We All are Europe - AESAEC

The issues of older people are connected to the way of life that society allows or enables older
people to have. Older people’s needs are social, emotional, cognitive and involve the need for sharing
values. Their needs are psycho-social, just as with all individuals regardless of their age. The
needs of older people should be met by policies.
The issues of older people also involve the numerous stereotypes about them and old age that are
to be found everywhere, such as with regard to policies, treatment by professionals and voluntary
working. Stereotypes do not only affect older people, as they also affect everyone dealing with
issues relating to older people, such as professionals, politicians, researchers etc. The best thing
would be to ban these stereotypes - which is an easy thing to say but a very difficult thing to
achieve.
Older people’s needs should be taken into account by European projects and should be satisfied at
all levels within society; this includes at the level of their relationships with a partner, children, coworkers,
co-students, co-volunteers, at the local community level, at the level of the municipality,
at the regional level, at the state level and at the EU level. All levels are important when seeking to
act upon issues that concern older people. The issues of older people are related to their untapped
and unrecognised human capital (abilities, knowledge, skills), to the lack of social capital (not
enough institutions, associations, etc), to the insufficient support of active ageing, to integration
into society, to social protection, to eradicating poverty, to stimulating them volunteering and to
active citizenship.
The issues of older people are connected with the lack of justice and the inequality (discrimination)
faced by older people and retired people, be it legally, culturally, socially, economically or politically
based - with older people not being allowed or stimulated to take part in decision making
processes at all levels.
In order to identify the issues of older people, one must first identify sources in society that are
available to the generations in the middle, and secondly, a number of questions need to be asked:
do older people have equal access to work, culture, education, health, transport, housing, science
and active citizenship Do they have the right to go on working after their retirement without being
penalised Do older people have equal access to the media and do they appear in the media Are
there discounts offered to older people solely on the basis of their age, pushing them in the end to
appreciate being supported and slowly abandoning their right to play an equal role in public matters
The direction of local, national and EU policies regarding older people is often one that promotes
weakness and dependency and this should be changed! EU treaties and common policies as well as
numerous documents address older people’s issues. Senior citizens launching a European project
should be knowledgeable about the contents and the aims of the EU treaties and the common policies,
as well as about many of the documents that address older people’s issues in a direct or indirect
way.
Employment and Discrimination
At the Amsterdam European Council heads of state or government of the member states accepted
Article 13 of the Amsterdam Treaty against discrimination - and promoting social inclusion - in all
its forms. This article is further related to the EU Race Directive, the EU Employment Equality Directive
and the Gender Equality Instruments - all these documents are related also to older people.
Discrimination can be visible or invisible. This issue is being tackled also by a number
of organisations supported by the European Commission. Visiting their web
pages older citizens can learn much about the subject and also about the related
policies and documents:
• AGE (The European Older People’s Platform): http://www.age-platform.org
• ENAR (European Network Against Racism): http://www.enar-eu.org
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