PRESS RELEASE
Brussels, Belgium – 12th March 2021
On 12 March, the Council of the European Union adopted the Conclusions on “Mainstreaming Ageing in Public Policies”. AGE Platform Europe applauds the initiative of the Portuguese Presidency for these new Conclusions dedicated to ageing, the second in a row after the ones adopted on 9 October 2020 under the German Presidency. They prove the strong commitment taken by EU Member States to promote human rights in policies on ageing.
We particularly welcome:
- The recognition of the persisting ageism, anticipating the global report on Ageism that the United Nations will publish on 18 March;
- The commitment to close the gaps in the protection of the rights of older people, bearing in mind the long-awaited Equal Treatment Directive which has been on the table of the Council’s negotiations for over ten years;
- The call to take stock of and pursue measures to tackle the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on older people notably in the long-term care sector. This request echoes our call for an inquiry in this sector;
- The call for an approach that recognizes older age as part of a wider life course, by looking at the impact of EU policies on different age groups (age mainstreaming) and in intersection with other grounds of discrimination (intersectionality).
“We read these conclusions with a great hope and as an unequivocal appeal to an EU Age Equality Strategy. Such strategy would anchor the universal experience of ageing in the core EU values of equality and diversity. It will also be indispensable to ensure a proper coordination of ageing issues from the local to the European level” , commented Maciej Kucharczyk, Secretary General of AGE.
We will use these Council’s conclusions to:
- Strengthen existing policies at national level or develop new policies following the call for National Strategic Framework for Mainstreaming Ageing;
- Support our proposal for an EU Age Equality Strategy that we will submit together with our contribution to the consultation on the Green Paper on Ageing.
- Continue advocating for a UN Convention on the rights of older people as a much-needed instrument to combat ageism at EU and global levels.
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Useful links:
- AGE prepares its responses to the consultation on the EU Green Paper on Ageing
- AGE welcomes the human rights shift taken by EU Council in its Conclusions of 13 October and joint ageing approach by EU Trio Presidency in December 2020
- Guide for a rights-based approach to ageing
- Guide for a communication free from age stereotypes
For more information, please contact:
Julia Wadoux, AGE Policy Coordinator: julia.wadoux@age-platform.eu
