* The social charter, which did not previously apply to all member states;
* Empowerments in the Treaty on the European Union for Community institutions;
* Fighting discrimination on several grounds including disability;
* With a qualified majority, programmes to establish initiatives to combat social exclusion.
Positive discrimination, such as the obligation to employ disabled persons and the special employment security, which they enjoy, cannot be called into question at the European level. The Treaty of Amsterdam led to a strengthening of social policy at the level of the European Community.
POLICY IN GERMANY
A 1994 change to the German Basic Law stating that "no-one may be put at a disadvantage because of his or her disability" had the following effects:
* Efforts towards equal rights for disabled people and their participation in the life of society were confirmed and took an important step forward;
* The presumption that disabled people should be integrated into society became a stronger component of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany;
* The protection of disabled persons against disadvantageous treatment acquired constitutional status.
As a fundamental constitutional right, prohibition of disadvantageous treatment is binding on the legislature, the administration, the judiciary, and the rulings of the courts in the Federation and the Federal States. The Basic Law gives disabled persons the right to demand that unfavourable decisions and measures taken by public authorities not be based on any physical, mental, or emotional disability. This is a right which protects individuals, but does not extend to groups.
Though the Basic Law does not contain specific directives to legislative authorities, the German government considers it fundamentally appropriate to change rulings which are considered by many disabled persons to be discriminatory or disadvantageous, as a supplement to the constitutional law. - In this connection, the relevant associations cite the following as discriminatory:
* § 8 Par. 1 of the German Civil Code, which states that legally incompetent persons are not permitted to establish a permanent residence,
* §§ 104 and 105 of the German Civil Code regarding legal incompetence,
* The obligation of disabled persons to present a psychological report before being granted a driving licence,
* Fire-related regulations which specify that disabled persons may not enter certain premises or may only enter them under certain conditions.
The legislature recognises the necessity for improved co-ordination between existing agencies and instruments and improved co-operation between the institutions responsible for rehabilitation.
The social partners agree on the principle of integrating people with disabilities into the economic and social mainstream of society. To protect the interests of taxpayers and of other stakeholders who contribute to the costs of rehabilitation, the Federation of German Employer Associations advocates maximising the efficiency of rehabilitation measures and increas-
