The European Union and the CRPD: EU opportunities to influence the domestic implementation of independent living rights

The European Union’s (EU) commitment to human rights has become a fundamental value stated in its Treaties. It arises from several instruments, among which is the accession to United Nations (UN) agreements. The EU is obliged to respect, protect, and fulfil the principles included in the human rights treaties it concludes. So far, the Union has acceded to only one UN human rights treaty: the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). However, the fact that the EU has partial legal competences on human rights may be a barrier to realise its duties under international law. The thesis explains that such a limitation can be overcome by alternative procedures to guarantee the implementation of the Convention.
This situation represents a general trend of the EU, which tends to enlarge its fields of action through the development of soft procedures. On one hand, these allow the Union to engage in issues under national and local competence. On the other hand, they promote processes that alter the classic ideas of power and international relations. For this reason, the thesis refers to a theoretical framework that includes classic power theories as well as modern studies about soft law, experimentalist governance, and international networks. This research both explains real situations in the light of theories and verifies academic studies through observations.
This thesis assesses the impact of EU soft processes concerning the implementation of the CRPD. The primary assumption is that these processes are effective when they influence the national and local levels on harmonising their policies with those of the Union. In order to facilitate the search of evidence, the assessment focuses on a specific principle of the Convention: independent living rights. Furthermore, the research includes the analysis of interviews that engaged EU top-level professionals, who offered invaluable insights to understand underlying processes and confirming theoretical hypotheses. In addition to evaluating the EU conclusion of the CRPD, the findings of the research enhance the knowledge about international relations through governance processes, suggesting best practices and predicting new courses.