Wasted Time, Wasted Money, Wasted Lives ... A Wasted Opportunity?

Wasted Time, Wasted Money..

This report was produced as part of a project, supported by the Open Society Mental Health Initiative, looking at the use of Structural Funds in relation to services for people with disabilities in Central and Eastern Europe. The project was implemented in cooperation with the Institute for Public Policy in Romania, the Soteria Foundation and the Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) in Hungary.

In this report, the European Coalition for Community Living (ECCL) seeks to explain why there is such concern about the inappropriate use of Structural Funds in the EU Member States of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). It argues that the use of Structural Funds to renovate long stay residential institutions for people with disabilities, or build new residential institutions, rather than develop community-based alternatives, is contrary to EU policy objectives, EU law and European and international human rights standards. It also highlights areas in which the rules on the operation of Structural Funds have created unnecessary barriers to establishing projects that would develop alternatives to institutional care.

The report draws upon relevant information that has been sent to us by members of ECCL. In particular, we are indebted to our partners in this project, the Soteria Foundation, Hungary and the Institute for Public Policy (IPP), Romania, who are currently undertaking research on the use of Structural Funds in relation to services that support the social inclusion of people with mental health problems and/or intellectual disabilities in these countries. They have kindly shared with us relevant information that they have obtained though their research.