PRESS RELEASE
Brussels, 4 November 2010
60th Anniversary of the European Convention of Fundamental Rights (en français plus bas)
Don’t let the crisis deprive older people of their fundamental rights!
“We should be rejoicing today but the austerity measures introduced recently in some Member States are depriving many older people of their fundamental rights”, deplored Anne-Sophie Parent, AGE Director, on the eve of the 60thanniversary of the European Convention on Human Rights.
While AGE welcomes the decisive steps that have been taken to securing a Europe of fundamental rights through the adoption of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, the accession of the EU to the European Convention on Human Rights and the commitment of both the European Parliament and the Council to the promotion of fundamental rights as a priority for their future work, AGE questions what is actually being done to safeguard the fundamental rights of older people and flags up why this must now be a priority.
“Several Member States use the excuse of the on-going crisis to introduce drastic cuts in the social protection of older people”, stressed Ms Parent. “The rights of the elderly, in particular older women, are being threatened,” she added, “and these reforms will have a detrimental impact on the most vulnerable members of our society”.
“The new Lisbon Treaty (Article 9 on the social clause and Article 25 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU) creates a new legal framework to justify EU action to protect the fundamental rights of older people and we would like to see some concrete commitment at EU and national level to ensure a dignified life to all, including older people,” concluded Ms Parent
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