Toolkit for civil society organisationsto respond to the EU consultation

Version of February 2021

AGE Platform EuropeThe voice of older persons at EU level

EU Green Paper on Ageing

Structure

#1 Overview – what it takes to respond to an EU public consultation

#2 Why – a few good reasons why your response to the consultation is important

#3 What – proposal of responses in align with our vision of ageing for Europe

#4 When, where, how – practicalities of your response to a public consultation

Credit: Michał Parzuchowski on Unsplash

1- Summary

Before: PREPARE During: SUBMIT After: COMMUNICATE

Read the Green Paper

Attend the webinar organised on 4 March with the EU Commission

Draft a response to the consultation using (if you wish) suggestions provided by AGE

Encourage others to do the same to increase our critical mass

Submit your response in your language

Download a copy of your response (PDF format)

Promote your key messages on your website and/or via a press release

Share your web article or press release on social media with the hashtag #AgeingEqual (*)

(*) Hashtags help us keep track of your communications

Where can I findthe green paper, Mrs. Suica?https://ec.europa.eu/info/files/green-paper-ageing-fostering-solidarity-and-responsibility-between-generations_en

The Green Paper is available in the 22 official languages of the EU

2- Why is your responseimportant?

A bit of context…

A green paper is a document

published to stimulate discussion.

A public consultation on a green

paper invites interested parties to

give their views on a topic.

Once the consultation closes,

the European Commission will

analyse the responses and give

directions for the future.

All views count:

Both in quality and in quantity!

The responses to the consultation will help

acknowledging the importance of the topic.

You are a piece of the puzzle!

You don’t have to respond to all 17 questions

of the consultation. But your point of view

and expertise, even on a few of topics, will

help moving forward.

Interactions between the national and the European level

A number of topics in the Green Paper are national or regional competences.

Responding to the consultation can reinforce your advocacy effort at national level.

For example:

Your contribution can build on the work you do at national/regional level.

Vice versa, you can use your response to the consultation to provoke a debate at national/regional level

or to advocate for a stronger link between the policies developed at EU, national and regional levels.

Synergies with other dossiers

You can use the content of your contribution for other processes or vice-versa base

your contribution on the work done in other fora.

For example:

The 4th review of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (MIPAA), coordinated by the UN

Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), will start in 2021 at national level. Each country will submit

its report on policies and programmes taken to implement the MIPAA.

3- What can you respond?

This section provides a proposal of response to the

consultation. It is presented in three parts:

The overall spirit of our contribution

Inspiration from AGE vision and mission

Specifics of our responses to the consultation

Hints to address the questions of the consultation

based on previous works bearing in mind our final

contribution is not yet ready!

Beyond the questions: annexes and next steps

Our proposal of follow-up to the Green Paper on Ageing

Anchored in AGE vision…

And mission…

Endorsing the life-course

approach of the WHO…

And breaking the silos….

Our approach

Inclusive society for all ages, based on solidarity and cooperation

between generations, where everyone is empowered to participate fully

and enjoy life in full respect of their rights while fulfilling their duties

and responsibilities.

Celebrating ageing as one of the greatest achievements of the

humankind, we challenge ageism and seek opportunities to allow

everyone to live full lives and age in dignity.

People’s and communities’ health outcomes depend on the interaction of

multiple protective and risk factors throughout our lives. Such an

approach recognizes that both past and present experiences are shaped

by the wider social, economic and cultural context one lives in.

A true mainstreaming of ageing issues across EU policies and initiatives

is crucial to embrace the complexity of people’s lives and

environments.

AGE Contribution to the roadmap for the Green Paper on Ageing (Dec. 2020):

https://www.age-platform.eu/policy-work/news/eu-green-paper-ageing-what-should-be

General advice

Rights, autonomy

and independence

(See Q7, Q8)

Solidarity between

generations

(See Q4, Q6, Q9, Q13)

Our hints to answer the questions (1/6)

Be specific and concrete: what can the EU do? What added value can the EU bring? Do not hesitate to illustrate with examples from your country.

We call for a human-rights based approach, to ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights of everyone. A right to autonomy, independence, choice, control and legal capacity should aim to ensure the full, effective and meaningful participation of older persons in social, cultural, economic, public and political life and educational and training activities. General guidelines on a human-rights based approach (Nov. 2020)AGE Input to the UN Open Ending Working Group on Autonomy and Independence (Feb. 2019)

Going beyond intergenerational fairness: a new intergenerational contract is needed to support equality and social justice between and for all generations. We need to be imaginative and involve people of all ages in reinventing our world, putting humankind and our planet at the heart of our societies.Declaration General Assembly (June 2019) Joint Press Release with European Youth Forum (April 2020)Joint article with European Youth Forum (Nov. 2020)

Employment

(See Q3, Q4)

Life-long learning

(See Q2)

Our hints to answer the questions (2/6)

- Full implementation of the EU Employment Equality Directive, fighting

against ageism in the workplace including in access to training,

intergenerational transfer of knowledge, etc.

- Age-friendly/healthy working conditions

- Attention put to flexible end-of-career opportunities

- Support to informal carers (gender dimension)

AGE work for the 20th anniversary of the Employment Directive (Sept. 2020)

AGE Contribution to the European Semester 2020 (2020)

- Address the obstacles: age discrimination, accessibility in terms of

geographical location/mobility options as well as in terms of format and

content of the learning opportunities (incl. for online learning content), costs.

- Encourage digital training attendance in places where older people live,

incl. but not limited to long-term care services or public libraries.

AGE contribution to the EU Digital Education Plan (Oct. 2020)

AGE Input to UN Open Ending Working Group on Education, life-long learning,

training and capacity building (Feb. 2019)

Poverty, adequate

income, and pensions

(See Q10, Q11, Q12)

Our hints to answer the questions (3/6)

- Proposing a Framework for universal access to the accrual of pension rights, including for men and women, self-employed, and persons in new forms of employment following these EU Council Conclusions

- Continue Pension Adequacy Reports as performed by the EU Commission- Follow-up on the recommendations of the high-level group on

supplementary pensions whose final report was released in Dec. 2019- Issue a Recommendation on Social Protection and Services for Informal

Carers to support their income protection and pension rights- Develop reference budgets using baskets of goods and services adapted

to specific sub-groups; reference budgets should also take account of non-monetary aspects, such as access to health and long-term care services, education and long-life learning, decent housing, leisure and social activities or civic participation

- Refer to the relative poverty threshold to debate minimum incomes

AGE contribution to the European Pillar of Social Rights (Nov. 2020)

AGE Barometer 2019 – Chapter on Adequate income (2019)

AGE Contribution to the Pension Adequacy Report (2018)

European Minimum Income Network (Project, 2013-2014)

Long-term care

(See Q13, Q14)

Our hints to answer the questions (4/6)

- Agree on EU-wide quality and access indicators for LTC and support

- Set compulsory access targets, similarly to the Barcelona targets adopted

in childcare in 2002 to measure progress in access to LTC and support

- Develop strategies for the implementation of integrated care,

meaning within and between health and social care services.

- Introduce measures to support informal carers, including support and

respite services (+ income protection, see previous slide)

- Bind Member States to improve working conditions in the care sector

- Enforce existing regulations on care quality in the running of private

for-profit care services, incl. assessing the possibilities for action at EU level

- Put forward a legislative initiative for the convergence of Member

States in the field of care, scrutinized via both a specific monitoring

framework as well as via the European Semester and its social scoreboard

- Ensure that earmarked investments in long-term care are included

within the EU funding instruments, notably the Recovery and Resilience

Facility, the future European Social Fund+ and the EU4Health Programme

and aligned with EU policy objectives and legislative proposal.

AGE contribution to the European Pillar of Social Rights (Nov. 2020)

Social isolation

and loneliness

(See Q16)

Our hints to answer the questions (5/6)

- Recognise and adequately address the differences… (1) between social and emotional loneliness; and (2) between social isolation and exclusion

- Address the various risk factors of loneliness and social isolation by proposing a structural and multi-level approach

- Involve isolated persons when defining a tailor-made support, so that they have ownership of the process and contribute from their perspective

- Introduce proofing against loneliness to enhance the overall coherence of policy making, its actions and interventions, e.g. what would be the impact of deinstitutionalisation toward community-based care or dematerialisation/digitalisation of local services

- Adopt a life-cycle approach to understand how exclusion evolves across the life span and assess the causes and implications of old-age exclusion

- Ensure synergies between institutional, professional and voluntary actors and all levels of intervention – successful strategies to fight old-age loneliness require a coordinated and forward-looking approach

AGE-ROSEnet Seminar on reducing old-age social exclusion (April 2019)

Healthy Ageing

(See Q1)

Age-friendly

environments:

- accessibility,

- digitalisation,

- mobility,

- housing

(See Q7, Q15, Q17)

Our hints to answer the questions (6/6)

Adding life to years by ensuring smooth cooperation between States, the EU

and the UN during the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021-2030).

Enabling physical and digital environments are crucial to support

autonomy and independence. AGE supports the WHO age-friendly approach.

- Accessibility through design-for-all: the UN Convention of the Rights of

Persons with Disabilities, ratified by the EU and its Member States, applies to

mobility, the built environment (incl. outdoor spaces, housing, etc.), and

access to services (incl. online). Enforcement of EU law and development of

accessibility standards is key to make inclusive environments a reality.

- Mobility is essential to enable participation and social inclusion (refer to

concepts of door to door, link with air pollution and shift to public transport).

- Housing must adapt across life for people to remain active in their

community; innovations can help to design alternatives to residential care,

prevent energy poverty and tackle the climate crisis.

AGE response to EU consultation on passengers’ rights (2017)

AGE summary on the climate crisis and older people (2019)

Report of the Homes4Life Project (2020)

Why such proposal? To change the narrative around ageing and show how to apply

a rights-based approach into practice

To make the best of the current political momentum

(incl. Key reports and statements at EU and UN level following the

impact of COVID-19, EU Council Conclusion of October 2020 of the

rights and participation of older people in the digital era, Trio

Presidency Declaration of December 2020 on Ageing, etc.)

To ensure coherence in the way ageing is addressed across EU

policies (mainstreaming) and a meaningful coordination with other

EU equality strategies (e.g. Gender Equality Strategy, Disability Rights

Strategy, LGBTIQ Equality strategy, Victims’ Rights Strategy, etc.)

In addition to our responses, we will call on the European Commission to give a

follow-up with a White Paper. And our plan is to attach a concrete suggestion :

proposal for an EU Age Equality Strategy

Beyond the questionnaire: our proposal

Draft outline for an EU Age Equality Strategy

1. Ageism and non-discrimination

2. Participation

3. Employment and skills

4. Adequate income

5. Health and long-term care

6. Mainstreaming and coordination within and between EU bodies

7. International agenda

For each of these seven sections, we aim at proposing concrete actions the EU could

set up based on existing policy positions of AGE. A very first draft version is available

here and will be further developed and adapted during the next two months.

• [All topics] AGE Manifesto for the European elections 2019

• [All Topics] AGE Barometer (Editions 2019 and 2020)

• [Ageing and Gender] Joint statement to improve status of older women in Europe and worldwide (2021)

• [Ageing and Disability] AGE contribution for the EU Disability Rights Strategy (2020)

• [COVID-19] Recovery report (June 2020) and Impact on Human Rights report (May 2020)

• [Digital literacy] DIGITOL report and AGE Response to the EU Consultation on Digital Education (2020)

Additional AGE key ressources

4- When, where, howcan you respond?

WHEN WHERE HOW

Consultation opened: 27 January 2021

Consultation closes:21 April 2021

Online

https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/12722-

Green-Paper-on-Ageing

See technical guidance at the end of the PowerPoint

(possible to respond in your national language)

1/Access the public consultation…

and choose your languagehttps://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/12722-Green-Paper-on-Ageing

2/Scroll downuntil you see thisyellow button

3/Scroll down AGAIN until you see thisother yellowbutton

4/Login with an ECAS account

(it is not possible to respond without it)

Option 1You already have an ECAS account

Option 2You need to createan ECAS account (*)

(*) for any technicalsupport, do not hesitateto contact Juliajulia.wadoux@age-platform.eu

You now REALLY have access to the consultation!

5/ Download a PDF if you want to have the questionnaire in a single file to share with others for example

6/Save a draft if you want to work in several steps without loosing content

7/Scroll downto choose the language of yourresponse

8/For each question, you have max. 2500 characters, spacesincluded (more or less half a page).

The system is smart and will let youknow if your answeris too long!

9/Do not forget to attach an annex(one file only)

10/Submit and download a PDF copy of yoursubmission

Thanks for responding!

Do not forget to share your contribution with #AgeingEqual

and with AGE Secretariat

Contact person: Julia.Wadoux@age-platform.eu

Want to know more about us?

Register to our newsletter on www.age-platform.eu

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AGE work is co-funded by the Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme of the European Union. The contents of this document are the sole responsibility of AGE Platform Europe and cannot be taken to reflect the views of the European Commission.