The Future of Europe conference is a unique opportunity to change the way we look at ageing and to make the most of our ageing society, say 7 MEPs in a joint op-ed.
‘Ageing means living’
In their joint opinion article for Social Europe, 7 MEPs remind that ageing is a life achievement that need to be celebrated. They also hail the incredible diversity of each generation and the benefit this diversity can bring to our communities.
Yet, if we want to tap the whole potential of our ageing society, we need to promote a more positive image of ageing and combat age discrimination and ageism.
Concretely…
In their statement, the co-signatories – MEP Milan Brglez, Jarosław Duda, José Gusmão, Marina Kaljurand, Miriam Lexmann, Marisa Matias, Sirpa Pietikäinen – jointly call for Europe to:
- implement the European Pillar of Social Rights to tackle inequalities across the lifespan
- rethink care and support services, drawing lessons from the pandemic
- elaborate an Age Equality Strategy to achieve equal participation in society for all age groups
- lead the global fight against ageism and rally in favour of a new UN convention of older people’s rights.
This statement is very much in line with what AGE is advocating. At all stages of life, we must be given the support we need and the opportunity to contribute, as we highlight in our publication “Towards a European Strategy for Age Equality: Ensuring equal rights at all ages”.
