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PEOPLE IN EUROPE ARE LIVING longer than ever before. At the same time the number of 'young' people is set to decline as the baby boom bulge moves up the generational ladder. The EU Commission has tried to address the problems that this will cause in a report entitled 'Towards a Europe for All Ages - promoting prosperity and intergenerational solidarity'. It adopted the communication at the end of May as a contribution to the UN International Year of Older People. The report estimates that between 1995 and 2015 the number of people in the 20-29 age group will fall by 11million (20%) while those aged between 50 and 64 will increase their number by 16.5 million (over 25%). Over a similar period the population older than 65 will go up by 17 million and, of these, those over 80 years of age will grow in number by 5.5 million.
Four main consequences flow from such figures, according to the report. Firstly the workforce will age which the communication says 'calls for a strong focus on the age aspects of human resource management'. Policies which encourage an early exit from the labour market should be replaced with those that concentrate on lifelong learning and new opportunities. Discrimination on the grounds of age must be dealt with by new Europe-wide proposals. Secondly, there will be a growth in the pressure on pensions and public finances and the report says that this should not lead to a worse deal for later generations of pensioners. It proposes that a higher employment rate for those of working age must be sought to spread the financial load as far as possible.
Europe's ageing population | ||||
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Balance between 20-29 and 50-64 age groups | ||||
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Source: Eurostat: Observations until 1995, baseline demographic scenario for period 1996-2015 | ||||
Thirdly, the communication identifies the area of old age and health care as one which will need to be strengthened, both in formal care systems for very old people and in accident prevention and post-illness rehabilitation to keep as many older people as possible from dependency. Lastly the report highlights the growing diversity in the needs and resources of older people. It says that 'Differences in family and housing situation, educational and health status and in income and wealth crucially determine the quality of life of older people'. In particular women are disadvantaged due to the model of the male breadwinner which informed previous pension systems, even though two-thirds of the over-65s are female.
When discussing action to be taken on these issues the report concludes that unemployment must be combatted among older workers, the trend to early retirement must be reversed and pension systems must be made more flexible. Concerning health issues in old age, the Commission says it will give special attention to medical and social research related to ageing in the fifth framework programme for Community research. Differences in wealth and status, which the report terms 'social exclusion' could be addressed by action programmes based on article 13 of the Amsterdam treaty.
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A précis of the report can be viewed on the Internet at |
http://europa.eu.int/comm/employment_social/soc-prot/ageing/news/ageing_en.htm |
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The full version [COM (1999) 221 final] can be downloaded in 'portable document format' by clicking on the link on the above page. You will need 'Adobe Acrobat Reader' available free from |
THE EUROPEAN UNION has made several initiatives with respect to
the need to build a new Kosovo after the peace agreement. In addition
to humanitarian aid which it is already extending to help resettle
returning refugees in their homes (€182 million), backing up and
eventually taking over from the humanitarian aid will be a
reconstruction programme for the countries of the former Yugoslavia.
In tandem macroeconomic aid will be provided, essentially in the form
of loans (notably for balance of payments support), with the aim of
building a viable economy and increasing regional integration in the
future (Stability Pact).
The reconstruction programme will be held under the new European
Agency for Reconstruction. EU leaders at the Council of Ministers in
Cologne on 4 June asked the Commission to set up this agency. Costs
are estimated at €500-700 million a year for
the next 3 years. It will operate on the spot in Pristina allowing
fast, effective and transparent operations. The Stability and
Association Agreements are designed to draw the region of South-East
Europe closer to full integration with the EU. Each one will be
tailor-made for each country and will only start when certain
conditions e.g. rule of law, democracy, human/minority rights and
free and fair elections, have been met. Finally, donor conferences
will be organised by the Commission, and the World Bank in order to
receive pledges from the international community for immediate
reconstruction needs. The first conference will be in July and a
further conference in September will consider more long term needs.
The EU had a trade deficit with the rest of the world of €6.1
billion in January this year. However the 11 'Euroland' countries had
a small surplus of €0.7 billion. The main trading partners of
the EU with figures in billions of euros were as follows:
Country |
EU exports to |
EU imports from |
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USA |
11.4 |
11.6 |
|
Switzerland |
4.1 |
3.7 |
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Japan |
2.5 |
5.0 |
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Poland |
1.9 |
1.2 |
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Norway |
1.6 |
2.2 |
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China |
1.2 |
1.0 |
|
Hungary |
1.2 |
1.1 |
|
Czech Republic |
1.1 |
3.5 |
|
Turkey |
1.1 |
1.0 |
|
Russia |
0.8 |
1.6 |
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