Prior to the European Parliament elections taking place in June 2024, we joined the discussion organized by the International Longevity Centre UK (ILC UK), one of AGE’s members, on the challenges and opportunities associated with demographic change in Europe. The aim of the event was to define a set of key priorities and policy recommendations for the 2024-29 European Parliament and Commission.
The conference started with a keynote video message from European Commission’s Vice-President for Democracy and Demography, Dubravka Šuica. It was followed by three sessions on:
- Prevention of ill health in an ageing Europe
- Maximising the economic opportunities of longevity
- Bringing generations together
AGE was among the speakers of the second panel and chaired the third one.
Our colleague Sarah Loriato, Policy Officer on Employment and European Parliament Liaison, shared data and good practices on sustainable and quality working lives for older people from the AGE Barometer 2023. She also reminded some key recommendations from the AGE Manifesto 2024 and our call for the adoption of an EU Age Equality Strategy.
Philippe Seidel Leroy, AGE’s Policy Manager on Social Protection and European Parliament, moderated the third session on intergenerational dialogue : “Bridging the intergenerational gap: How can we bring different generations across Europe together?”. The panel started with the economic value of grandparenting (with volunteering and caring estimated on 600 billion euros).
The conference was preceded in the morning by an expert roundtable discussion on mental health across the EU.
