Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-03-12-Speech-3-336"
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"Mr President, improving the quality of life of Europe’s growing elderly population, as we have heard, is one of the biggest challenges facing us in Europe.
Our aim should be to become the pole of excellence in this field, and there should be exchange of knowledge and best practice across Europe.
This is only achievable if we have real commitment from the participating countries. Therefore, I am pleased that the Council has agreed to EUR 0.2 million as a minimum contribution for each participating country, along with a single common evaluation mechanism and eligibility criteria, in the hope that this will increase coordination, transparency and credibility of the programme.
Secondly, it will benefit EU industry, which has a tremendous potential in this area. So I call upon the AAL Association to develop effective business models for these ICT products and services, which are the key to lower prices and getting these products onto the market.
They also need to ensure that SMEs can participate and have fair access to research and funding opportunities. However, to be successful it is essential that the programme looks at developing EU-wide standards and interoperability in order to become a world leader in this field of assistive technologies. There is an urgent need to remove technical and regulatory barriers which hamper the development of this area. Let us not forget that the rest of the world, like the US, Japan and even China, are facing similar demographic challenges. Therefore, it is up to us to develop a global competitive edge.
AAL is not just about improving independent living but can also contribute to achieving the goals of the Lisbon Strategy. But, to do this, we need joined-up thinking and joined-up action with other programmes – on job creation and on economic growth – in this sector.
Thirdly, whilst the technology can improve the quality of life for the elderly, this only holds if a few major issues are addressed: making prices affordable so they are accessible to all, user-friendliness of the new technology (and making sure the elderly and their carers have the training to understand it), and, because we may be living in an information society, but it is not yet an inclusive society – a large proportion of the elderly do face exclusion. Therefore we need to make the internet more accessible and make training available, and allow elderly people both to stay socially connected and to perform their daily activities which can be facilitated, such as shopping, paying bills, making appointments. But the availability of this should not be due to a geographical divide in Europe. I do not want to see a two-speed Europe in relation to Europe’s demographic challenge.
This is only a start. We have a lot more to do, and I hope this programme will set a precedent for further activities and initiatives from the Commission and the Council.
The make-up of our society is changing, and we need to adapt, to ensure quality of life and independent living for the elderly, who are otherwise at risk of exclusion.
What we need to ensure is that this new society is an inclusive one. We need to guarantee that the growing number of elderly people are fully able to participate in society because, between 2010 and 2030, the number of EU citizens aged between 65 and 80 will rise by 40%.
This ageing population will have severe implications for a number of policy areas: social, employment, housing, education, training, health care and social support. Therefore we need a comprehensive, not a fragmented approach to ageing.
This report results from initiatives by Member States under Article 169, which is co-funded by the Commission to the tune of EUR 150 million over five years. This will assist the European industry and research institutes in the development of new, cutting-edge ICT services, products and solutions to enhance the quality of life for the older persons.
Today, technologies have been developed that can help solve loss of memory, vision, hearing and mobility. Substantive work has already begun, but often there is neither awareness nor widespread use. So this initiative, I hope, will be of real use and help solve societal problems.
I am really pleased to say that I have seen, first-hand, in many places, especially in my region, the West Midlands, how a traditional house can be adapted with the use of assistive technologies which will enable a safer and accessible home environment.
I am also proud that my region has been at the cutting edge of assistive technologies – not just with a view to the elderly, but also technologies have been developed to help people with disabilities.
So, AAL should prove to be a real boost to this sort of activity in three domains. Firstly, EU research will be centrally coordinated, will enable the development of feasible products, and will introduce these into the marketplace."@en1
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