From Ageism to Age Equality: Addressing the Challenges ...

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The Status of Age Equality andNon-Discrimination in the EURichard Baker, Chair, Non-Discrimination Expert Group, AGEIntroductionIn discussing the current status and future trajectory of age equality and non-discrimination in theEU it is important to recognise: firstly, the context in which these issues are being addressed iseconomic and is driven by a concern about the effect of ageing populations; and secondly, theEuropean Council, the authority responsible for decision-making on discrimination and equality, mustagree to act unanimously and it operates by following proposals from the European Commission. It isimportant to understand this when considering where future developments and opportunities forinfluence might lie.56Present SituationIn its 1999 Communiqué, Towards a Europe for All Ages, published to coincide with the InternationalYear of Older People, the European Commission brought together its thinking on ageing andidentified four key issues for action:enhancing the participation of older people in employment and productive activitydealing with the discrimination faced by people of all agesimproving the health of older peopleaddressing issues of sustainability of pensions and social protection systems.EmploymentEuropean institutions identified the ageing of our population as a challenge some time ago. In thecontext of boosting economic growth and enhancing employment and inclusion, the issue of underemploymentof older workers has been frequently raised. The EU Council of Ministers agreed inLisbon in March 2000 to set targets to increase both participation levels of older people and the ageof departure from the workforce as part of its strategy to address employment and growth.Conference Proceedings
Health and PensionsMember States have also recognised the importance of ageing in the areas of health and pensions.Legal authority for action on pensions and healthcare, however, does not rest at European level butis covered by the notion of subsidiarity and is, therefore, the responsibility of Member States.European action is restricted to the ‘open method of coordination’, whereby the EuropeanCommission brings Member States together to collaborate and share practice with the intention ofimproving consistency of approach.The EU has agreed common objectives in the area of pensions under three headings:safeguarding the capacity of systems to meet their social objectivesmaintaining their financial sustainabilitymeeting changing societal needs.Member States will report on their national pensions strategies in 2005.The European Parliament adopted a resolution in March 2004 that proposes to extend the openmethod of coordination to the area of health and long-term care. The European Council agreed theseproposals in October 2004. The main areas that the open method of coordination will look at are:universal accessfairness and solidarity in healthcarefinancial sustainability.The Commission will take a first look at these issues across Member States and report to the springsummit in March 2005. We at AGE are working, and will continue to work, to ensure that ageing isgiven due weight in these discussions.57DiscriminationEuropean institutions have pursued the notion of an inclusive Europe free from discrimination since the1957 Treaty of Rome. Article 13 of the 1997 Amsterdam Treaty agreed powers for the EU to addressage discrimination and promote diversity through legislation. Article 13 proposals must be agreedunanimously in the Council: that is, the governments of the Member States must agree to act together.In 2000, the Council of Ministers agreed to a package of measures designed to enhance the rights ofpeople across the EU. The package consisted of two Directives and an Action Programme to supportimplementation.The two Directives were the Race Equality Directive (known as the Race Directive) and a frameworkDirective on equal treatment in employment and occupation (known as the Framework EmploymentDirective). The Directives supplement existing EU legislation on gender issues.The Directives are required to be transposed into national law by 2 December 2003. In the cases ofthe disability and age provisions of the Framework Employment Directive, however, a further threeyears until December 2006 is allowed for the transposition. The ten new Member States wereFrom Ageism to Age Equality: Addressing the Challenges
Page 1 and 2:
From Ageism to Age Equality:Address
Page 5 and 6:
Introduction1
Page 7 and 8:
Presentations in the Final Session
Page 9: membership of the Traveller communi
Page 12 and 13: Opening Address (1)Karen Erwin, Cha
Page 14 and 15: Opening Address (2)Sylvia Meehan, B
Page 16 and 17: What is Ageism?Loretta Crawley,Scho
Page 18 and 19: Marginalisation is very often the r
Page 20 and 21: Ageism and Attitudes toOlder People
Page 22 and 23: Table 2: Perceptions of how one is
Page 24 and 25: Fear of crime was identified by ove
Page 26 and 27: Table 7: Forms of less favourable t
Page 28 and 29: Just 4 per cent of respondents aged
Page 30 and 31: Table 14: Personal preferences for
Page 32 and 33: Attitudes Towards Older PeopleTable
Page 34 and 35: Table 18: Responses to Scenario Two
Page 36 and 37: Overall, the data suggests a need a
Page 38 and 39: Postal Survey of AttitudesWe conduc
Page 40 and 41: administration and management perso
Page 42 and 43: Screening and Preventative Services
Page 44 and 45: ConclusionsThe broad aim of health
Page 46 and 47: 42Conference Proceedings
Page 48 and 49: Rooting Out AgeDiscrimination in th
Page 50 and 51: Training EventsTraining events on a
Page 52 and 53: Guide to Auditing Age Discriminatio
Page 54 and 55: Effective Involvement of Older Peop
Page 56 and 57: Combating Age Discrimination 9Liste
Page 58 and 59: 54Conference Proceedings
Page 62 and 63: equired to have adopted the two Dir
Page 64 and 65: necessary to promote awareness of i
Page 66 and 67: Implementing Equality forOlder Peop
Page 68 and 69: Provision of Goods, Services, Educa
Page 70 and 71: Such an exercise, often quite simpl
Page 72 and 73: developed as an integral part of eq
Page 74 and 75: Older people who internalise pejora
Page 76 and 77: When considering the implementation
Page 78 and 79: Richard BakerRichard chairs the ant
Page 80 and 81: Síle O’ConnorSíle O’Connor ha
Page 82 and 83: NCAOPThe National Council on Ageing
Page 84: The Equality AuthorityThe Equality
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