Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-02-20-Speech-3-441"
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"en.20080220.17.3-441"2
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"Europe is not ready for the challenges posed by our demography.
For 60 years, Europe has put its trust in a pyramid scheme. It works as long as every generation is much larger than the previous one. But, today, European families are raising fewer children than their parents.
I would like to point out that in the 21st century the low birth rates present less of an economical danger than they did 60 years ago. Progress of technology lets us produce much more goods with much less labour. Globalisation means that the countries with young and growing populations will help us to carry the pension burden, if our policies allow it. My country, Estonia, is a great example of a successful transition to a funded pension scheme.
At the same time, Estonia feels that low birth rates endanger the sustainability of our culture, maybe even nationhood. This is the problem of many smaller nations.
If we want to preserve Europe as we know it, we must protect our cultures also by protecting our families. We, the policymakers, must to make sure that technology and globalisation are our servants, not masters. This report is a good start."@en1
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