Report from the Group of Experts set up by the European Commission October 2003. The "red thread" of this report is that promoting accessibility for all will contribute to the success of the European strategy of "economic and social renewal" launched at the Lisbon European Council (2000). The European Union committed itself to modernising and reinforcing social cohesion and social protection as a key to deliver more and better growth by 2010. It is thus a unique opportunity to address disability issues as key elements of the "Lisbon strategy" which is based on four strategic goals: raising competitiveness, achieving full employment, strengthening social cohesion and promoting sustainable development.

There has been a marked increase in the interest of policy makers for social inclusion issues and reintegration policies for disabled persons. One of the important aspects relates to the labour market position of people with disabilities. Therefore DG Employment and Social Affairs, more in particular Unit E/4 ‘Social protection and social integration, Integration of people with disabilities’ took the initiative to initiated and finance a European Expert Group on Employment for Disabled People.

This document presents the draft final report of the study ‘Benchmarking Employment Policies for People with Disabilities’ that ECOTEC Research and Consulting Ltd were commissioned to undertake on behalf of DG Employment and Social Affairs of the European Commission.