Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-02-20-Speech-3-400"
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"en.20080220.17.3-400"2
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"Mr President, this has been a difficult report. There has unfortunately been very little time to reach compromises or for real debate on some of the issues – hence the large number of amendments.
However, I am pleased with many elements of what we do have, such as the need to tackle the issue of elder abuse. More needs to be done, urgently, to end the physical, financial, emotional and other forms of abuse regularly suffered by older people. The latest estimate puts the number of older people that have suffered abuse at over 10%, which is a staggering figure. That is why I welcome the Commission’s intention to bring forward a communication on that issue. But we must do more. Member States must also work towards ensuring independence, free personal care, lifelong learning and freedom from discrimination at the workplace for all older people. That means, of course, fully implementing the 2000 Employment Directive and then building on it.
We must work to put an end to employees being thrown onto the employment scrapheap, whether at 50, 55 or 65. An arbitrary age of statutory retirement must be abolished, whilst ensuring a statutory pension age, set at Member State level. There is a very clear difference between the two. Individuals then have a choice to stop work and take their pensions, or to continue working and either take their pension or defer it until they choose to stop working. Unfortunately, I was unable to achieve consensus on this, and therefore it is not in the report, but I believe Member States must be encouraged to look at this for the future.
I have tabled a number of amendments on behalf of my group, which I hope other Members will see fit to support, but most of the issues covered by this report should remain within the competence of the Member States. There is, of course, still a great deal we can do in terms of exchange of best practice."@en1
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