Delia Ferri

In the European Union (EU), cultural participation is recognised both as a human right and as a key factor in fostering a shared European identity. To promote access to culture, the EU has launched several initiatives, including the European Heritage Label (EHL), which aims to highlight heritage sites of symbolic significance for Europe. This article discusses how accessibility for persons with disabilities features in the EHL. It does so further by outlining the international obligations undertaken by the EU to promote participation in culture and ensure accessibility, particularly under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Drawing on a document analysis of key legal and operational EHL texts, the article demonstrates that accessibility is only partially integrated into the initiative and is weakly prioritised in both the site selection and monitoring processes. While self-reporting by the EHL sites on accessibility has improved in recent years, the measures adopted tend to be limited in scope and depth. Overall, the article calls for a stronger and more systematic integration of accessibility requirements within the EHL framework, as well as for the meaningful involvement of organisations of persons with disabilities in assessing and monitoring the accessibility of EHL sites.

The Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled (Marrakesh Treaty) was concluded by the European Union (EU) in 2018. It was implemented by means of Directive 2017/1564/EU (Marrakesh Directive) and Regulation 2017/1563/EU (Marrakesh Regulation). The role of both these pieces of legislation in advancing disability rights has been widely acknowledged by scholarship and organisations of persons with disabilities alike. However, disability advocacy and, most recently, the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities have called for a revision of the Marrakesh Directive in the part in which it allows Member States to adopt compensation schemes for copyright holders. Taking into account these quests for reform, this article reflects on the current strengths and pitfalls of the Marrakesh Directive and on potential amendments that may foster disability rights. In doing so, the article also interrogates whether a recast of the Marrakesh Directive may support cultural diversity in the EU. On the whole, the article argues that a recast of the Marrakesh Directive is desirable from a disability perspective, supports further harmonisation in EU copyright law and has the potential to bolster cultural diversity.

The right to participate in cultural life is profoundly rooted in international human rights law, and, with regard to persons with disabilities, it is enunciated in Article 30 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD or the Convention). This provision requires States Parties to the Convention to ensure accessibility of cultural materials, services and activities, and cultural heritage, and to support the creative and artistic potential of persons with disabilities. However, people with disabilities continue to face barriers to cultural participation. On foot of a pan-European empirical study and a socio-legal analysis, this book discusses the normative content of Article 30 CRPD and its implementation. It identifies and categorises barriers to cultural participation, highlighting new paths to operationalise Article 30 CRPD. This book will be of interest to scholars and students working in disability law, socio-legal studies, international human rights law, as well as cultural studies, disability studies, and cultural policies.

Having examined the normative content of the right to participate in cultural life, its implementation by States Parties, and barriers experienced by persons with disabilities when exercising such a right, this chapter focuses on what supports the realisation of Article 30 of the UN Convention on the Rights of persons with Disabilities (CRPD). In particular, it presents and discusses the factors that participants in the study, conducted in the 27 Member States of the European Union plus the UK, perceived as facilitative of cultural participation. It highlights the growing interest in disability issues amongst people working on culture and recent improvements in access and participation in culture by people with disabilities. Facilitators discussed include cultural funding mechanisms that promote equality by mandating accessibility on the part of funded organisations, training in anti-discrimination, as well as the need to disseminate and build on best practices. This chapter links the discussion of facilitators to the obligations laid out in Article 30 CRPD and to the human rights model of disability, which constitutes the theoretical framework of the book.

This chapter examines the overarching legal context, with a focus on the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), as the global legal standard on disability rights and the normative point of reference for their implementation. It presents the key features of the CRPD, its general principles, and obligations. It then moves on to explore the human rights model of disability, stemming from the CRPD, which constitutes the theoretical framework of this book. In that connection, it also explores the model of inclusive equality put forward by the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD Committee). On the whole, this chapter aims to locate discussions about cultural participation of persons with disabilities within contemporary debates on disability rights and to link them to the CRPD, which represents a key legal framework for the socio-legal analysis propounded in this book.

Following the examination of the normative content of Article 30 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), this chapter discusses how, and the extent to which, this provision has been implemented by the States Parties to the Convention. In line with the geographical scope of the research project underpinning this book, this chapter focuses on the implementation of the right to participate in cultural life in Europe and namely in the 27 Member States of the European Union plus the United Kingdom. Based on a comprehensive document analysis of the reports of States Parties to the CRPD Committee as well as List of Issues and Concluding Observations Lists of Issues and Concluding Observations issued by the CRPD Committee in response, this chapter unveils gaps and trends in States Parties’ narratives regarding their implementation of Article 30 CRPD. The analysis blends a thematic qualitative approach to document analysis with legal analysis, supporting the empirical research presented in Part III of the book.

Having examined the normative content of Article 30 of the UN Convention on the Rights of persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and its implementation by States Parties, this chapter explores barriers experienced by persons with disabilities in the exercise of their rights. By presenting the empirical findings of a study conducted in the 27 Member States of the European Union (EU) plus the United Kingdom (UK), it discusses barriers that operate in all art forms as well as in cultural heritage, and it encompasses the participation of people with a broad range of disability types both as audiences and as creators of culture. In doing so, the chapter aims to highlight what needs to be addressed to fully realise Article 30 CRPD. The chapter evidences that a range of interlinked barriers hamper the enjoyment and exercise of the right to participate in cultural life in all its dimensions. The barriers that are commonly perceived by people with disabilities relate to five overlapping issues: lack of effective laws and policies, inadequate services, negative attitudes, lack of accessibility, and lack of involvement of persons with disabilities in cultural organisations. This chapter links the discussion of barriers to the obligations laid out in Article 30 CRPD and to the human rights model of disability, which constitutes the theoretical framework of the book.