A3-0029/94

Resolution on measures for the elderly

The European Parliament,

-having regard to the motions for resolutions tabled by:

-Mr Lane on assistance for the elderly (B3-0719/92),

-Mr McMahon and others on the situation of elderly people: action and income (B3-0737/92),

-Mr McMahon and others on the situation of elderly people: retirement and age discrimination at work (B3-0738/92),

-Mrs Díez de Rivera Icaza and others on the situation of elderly people: housing and environment (B3-0739/92),

-Mr Cox and others on the situation of elderly people and their carers (B3-0740/92),

-Mrs Ceci and others on the situation of elderly people: health (B3-0741/92),

-Mrs Díez de Rivera Icaza and others on the situation of elderly people: consumers and safety (B3-0742/92),

-Mr Friedrich and others on the situation of elderly people: civil rights and free movement (B3-0743/92),

-Sir Jack Stewart-Clark and others on the situation of elderly people: transport and tourism (B3-0744/92),

-Sir Jack Stewart-Clark and others on the situation of elderly people: generation links, education, media and culture (B3-0745/92),

-Mrs Van Hemeldonck and others on the situation of elderly women (B3-0746/92),

-Mr Fitzgerald and others on the situation of elderly people in the regions and rural areas (B3-0747/92),

-Mr Cox and others on the situation of elderly people: flexibility of occupational pension schemes (B3-0748/92),

-Mrs Van Hemeldonck and others on the situation of elderly people: insurance problems for older people and workers (B3-0749/92),

-Mr Fitzgerald and others on the situation of elderly people in agriculture (B3-0750/92),

-Mrs Ceci and others on the situation of elderly people and research into public health matters (B3-0751/92),

-Mr Friedrich and others on the situation of elderly people in Central and Eastern Europe (B3-0752/92),

-Mrs Llorca Vilaplana on the elderly (B3-0878/92),

-Mr Stewart on social needs for European elderly citizens (B3-0905/92),

-Mr Kostopoulos on the right to retirement of persons over 55 years of age (B3-1100/92),

-Mr Lafuente López on the establishment of a Community centre for sociological research into matters relating to the elderly (B3-1660/92),

-Mrs Pollack on provisions for the elderly (B3-1664/92),

-Mr Ribeiro on the European Year of the Elderly and Solidarity between Generations (B3-0137/93),

-Mr Fernández Albor on promoting training courses for visiting geriatic carers (B3-1146/93),

-Mr Lafuente López on the promotion of individual pension schemes (B3-1150/93),

-Mrs Ferrer on a second Community programme for the elderly (B3-1396/93), -Mr de la Cámara Martínez on the creation of a European Institute of Geriatrics and Gerontology (B3-1673/93),

-having regard to Rule 45 of its Rules of Procedure,

-having regard to the petitions addressed to Parliament on the situation of the elderly,

-having regard to its resolution of 13 September 1990 on the Commission's action programme relating to the implementation of the Community Charter of Fundamental Social Rights for workers - priorities for 1991-1992, its opinions of 11 October 1990 on the proposal for a decision on Community actions for the elderly and 12 June 1992 on the proposal for a decision on the organization of the European Year of the Elderly and of Solidarity between Generations (1993), and its resolution of 8 July 1992 on the European labour market after 1992,

-having regard to the Community Charter of Fundamental Social Rights, and in particular paragraphs 24 and 25 thereof,

-having regard to the EC Treaty, and in particular Articles 2, 3, 8, 8a, 48 to 73h, 126, 127 and 129 thereof, and the Social Protocol thereto,

-having regard to the Council Recommendation of 27 July 1992 on the convergence of social protection objectives and policies, and Parliament's opinion thereon of 14 February 1992, and the Resolution of the Council of Ministers of 30 June 1993 on flexible retirement schemes,

-having regard to the Council Recommendation of 24 June 1992 on common criteria concerning sufficient resources and social assistance in social protection systems, and Parliament's opinion thereon of 14 May 1992,

-having regard to the Final Declaration of the Senior Citizens' Parliament adopted in Luxembourg on 24 November 1993,

-having regard to the declaration of principles of the Council of the European Union and the Ministers for Social Affairs, meeting within the Council of 6 December 1993, to mark the end of the European Year of the Elderly and of Solidarity between Generations (1993),

-having regard to the report of the Committee on Social Affairs, Employment and the Working Environment and the opinions of the Committee on Women's Rights, the Committee on Legal Affairs and Citizens' Rights, the Committee on Civil Liberties and Internal Affairs, the Committee on Transport and Tourism, the Committee on Culture, Youth, Education and the Media, the Committee on Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development and the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Protection (A3-0029/94),

A.having regard to the increasing size of the elderly population of our societies and the wealth it constitutes in terms of experience, skills, culture and values,

B.whereas the increase in life expectancy is a rich source of new opportunities for society as a whole, although socio-demographic change, and in particular the ageing of the population, are posing new problems,

C.whereas the Member States and the European Union have a duty to provide a response that is adequate, in terms of both quality and quantity, to this challenge and to ensure a rightful place for the elderly in society and the full exercise of their citizenship,

D.whereas in the pursuit of these objectives particular attention must be paid to the specific situation of older women and account must be taken of the great diversity in the situation of elderly people in urban, rural or remote rural areas,

E.whereas implementation of the Union will open up new prospects for the elderly in the field of social policy and public health,

F.whereas the main problems and challenges facing the elderly today include those concerning incomes and pension schemes; autonomy, care and medical and health service schemes; mobility and integration in society; solidarity between generations and the adjustment of the labour market,

I. Elderly people's incomes

1.Considers that the statutory pension scheme must remain the essential element in retirement systems in all the Member States of the European Community; reaffirms its abovementioned opinion inviting the Council and the Member States to implement fully the Council's recommendations on the common criteria on minimum resources in the social protection systems and on the convergence of national social security systems;

2.Demands the regular adjustment of pensions, according to the particular procedures of each country, to the rise in the cost of living or in earnings, and the upgrading of pensions for the most elderly;

3.Calls on the Commission to submit to the Council a recommendation in which one of the fundamental social objectives of the Community is defined as fixing a minimum pension, designed to ensure that on leaving work retired people receive a substitute income such as will provide a decent standard of living with due respect for the dignity of the human person, and proposes that this minimum pension be fixed in each country as a substantial percentage of the national average for earnings in full-time employment;

4.Reiterates its demand for the right to a minimum income to be introduced at Community level, irrespective of the length of professional activity, in order to combat the poverty affecting many older people, in particular older women;

5.Considers it essential, as part of the free movement of workers and for the efficient operation of the single market, to standardize the concept of incapacity for work and to take steps to approximate the present very diverse conditions for entitlement to disablement pensions;

6.Draws attention to its demand (see abovementioned resolution on the labour market after 1992, Part III: Viability of pension and social security schemes) and insists that measures be taken at Community and national level to strengthen statutory supervision, ensure effective protection of contributors and beneficiaries against the risks of insolvency, fraud and abuse, and secure appropriate representation of contributors and pensioners on the management boards of pension funds;

7.Demands that the national governments refrain from applying measures to impose disproportionate charges on pensioners and reduce benefits under pension schemes;

8.Insists that in the medium term the coordination of pension schemes should be the aim, for instance concerning the alignment of the ages of eligibility for retirement, flexibility of retirement ages and 'à la carte' retirement (partial pensions);

9.Calls on the Commission to study care insurance, already under discussion in some countries of the European Union, to help the Member States improve their decision-making at national level with a view to the Community convergence of national social security schemes;

II. Promoting independence

10.Points out that most elderly people are perfectly capable of living a self-reliant, independent life and confirms the right to recognition and protection of the human dignity of the elderly;

11.Points out that the Social Charter recognizes the right of all elderly people to appropriate social and health assistance and demands the removal of thresholds which obstruct access to care, including those in the crossborder context;

12.Points out that nursing must show the greatest possible respect for the dignity, sovereignty, integrity, privacy and possessions of the elderly and calls here for particular consideration of the elderly living in institutions;

13.Draws attention to the great importance of preventive care and self-care, and calls on governments and private enterprise to do their utmost to provide the elderly with information and training and to prevent or limit the need for care;

14.Calls for the level of supply of care to be adapted to meet the changing level of demand, and wishes care in the home to be a priority aim in this area;

15.Wishes unofficial care to be encouraged and calls in particular for family members, relations or other persons who agree to look after elderly people, to be able to receive material support, financial or tax concessions and professional guidance, and for a network of services to be built up which can take over the task of caring on a temporary basis;

16.Points to the increasing importance of geriatrics and gerontology; calls for initiatives to improve the training and retraining of care personnel and make the caring professions more attractive and draws attention to the urgent need for palliative care to be further developed, so as to safeguard the right of the elderly to die in dignity;

17.Urges that research efforts be stepped up not only with regard to social and health services but also concerning the considerable risks to the health of the elderly, in particular immobility, instability, incontinence and decline of the mental faculties, which are often the result of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disorders, arthritis, osteoporosis, Alzheimer's disease and other mental disorders;

18.Wishes due attention to be paid to all categories of disabled elderly people in the Helios action programme for the disabled;

19.Draws attention to the high costs of medical and other care dispensed to the elderly, who thus run the risk, if they are inadequately insured, of sinking into poverty, and therefore urges the Member States to avert this risk by, for instance, setting up an insurance scheme covering the types of care mentioned, so as to enable all senior citizens to be properly protected;

III. The elderly and the employment market

20.Points out that society cannot do without the skills and experience of senior citizens, and that to fail to take account of them would be an unpardonable waste;

21.Draws attention to its constant opposition to discrimination against older workers on the employment market, particularly in the Community institutions, and calls on the Commission to set a good example by itself ceasing to discriminate against older workers when recruiting staff;

22.Calls for the principle of equal opportunities and equal treatment for older workers to be strictly applied, in accordance with ILO Recommendation No. 162, and for special positive measures to be taken to improve the working conditions of such workers;

23.Considers that older workers are entitled to benefit from further and continuing education and training and retraining schemes, in order to prevent discrimination at work, and calls for the job market to receive public funding, given the high levels of unemployment;

24.Takes the view that the early retirement scheme is being used to reduce the number of jobs, that it is leading to discrimination against the elderly and that early retirement is not helping to promote the right to work;

25.Calls for equal treatment between men and women also to be applied in the case of access to retirement, particularly with regard to the age of retirement and the method of calculating pensions;

26.Urges that a more flexible approach be taken to the process of retirement and that workers be given the opportunity to prepare for it; insists that the move from working life to retirement, while taking place in a flexible manner adapted to individual preferences, should not serve as a pretext for social deconstruction but should take place in a clearly defined social context; favours new forms of partial retirement or phased early retirement instead of a wholesale premature exodus from the labour market; looks to firms to allow their elderly employees to train their younger colleagues prior to their retirement;

27.Calls on the Commission and the Member States to examine the possibilities of employing older workers, in satisfactory employment and payment conditions, in activities relating to safeguarding and restoring the environment, social solidarity, humanitarian aid and cultural dissemination;

28.Insists expressly that there cannot be competition between the generations and that the present era should rather be called the age of solidarity; considers that solidarity is a principle which should not only govern relations between the generations, between the young and those not so young, but should also be applied by industry and government as part of labour market policy;

IV. Integration and participation in society

29.Calls urgently for an integration and participation policy that recognizes the full citizenship of the elderly, removes the obstacles to their participation in economic, social, cultural and political activities, and fosters solidarity between the generations and among the elderly themselves;

30.Expects initiatives that will improve the legal position of elderly people and exclude any form of discrimination on the basis of age;

31.Expects a sustained effort to achieve fairer and more finely tuned representation of the elderly and old age and calls for greater appreciation of and support for the significant contribution of the elderly to society, particularly in the form of voluntary work in the field of welfare and health care;

32.Calls for measures to safeguard and/or improve the mobility of the elderly and calls urgently for:

-the rapid implementation of the Commission Recommendation of 10 May 1989 on the senior citizens' passport, with specific rights, and the introduction of a special travel card;

- initiatives to improve access to various modes of transport and affordable public transport in particular;

- improved opportunities to make effective use of the right of residence and the right to freedom of movement;

33.Notes that an increasing number of the elderly, especially in large towns, feel threatened by the rise in crime and the decline in road safety; calls for measures to increase safety and points out that this is a priority area for local and regional government;

34.Underlines the need to improve living conditions, particularly by raising the quality of living and providing and adapting housing and accommodation better suited to the specific and changing needs of the elderly, and draws special attention in this area to the residential environment and the integration of housing for the elderly into residential areas as a whole;

35.Points out that the elderly have many opportunities for self-fulfilment; underlines the importance of, and calls for greater support for, social, leisure and cultural club activities and facilities in the field of education, training and retraining for the elderly;

36.Wishes participation by the elderly in management to be strengthened by phasing out age limits and by providing involvement and participation structures, particularly in institutions;

V. General

37.Expresses its satisfaction at the results of the multiannual action programme (1991-1993) and the European Year of the Elderly and Solidarity between Generations, and calls on the Commission to develop further its policy on the elderly, taking into account the experience gained;

38.Calls on the Commission and Council to join Parliament in crowning the European Year of the Elderly and of Solidarity between Generations by adopting without delay a joint declaration on the basic principles and general objectives of policy for the elderly in the European Union and the Member States;

39.Calls, on the basis of Article 7 of the Social Protocol, for the Commission to devote a separate chapter in its annual report on social policy and the demographic situation on the situation of the elderly and policy for the elderly;

40.Calls for a new European multiannual action programme on behalf of the elderly to be approved as soon as possible, with an indication of practical measures and a timetable;

41.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission and Council and the governments and parliaments of the Member States.