Fact Sheets on the European Union – 2 - EU Bookshop - Europa

social exclusion as an objective of Community social policy. In
December 2002, the European Parliament and the Council
adopted Decision No 50/2002/EC establishing a programme of
Community action encouraging cooperation between
Member States to combat social exclusion. The programme
covered the period 2002–06 and was allocated a budget of
EUR 75 million.
Meanwhile, a specific Community action programme to
combat discrimination had been established, based on
Article 13(2); it covered all of the grounds set out in Article 13
with the exception of sex, which was dealt with separately by
the European Community’s gender equality programme.
In 2007 all EC funding programmes existing in the area of
employment and social affairs were integrated into a unique
framework with the adoption of the new Progress programme:
covering a period of seven years, Progress is meant to
rationalise expenditure and improve the impact of actions
supported by the European Community. Progress has a global
budget of EUR 743.25 million, of which 30 % is allocated to
social inclusion and social protection and 23 % to nondiscrimination.
While Progress is meant to support projects with a clear
European dimension or added value, the European Social Fund
(ESF) makes Community funding available to co-finance
actions aimed at combating discrimination and help the most
disadvantaged access the labour market.
It should also be recalled that 2010 has been declared the
‘European Year of Combating Exclusion and Poverty’.
D. European strategies for specific groups: the disabled
and the elderly
The EU follows a double approach in supporting the social
inclusion of vulnerable groups, by both fighting all forms of
discrimination and designing targeted strategies.
1. The disabled
In pursuance of the United Nations resolution of 1993 entitled
the ‘Standard rules for the equalisation of opportunities for
persons with disabilities’, the Commission adopted
communication COM(96) 406 in July 1996. The Community
disability strategy set forth in that communication was based
on equal rights and non-discrimination and on mainstreaming
disability issues into all appropriate EU policies, such as social
policy, education and training, research, transport,
telecommunications and public health. While responsibility in
this field lies with the Member States, the communication
emphasised that the European Community would make a
significant contribution to the promotion of cooperation
between Member States.
In 1996, a High-level Group on Disability was set up to monitor
national policies and priorities, to pool information and
experience and to advise the Commission. The resolution on
equal employment opportunities for people with disabilities
adopted by the Council on 17 June 1999 calls on Member
States to develop, evaluate and review support programmes
for the integration of people with disabilities in various ways.
The resolution prepared Decision 2000/750/EC establishing
the Community action programme to combat discrimination
for the period 2001–06.
The year 2003 was nominated the European Year of People
with Disabilities (Council Decision 2001/903/EC). As a followup,
a disability action plan was established to ensure a
coherent policy for people with disabilities. It constitutes an
operational framework for actions to be developed at EU level
between 2004 and 2010. Regular, biannual updates of the
disability action plan and continual dialogue with the main
stakeholders ensure that actions carried out by the
Commission are relevant and targeted. The communication
‘Situation of disabled people in the European Union: the
European action plan 2008–09’ (COM(2007) 738) is the most
recent update of the EU disability action plan.
People with disabilities are hard hit by unemployment. One of
the key issues of Community initiatives is to broaden their job
prospects and to change attitudes towards people with
disabilities in the area of employment. Disability aspects are
included in the national reform programmes and in the
national strategies for social protection and social inclusion.
2. The elderly
In 2000, more than 60 million people (16.4 % of the EU
population) were aged 65 or over and this rate is expected to
increase to 25 % by 2020. The rise in life expectancy is set to
continue; combined with falling birth rates, this will accelerate
the ageing of the population. Recent data demonstrate that
the elderly are specially hit by poverty.
Having been one of the first regions in the world to be
affected by the problem of an ageing population, Europe has
developed a whole raft of strategic responses. Since 1984 the
Community has conducted a number of studies and seminars
focusing on the contribution of the elderly to economic and
social life. The first action programme for the elderly began
back in 1991.
The response to ageing developed by the EU is set in the
context of an overarching strategy which consists in
formulating mutually reinforcing policies and covers the
economic, social and employment implications of ageing. The
EU approach is designed to mobilise the full potential of
people of all ages. The basic principle is that the search for
effective responses to the problem of an ageing population
must go beyond a narrow focus on the interests of today’s
oldest generations. To this end, new active policies and active
ageing strategies have to be adopted.
Two communications from the European Commission,
‘Towards a Europe for all ages — Promoting prosperity and
intergenerational solidarity’ (COM(99) 221) and ‘Europe’s
response to world ageing — Promoting economic and social
progress in an ageing world’ (COM(2002) 143), identify the
following priorities: tackling the economic effects of ageing
with a view to maintaining growth and sound public finances;
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