On 16 March, the European Parliament committee on employment and social affairs adopted the report by Martin Kastler (EPP Germany) on enhancing solidarity between generations with 44 votes in favour, 0 against and 0 abstentions. The European Parliament therefore agrees to extend the title of the 2012 year for active ageing to “European Year for Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations”. MEPs believe that active ageing also implies developing education and lifelong learning, age-friendly working conditions and supporting the role of older people in family life and society as a whole. They trust that the European Year will be used as a springboard for developing new solutions and policies focusing on age management strategies, family-friendly policies and activities highlighting the importance of preventive health and healthy lifestyles. The Committee also asks for a specific budget of at least 6 million euros for the Year and the use of existing European funding programmes to implement the objectives of the year. The text will now go to plenary in April for a final adoption by all the members of the European Parliament, before the negotiations with the Council. AGE will closely follow the debate.
AGE is very pleased with the amendments brought to the report as they all cover the different proposals made by AGE and the NGOs’ coalition for the European Year 2012. The coalition also welcomes the extension of the title to include the intergenerational dimension, so responding to a call that the coalition has been repeating since 2008.
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