PRESS RELEASE
Brussels, Belgium – 03 June 2020
Read this statement in pdf version
Lire le communiqué en français
On Wednesday 3 June, AGE releases a new report on the recovery from the COVID-19 crisis. The recovery must be rooted in solidarity and sustainability to preserve healthy living environments and ensure social protection for all.
The COVID-19 pandemic and related confinement measures shook our economies and unequally impacted individuals across Europe, largely including older persons. According to the UN Secretary General, the de-prioritisation of older people during the pandemic is due to “structural causes”.
AGE’s report offers avenues on how to address these structural causes, in particular throughout quality health and long-term care services, adequate social protection for people in vulnerability, inclusive employment of older workers, and stronger consumer protection from the financial consequences of the crisis. AGE emphasises that mistakes made during the 2007-2014 Great Recession must not be repeated.
Without further delay, AGE invites the European Commission and Member States to:
- take account of EU’s commitments on social rights (people) and environmental sustainability (planet) on equal basis to economic considerations when implementing EU recovery plan based on a new recovery instrument, Next Generation EU;
- operationalise the rights promised in the European Pillar of Social Rights, in particular those applying to the adequacy of old-age income and pensions, transition from work into retirement, as well as quality and affordable health and long-term care;
- use all financial and budgetary tools available to the European institutions to finance a recovery based on solidarity between EU member States and between generations;
- draw lessons from the COVID-19 crisis’ impact on older people and include them in the coming EU Report on Demographic Change and Green Paper on Ageing.
“The only sustainable and fair way out of the crisis for current and future generations is to implement the EU’s grand ambitions for social justice and environmental protection. The European recovery plan and a new Multiannual Financial Framework must coordinate the allocation of resources to implement these priorities. ” said Maciej Kucharczyk, Policy Director of AGE Platform Europe. “We need to ensure that everyone is offered the same conditions for a healthy life that will allow them to participate fully in society” he added.
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Useful links
- AGE Webpage on COVID-19 and older people
- AGE Report “COVID-19 and human rights concerns for older persons”
- AGE Report “Recovery from the COVID-19 crisis”
- AGE Press Release (28/04) “People of all ages need to build together a post-pandemic world designed for everyone and for the planet” with the European Youth Forum
- UN Secretary General Policy Brief (1/05) on the impact of COVID-19 on older people
- 36 MEPs send a joint letter (29/05) to the European Commission and Council of the European Union on Solidarity between Generations during the recovery
For more information, please contact
> Estelle Huchet
Campaign Officer
estelle.huchet@age-platform.eu
skype: estelle-huchet
> Philippe Seidel
Policy Officer
philippe.seidel@age-platform.eu
