Europe for All Ages: New European Parliament Interest Group Debates Ageing and Intergenerational Solidarity

27 March 2025

On 19 March 2025, the European Parliament’s Interest Group ‘Europe for All Ages’ kicked off its work with an inaugural meeting. Members of the European Parliament Idoia Mendia and Michał Szczerba gathered with the Polish Deputy Minister responsible for the Council Presidency, Ms. Sobkowiak-Czarnecka, a member of the cabinet of the Commissioner for Intergenerational Fairness, and a member of the Economic and Social Committee.

What is the Interest Group “Europe for All Ages”?

It is a forum for all democratic, pro-European parties in the European Parliament to address ageing, longevity, healthy ageing, older persons’ rights, social inclusion, and intergenerational solidarity, with the participation of AGE Platform Europe.

The group includes around 30 Members of the European Parliament and welcomes new members.

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With Members of the European Parliament Idoia Mendia and Michał Szczerba

The title ‘Secure Europe for All Generations’ interpreted the Polish Presidency’s motto – ‘Security Europe’ – from the perspective of economic and social security. The hosts underlined this, as Ms. Mendia pointed out that there is a need for many different policies to take longevity into account, from pensions and care to housing and mobility. Mr. Szczerba emphasised the role that older people can play in promoting intergenerational fairness, such as through the Third Age Universities in Poland, which gather some 500 local groups.

Dr. Heidrun Mollenkopf, AGE Platform Europe’s President, underlined that this week marks five years since most Member States entered their first lockdown due to COVID-19. She recalled the hundreds of thousands of lives lost – the majority of which were older persons – due to overwhelmed hospitals and care services, insufficient medical and protective equipment, and a lack of staff.

She reminded us that, while competitiveness and defence are currently high on the agenda, we should not forget the hard lessons taught by COVID. Dr. Mollenkopf underlined the progress the EU has made in adapting policies to longer lives, but pointed out that ageism is still preventing older people from living up to their full potential.

Older people want to contribute to society and intergenerational fairness, and inclusive policies can help them achieve this.

The Silver Transformation is a key objective of the Polish Presidency

Polish Deputy Minister Ms. Magdalena Sobkowiak-Czarnecka emphasised that the ‘Silver Generation’ includes all of us, as we are all ageing. Integrating older people into society is one of the most important issues.

The Silver Transformation is a key objective of the Polish Presidency, and in March, ministers discussed the upskilling and reskilling of older persons so that they can remain in the labour market. Ms. Sobkowiak-Czarnecka also emphasised that we need to address stereotypes about ageing, particularly those related to ageing women. We should draw on the experience of older women to engage with young women.

The upcoming EU Strategy on Intergenerational Fairness
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On behalf of the Commissioner for Intergenerational Fairness, Mr Glenn Micallef, his member of Cabinet Ms Desa Srsen presented his mission of developing a Strategy which ensures that the interests of present and future generations are taken into account when taking decisions.
Europe is ageing and has a shrinking workforce – and drafting a Strategy for Intergenerational Fairness will need an extensive discussion. Since January, the Commissioner leads workshops to define this exercise, using the tools from the Conference on the Future of Europe: citizen panels and the Commissions’ Citizen Engagement Platform.

The Strategy will not be one for a specific generation, and this reflects the interests of all: older persons are very concerned about the future of their children and grandchildren. We want to capitalise on longevity, bring generations together and support longer lives and longer working lives.

The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) has recently adopted an opinion on Intergenerational Solidarity, and Mr. Krzysztof Balon, the rapporteur for the opinion, presented the ten measures put forward, covering work, the silver economy, lifelong learning, pensions, and volunteering. Solidarity and fairness play a role in all these areas. The work of the Polish Presidency and the fact that there is now a Commissioner for Intergenerational Fairness align with the EESC’s calls.

The intergenerational approach should also be supported through EU funding, such as via the European Social Fund, and the EESC is ready to create a forum to exchange experiences on this.

In the following discussion participants expressed the call from mothers and persons with disabilities for sufficient and adequate care services and reported from initiatives to bring older persons who are separated from their families together with young families in their neighbourhood.

The Goal of the Interest Group “Europe for All Ages”

The Interest Group’s calls for life-long learning can feed into the work of the Intergroup on education and skills.

The Member of the European Parliament Gordan Bosanac reported from the work of the PETI – European Parliament’s petitions committee to think about an EU Seniors’ Card. The work of the Interest Group can also be inspired by the Intergenerational Week which is organised in Belgium every year around the EU Day of Solidarity between Generations, 29 April.

Mr Szczerba and Ms Balon reported from the Polish experience of the Senior Citizen’s Parliament, which takes place once a year in the Plenary room of the Sejm, and the practice to have an annual report about older people presented by the Polish government to the Parliament.

Ms. Mendía underlined that the pandemic taught us to find local solutions and to activate local communities to combat loneliness and foster social inclusion. The EU institutions should establish a new framework that supports these bottom-up initiatives while also being more inclusive towards disability and strengthening support for long-term care, especially home care, to ensure people have a choice.

The Interest Group “Europe for All Ages” aims to serve as a forum for discussing and integrating these policies in the future while amplifying the voices of older people.