With the support of Mr Becker MEP, Mr Weidenholzer MEP and Mr Vajgl MEP, AGE platform Europe co-organised an event on 15 October to present the long standing Intergroup on Ageing and Solidarity between Generations and call for its re-establishment.
On that occasion, Heinz K. Becker, Josef Weidenholzer, Ivo Vajgl were joined by Jean Lambert (Greens, UK), Lambert van Nistelrooij (EPP, NL), Eduard Kukan (EPP, SK), Brando Benifei (S&D, IT), Ana Gomes (S&D, Arne Gericke (ECR, DE) and Marian Harkin (ALDE, IE) to support this call. The Intergroup has also already been supported by Claudia Monteiro De Aguiar (EPP, PT) and Francisco José Millan Mon (EPP, ES).
The European Parliament playing a key part in EU decision making, the Intergroup on Ageing and Intergenerational Solidarity is a key EU forum which brings an effective contribution to the EU debate on ageing issues and can help shape relevant EU policies to address demographic challenges. Founded in 1982, it was a key factor of progress in the past decades to improve Europeans’ quality of life. During the last term, the Intergroup gathered some 40 MEPs coming from all political groups, organised more than a dozen of events and was active on a large range of policy areas.
“With the growing challenges we face due to demographic change in Europe, the Intergroup on Ageing and Solidarity will be more important than ever; that is the reason why we fight for it”, said MEP Heinz K. Becker in his introductory remarks. MEPs underlined that the economic and social crisis has exacerbated conflicts between generations and that we must respect everyone’s rights, both the rights of today’s senior citizens and those of the younger generations to better prepare their older age. “The Intergroup has had many successes and we look forward to more successes at the European Parliament. The five next years will be interesting”, continued MEP Jean Lambert.
Anne-Sophie Parent, Secretary General of AGE Platform Europe, added “The Intergroup on Ageing and Solidarity between Generations, thanks to dedicated MEPs, has always been a key forum to prepare Europe’s demographic shift and make sure that policies address population ageing in a positive way and ensure a fair and sustainable future for all generations. Work needs to continue and we are very pleased to see such a strong support for the re-establishment of the Intergroup on Ageing and Solidarity between Generations in the European Parliament”.
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