PRESS RELEASE
Brussels, 15 October
Re-establishment of the Intergroup on
Ageing and Solidarity between Generations
10 MEPs call to re-establish the Intergroup on Ageing and Solidarity between Generations
On 15 October, 10 MEPs joined an event hosted by MEPs Heinz K. Becker (EPP, AT), Josef Weidenholzer (S&D, AT) and Ivo Vajgl (ALDE, SI) to call on political groups to re-establish the long standing Intergroup on Ageing and Solidarity between Generations. This key EU forum is more than ever needed to prepare for Europe’s demographic change and meet the objectives recently set by the EU institutions in that area.
Addressing the challenge of demographic change in Europe, President-elect Juncker has asked the designated Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility, Marianne Thyssen, to ensure that the impact of ageing is “appropriately taken into account in all Commission proposals and activities.” The European Parliament playing a key part in EU decision making, the Intergroup on Ageing and Intergenerational Solidarity brings an effective contribution to the EU debate on ageing issues and can help shape relevant EU policies. For that reason during an event organised at the European Parliament yesterday, 10 MEPs coming from 5 political groups called on all political groups to support the re-establishment of the Intergroup on Ageing and Solidarity between Generations.
Founded in 1982, the Intergroup on Ageing and Solidarity between Generations has been a key factor of progress in the past decades to improve Europeans’ quality of life. During the last term, it gathered some 40 MEPs coming from all political groups and committed to find positive solutions to the challenges of demographic change. It organised more than a dozen of events and has been active on a large range of policy areas.
During yesterday’s event at the European Parliament, Heinz K. Becker, Josef Weidenholzer, Ivo Vajgl were joined by Jean Lambert (Greens, UK), Lambert van Nistelrooij (EPP, NL), Eduard Kukan (EPP, SK), Brando Benifei (S&D, IT), Ana Gomes (S&D, Arne Gericke (ECR, DE) and Marian Harkin (ALDE, IE), to support this call. The Intergroup has also already been supported by Claudia Monteiro De Aguiar (EPP, PT) and Francisco José Millan Mon (EPP, ES).
“With the growing challenges we face due to demographic change in Europe, the Intergroup on Ageing and Solidarity will be more important than ever; that is the reason why we fight for it”, said MEP Heinz K. Becker in his introductory remarks. MEPs underlined that the economic and social crisis has exacerbated conflicts between generations and that we must respect everyone’s rights, both the rights of today’s senior citizens and those of the younger generations to better prepare their older age. “The Intergroup has had many successes and we look forward to more successes at the European Parliament. The five next years will be interesting”, continued MEP Jean Lambert.
Anne-Sophie Parent, Secretary General of AGE Platform Europe, added “The Intergroup on Ageing and Solidarity between Generations, thanks to dedicated MEPs, has always been a key forum to prepare Europe’s demographic shift and make sure that policies address population ageing in a positive way and ensure a fair and sustainable future for all generations. Work needs to continue and we are very pleased to see such a strong support for the re-establishment of the Intergroup on Ageing and Solidarity between Generations in the European Parliament.”
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