for scientific progress in order to overcome the shortcomings linked to the use of such genetic material, “the political decision now is whether or not it is justified to have a results-oriented reallocation of EU funding, attaching relevance to the efficiency of research projects and their concrete impact on society”.Roma inclusion. About 12 million Roma live throughout Europe today . The EU recently adopted an “EU framework for national Roma integration strategies up to 2020” that the Churches have welcomed, although the document distinguishes between short-term and long-term perspectives, whereby access to justice – the Churches’ representatives pointed out – remains a distant goal. “Unemployment and lack of education are the two major challenges faced by Roma in Europe” said Msgr. János Székely, auxiliary bishop of Esztergom-Budapest during the seminar held past June 27 at the European Commission, in the belief that the formation of consciences is crucial: “Man is the principal agent of development, not money or technology”. Talking about the contribution of the Churches in the EU strategy on Roma inclusion, Churches’ representatives emphasized the need to change discriminatory attitudes in majority societies towards Roma” underlined Johanna Touzel, COMECE press officer. “Education about Roma culture, history and identity” is recommended. It is equally important to make EU Funds more accessible. After the endorsement of the Roma Inclusion Framework Member States will now have to elaborate the national inclusion plans.