Disability in Trade and Investment Agreements

According to Article 10 TFEU, in defining and implementing its trade and investment policies and activities, the European Union (EU) shall aim, inter alia, to combat any discrimination based on disability. The opening statement of the new president of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has further confirmed that the ‘Social Market Economy’, as embedded in Article 3 TEU, requires the EU to make efforts to ‘reconcile the market with the social’, with the aim of achieving full participation of everyone, including people with disabilities, in the economic and social life of the EU and its Member States. Against this background, this chapter aims to explore whether, and to what extent, the rights of persons with disabilities have progressively been taken into consideration by the EU in its trade and investment policy, as well as in trade and investment agreements; and to what extent these instruments have contributed to the enhancement of the rights of persons with disabilities. Accordingly, this chapter discusses EU trade and investment policy, highlighting in what terms disability is considered. Moreover, it explores the content of EU trade and investment agreements, illustrating references to disability in their provisions.