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EP considers the demographic renewal and immigration issues
25.02.2008, 13:54
On Thursday, 21 of February, the European Parliament adopted the report by Françoise Castex on the demographic future of Europe, which stresses the importance of better management of human resources, social protection and solidarity between generations, and an intelligent approach to immigration. Some of the statistics show how the average age of the European population is expected to rise from 39 in 2004 to 49 in 2050, while the working age population is likely to rise to 331 million around 2010 before falling to 268 million in 2050. Percentage of the elderly over 80s is predicted to rise from 4.1% to 11.4 % in 2050. According to Parliament, the extremely low birth rate in the European Union is not a reflection of women's choices but rather an outcome of the problems of finding an appropriate work-life balance, the anxiety-inducing social environment, and fears for the future. Nevertheless, the European Parliament believes it is possible to have a positive influence on birth rate curves through coordinated public policies. It therefore calls on member states to: adopt best practices regard the length of maternity leave and parental leave; anti-natal care and counseling; a guaranteed income during pregnancy and being able to return to the same job; take measures against employers who discriminate directly or indirectly against female employees wanting to have a family.
In general, the Parliament considers measures which, after the birth of child, provide women with specific protection and support, and also encourages member states to take proactive measures to support parents. At the same time, the European Commission is called to give consideration to the "sensitive issue of infertility" that affects both married and unmarried women and couples.
Looking at the human resources field, the European Parliament calls for reform of the current European human resource management, which under-employs people below the 25-30 age range and those over 55. Parliament proposes defining an "active life-cycle" that combines training, lifelong learning and optimissation of formal and informal knowledge and qualifications relating to person's career from the beginning to the end of a person's working life.
The European Parliament insists for the continuance of the principle of solidarity between generations, calling on member states to: take stronger actions to combat non-payment of taxes and social security contributions; promote the role of older people to maintain inter-generational solidarity; maintain budgetary balances between revenue and expenditure in various pension schemes. Although the voluntary sector and social regional networks make a significant contributions, Parliament emphasizes on the importance of the role played by public authorities.
The European Parliament observes the issues of integrated immigration and notes that it could make positive contribution from an economic, social and cultural point of view. Parliament calls on the Commission to develop a "clear and reasoned" approach to immigration to counter fight racism, and xenophobia and promote a full and effective integration of migrants into society.
Source: www.eu.int