Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-01-13-Speech-2-223"
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"en.20040113.11.2-223"2
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".
Mr President, in a Europe in which there is an acute demographic problem and the number of elderly people is increasing constantly, it is clear that new problems of policies relating to the elderly will arise. I would remind you that the European Commission has already taken account of the age factor in the directive which was tabled and accepted by the Council in 2000 on dealing with all forms of discrimination in the workplace on the basis of age. Similarly, I would remind you that, in Article 25 of the Charter on Fundamental Rights, there is a clear reference which recognises the right of the elderly to a dignified life and their right to participate in economic and political life.
When we come to the more specific matter of violence against the elderly, something which is now a fact of life in several European countries and has to do to a great extent with the change in the family model and with the population of elderly people, which is constantly increasing, I would say that it is very difficult for us to find a legal basis on which to proceed with legislation. I should like to remind you that, during the course of discussions in the Constitutional Convention, a huge effort was made to integrate a legal basis into the new Treaty which would give the European Union the possibility to legislate on questions of violence overall, be it against women, children or the elderly. In the end no agreement was reached and there is at present no reference even in the Convention proposal for a legal basis for violence.
So as far as the legal question is concerned, this comes within the jurisdiction of the Member States. As far as policies and programmes are concerned, the Commission has the Daphne programme, with a more global approach to questions of violence, and we have a number of important initiatives in the Member States which relate to violence against the elderly. The Commission's intention is to fund the Daphne programme as much as it can."@en1
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