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Recommendation 1796 (2007)1
The situation of elderly persons in Europe
1. There is no denying the fact that Europe is ageing. However, old
age must be regarded not as an illness but as a highly complex
progressive process requiring a new approach to social policies.
2. Elderly persons possess an extremely diverse range of experience,
skills, needs and concerns and constitute a new source of richness on
account of their private and professional experience.
3. The Parliamentary Assembly takes this opportunity to congratulate
the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe
on its proposal to draw up a charter on inter-generational co-operation,
aimed at establishing forums for dialogue between the generations.
4. A person’s age is no longer an indicator of health, wealth or
social status, and there is a pressing need to change approaches and
stereotypes related to ageing and to adjust policies accordingly, notably
with regard to the compulsory retirement age. Increased life expectancy
also has significant implications for social protection systems in the
Council of Europe member states.
5. In this connection, the Assembly refers to one of the conclusions
of the United Nations 2nd World Assembly on Ageing held in Madrid in
2002, according to which “Older persons should have the opportunity to
work for as long as they wish and are able to, in satisfying and
productive work”.
6. Unfortunately, elderly persons still too often encounter
discrimination, whether in their daily lives or in a professional
context. This discrimination concerns their employment, their access to
health care, education and financial services and their involvement in
political decision making. In this context, the Assembly considers that
extremely rapid action is needed to end, inter alia, the
scandalous situations observed in certain institutions or retirement
homes and to prevent elderly people from suffering from social exclusion
and having to live in unacceptable conditions incompatible with the
fundamental principles governing member states. Increased life expectancy
must be a blessing for everyone.
7. Bearing in mind Article 23 of the revised European Social Charter
(ETS No. 163), which provides that elderly persons shall have access to
“the health care and services necessitated by their state”, the Assembly
deplores the fact that in some countries elderly persons may be denied
treatment because of its high cost.
8. In this connection, the Assembly underlines the need for
appropriate legislation or collective agreements, not least in respect of
dependent elderly persons living in institutions or retirement homes.
9. The Assembly points out that the majority of elderly persons in the
member states are women, who form a particularly vulnerable group which
is discriminated against in many ways. Furthermore, the insecurity of
elderly women is exacerbated by inadequate social support and their low
income. It can also be noted that it is frequently women who have the
responsibility of caring for elderly persons, obliging them to stop
working with all the ensuing consequences for their income level and
future pension.
10. The Assembly draws attention to the particular situation of
elderly migrants and elderly disabled people. Elderly migrants face a
particular risk of double or even triple discrimination and requires
specific policies and culturally sensitive services, as outlined in
Recommendation 1619 (2003) on rights of elderly migrants. Moreover,
governments should recognise the significant contribution that elderly
migrants have made to economic growth in the past and the important role
they can still play in helping new generations of migrants to integrate
in the host country.
11. The Assembly accordingly recommends that the Committee of
Ministers request the member states to:
11.1. regarding social protection systems:
11.1.1. invite the social partners and the relevant international
organisations to hold a debate on pension reform;
11.1.2. take the consequences of demographic trends into account in
their social and economic policies;
11.1.3. take the necessary steps to ensure the funding and long-term
viability of social protection systems (pension systems, health care and
other social benefits) so as to avoid the risk of economic dependency;
11.1.4. review social support programmes for the elderly;
11.1.5. sign and ratify multilateral social security agreements,
namely the European Convention on Social Security (ETS No. 78);
11.2. regarding employment of elderly people and their participation
in local affairs:
11.2.1. develop policies for the employment of elderly persons,
seeking to keep younger elderly persons in jobs so that they remain in
the working population;
11.2.2. implement new patterns of working time so as to be able to
derive maximum benefit from elderly persons’ professional skills and
knowledge;
11.2.3. encourage local authorities to develop projects aimed at
involving elderly persons in decision making and reinforcing
inter-generational solidarity;
11.2.4. create forums for exchanges between the generations of
experience and skills in areas such as education, art, history,
traditions, crafts, etc.;
11.2.5. foster voluntary work by elderly persons;
11.3. regarding assistance and support for families:
11.3.1. strengthen assistance and support measures for families by
introducing a system of special allowances, in particular for those
caring for the elderly, and thereby promote greater family involvement when
elderly people encounter health problems;
11.3.2. encourage supplementary and specific allowances in the case of
loss of autonomy;
11.3.3. expand support facilities in the form of short-stay
institutions for the elderly;
11.3.4. draw up, at European level, model rules on minimum standards
for elderly persons in institutional care;
11.4. regarding access to health care:
11.4.1. improve health-care systems and make them accessible to all
elderly persons, ensuring they receive appropriate medical care with
specific attention to their nutritional needs;
11.4.2. establish decent palliative and end-of-life care services for
elderly persons;
11.4.3. provide special training for individuals caring for elderly
persons at home and for medical practitioners;
11.4.4. adapt the existing structures for the provision of health care
and assistance to the elderly in order to make them culturally
appropriate to the needs of elderly migrants;
11.5. regarding vulnerable groups:
11.5.1. launch a process of reflection on the consequences arising
from the migration of elderly persons;
11.5.2. establish a special support programme for ageing immigrants,
women and people with disabilities;
11.5.3. establish preventive health-care systems for elderly persons;
11.5.4. provide specially adapted language courses and other
activities fostering inclusion and participation of elderly migrants and
support non-governmental organisations in their activities and assistance
programmes in this regard;
11.5.5. provide practical information to elderly migrants about
receiving social welfare, pensions and health care in the host country
and the country of origin, via public institutions, community centres,
immigrant organisations, cultural centres and religious institutions;
11.5.6. facilitate links between elderly migrants and their countries
of origin.
1. Text adopted by the Standing Committee, acting
on behalf of the Assembly, on 24 May 2007 (see Doc.
11179, report of the Social, Health and Family Affairs Committee,
rapporteur: Mr Bockel; and Doc.
11200, opinion of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and
Population, rapporteur: Mrs Cliveti).
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