AGE’s activities are financially supported to a large extent by the operational grant that AGE receives from the non-discrimination strand of the PROGRESS Programme, which was previously managed by the Directory General (DG) Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion and has now been managed by DG Justice since January.
In order to prepare the future funding programme of the DG Justice and make it more efficient, the European Commission launched a ‘Public consultation on future funding activities in the area of Justice, Fundamental Rights and Equality’. AGE welcomes this migration to DG Justice and feels that this represents an opportunity to integrate older people’s fundamental rights in all relevant EU policies and to ensure that older citizens can enjoy the rights conferred on them by the new EU Treaties, including the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, ratified by the EU in January 2011.
In its response to the consultation, AGE highlighted the important role played by the European anti-discrimination networks funded by the PROGRESS programme and made suggestions and proposals for improvement, e.g. the mainstreaming of EU fundamental rights and non-discrimination principles in all relevant EU policies and actions, a more effective coordination with EU policy makers, a simplified reporting procedure, the reassessment of the degressivity rule (which puts EU NGOs under a lot of pressure to find additional sources of funding and may even sometimes jeopardise their independence), avoiding delays in payment, etc.
For more information, please contact Maciej Kucharczyk: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Last Updated on Thursday, 30 June 2011 10:57
