Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2003-01-14-Speech-2-278"
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"en.20030114.8.2-278"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, Mrs Flemming's remarks oblige me to say that we should not view this report in isolation from other reports and initiatives, for example, the Lisbon strategy, which also aims towards social cohesion and sustainability, the Commission report on the evaluation of national strategies for adequate and sustainable pensions, or the Streamlining Report on the coordination of employment policy with economic policy. All these serve the purpose of ensuring that our social security system continues to be financially viable, because that is what is needed. Demographic changes are relevant to every area of policy and have effects on the social fabric and on the socio-political framework, and so I welcome this report and this debate as helping to increase our awareness of these things.
Action is needed, on the part of all of and us at every political level. A survey by Eurostat, a few days ago, showed that in 2002 there were fewer births, but more deaths, recorded in the EU. The number of live births in the EU reached 3.99 million in 2002, which is 0.3% fewer than in 2001. It is estimated that, in 2002, some 3.68 million people died in the EU, which amounts to some 60 000 more than in 2001. These figures alone show that our society faces a change which will affect policy on social security, employment, finance and the economy.
There is just one aspect that I would like to pick out – that of care. In my country – Austria – alone, 540 000 people are at present in need of help and care. This figure will increase to just over 800 000 by 2011. At the same time, 84% of all those in need of care – and this is the case in all countries – receive that care from members of their own family. Only 26% require or receive additional help or avail themselves of it. Demographic and economic changes mean, though, that the family members who provide care are becoming fewer in number.
The number of people employed in the care field has increased by 5.5%, so the health and welfare sector is creating jobs. Underdevelopment of many areas of the mobile care and support services means that far from all the sufficiently trained staff can be employed. I therefore demand certain things above all in this context. Among other things, we should be attaching greater importance to the mobile services and to the services needed to supplement them – hospices, family support, and day centres – and extending them. There is a need for a build-up of resources in personal environments and for more extensive support both for recipients of care and for their families. In my view, though, we also need uniform standards of training and professional development, as aid is often required across national boundaries. The caring professions need a campaign to enhance their image and we have to explore why they are so unstable and why staff remain in them for so short a time. Care is one of the greatest challenges of our time, and we need European standards for it."@en1
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