AGE participates in High Level Group on Non-Discrimination

On 8th November AGE was invited to take part to the High Level Group on Non- Discrimination, Equality and Diversity. This group brings together representatives of the Member States and the Commission and builds on the work of the Governmental Expert Group in the field of non-discrimination that operated between 2008 and 2013 aiming to improve inter-state collaboration in this area.

The High Level Group began its activities in 2015 with the mandate to :

  • To accompany the development and implementation of policies and programmes at EU and national level aimed at combating discrimination, promoting equality and diversity.
  • To deepen cooperation and coordination between Member States’ relevant authorities and the Commission on questions relating to achieving diversity and full equality in practice, and eliminating discrimination; in particular through the exchange of experiences and good practices on related issues of common interest to be defined by the Group and the establishing, when appropriate, of common policy objectives
  • To deepen the coherence of effort for equality and against discrimination between the members of the Group, the Presidency, the Council, the European Parliament, the European Commission, and the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights.

The High-Level Group works in close collaboration with the EU Presidencies in order to contribute to their priorities on non-discrimination and equality during their term. Each Presidency may report to the Council on the activities of the Group and any proposals from these activities.

AGE was invited to present our work on age discrimination in the labour market, giving insights on the existing challenges to achieving equality for all, based on our members’ experience. We also gave examples of initiatives that are successful in fighting ageist stereotypes or improve access and retention of senior workers to the labour market. We moreover discussed the potential of extending the principle of ‘reasonable accommodation’ to older workers in order to provide tailored solutions that will allow them to continue working, for example in case of caring responsibilities. In our intervention we briefly referred to examples of multiple discrimination focusing on older women and older people with disabilities and suggested action that can be taken at EU and national level to address these.

AGE’s presentation was followed by a discussion with State representatives and the European Commission discussing good practices but also gaps in the implementation of the principle of age equality. We concluded the meeting hoping there will further opportunities to explore these issues in more details.

You may read AGE’s intervention here

For more information you may contact Nena Georgantzi, Policy Officer, nena.georgantzi@age-platform.eu

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