Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-12-15-Speech-5-017"

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"Mr President, because of the demographic changes taking place in European society, we are forced to reconsider the role of older people, taking a holistic and long-term approach which aims to keep the elderly active or reintegrate them into working life, be it in a productive process or in the form of social action. This approach must include the guarantee of a dignified, independent, self-sufficient lifestyle. This sort of strategy calls for well-coordinated objectives and is based on intergenerational solidarity, respect and recognition of the different roles which citizens play. The problem which arises and the political action which we need to develop in this sector are particularly important at the present time, as the European Union endeavours to modernise its social model and fuse economic development with social progress, the quality of life and the social integration of all its citizens. These challenges are common to all European societies, albeit to some more than others; this applies in particular to my own country, Greece, which has the highest proportion of poor pensioners: around 31% according to Eurostat. We were delighted that the European Council in Nice adopted the social agenda and we hope that the Member States will take this opportunity to promote the development and coordination of social security and welfare systems for the elderly and to promote other measures, such as lifelong learning, which ensure that they have an active lifestyle. My political group has worked closely with the rapporteur, Mrs Sbarbati, and we are grateful to her for that. The report contains numerous common positions. We felt that it was particularly important to study the ageing phenomenon within various categories of older persons, because we realised that the elderly in towns face different problems from the elderly in island or rural areas of the European Union. We particularly supported the involvement of the elderly in various forms of voluntary work, without overlooking the need for social security in these areas, and we believe that the European institutions and the Member States should not miss the opportunity of conducting a broad information and awareness-raising campaign directed both at the government agencies responsible for applying social policy and society as a whole, because the citizens themselves must realise that a society needs intergenerational solidarity. Supporting the European Commission's initiative and enriching it through dialogue with Parliament will, I think, send a message to the people of Europe that the European Union is in a position to forecast change and crisis and to create a society of participation, cohesion and solidarity."@en1

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