34 Amendments of Kinga GÖNCZ related to 2012/2258(INI)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 1 a (new)
Citation 1 a (new)
- having regard to the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing of April 2002,
Amendment 3 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Points out the very different rates of ageing in EU Member States and the significant national, political and cultural differences in perceptions of the demographic challenge and, especially, of ways of facing it; however, states that life expectancy is growing in every Member State;
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 1 b (new)
Citation 1 b (new)
- having regard to Decision No 940/2011/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 September 2011 on the European Year for Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations,
Amendment 4 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 a (new)
Paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Reminds that elderly citizens are an asset to our societies, and it is essential to build on their knowledge and experiences in all walks of life and support their independent living as long as possible;
Amendment 5 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 b (new)
Paragraph 1 b (new)
1b. States that elderly people need different forms of support and care; therefore, services and solutions must be always people-oriented and demand- driven;
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 1 c (new)
Citation 1 c (new)
- having regard to the Strategic Implementation Plan for the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing of 17 November 2011,
Amendment 6 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1 c (new)
Paragraph 1 c (new)
1c. Points out that working and volunteering opportunities as well as social protection measures are essential to ensure active and healthy ageing;
Amendment 6 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 1 d (new)
Citation 1 d (new)
- having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions on 'Active Ageing: innovation – smart care – better lives' of May 2012,
Amendment 7 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Takes note of theWelcomes the Strategic Implementation Plan of the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing, especially its focus on cooperation between public and private stakeholders, the exchange and transfer of good ideas and best practices (e.g. the digitally based ‘Marketplace’ platform), and optimising existing funding instruments;
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 1 e (new)
Citation 1 e (new)
- having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on 'Horizon2020: Road maps for ageing' of May 20121, __________________ 1 http://eescopinions.eesc.europa.eu/EESC opinionDocument.aspx?identifier=ces\int\ int588\ces1290- 2012_ac.doc&language=EN
Amendment 11 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Welcomes the objective to promote age-friendly environments as an essential tool to support older workers and job- seekers and to promote inclusive societies that offer equal opportunities to all;
Amendment 19 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Stresses the need to create the appropriate conditions forenabling people to work longer and to be more productive if they wish or need to do so, also by making workplaces physically accessible, both by improving labour-market flexibility through the introduction of time accounts and part-time possibilities and by making provision for modern forms of employment contract, including temporary ones;
Amendment 23 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Underlines the importance of ensuring health and safety at work; welcomes the recognition of the significance of prevention in the first pillar of the Strategic Implementation Plan; is convinced that prevention also plays a key role at work by improving occupational health and reducing as a consequence the pressure on health and long-term care systems;
Amendment 27 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)
Paragraph 3 b (new)
3b. Stresses the importance of improving working conditions and create age- friendly and enabling environments in order to increase health and autonomy at work, notably for workers with disabilities or chronic conditions; points out that ICT and robots could play a key role in that extent by easing the physical tasks for our ageing workforce; calls on the Commission and the Member States to promote such technologies where adequate;
Amendment 28 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 c (new)
Paragraph 3 c (new)
3c. Stresses the importance of better supporting workers with informal care responsibilities; calls for an EU directive on carer's leave to provide an adequate framework in this respect;
Amendment 30 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 d (new)
Paragraph 3 d (new)
3d. Points out the necessity of fighting against age-discrimination in employment to ensure that older workers can keep their jobs or have an access to job opportunities;
Amendment 36 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Invites the Commission and the Member States to launch campaigns to improve public perceptions about the contribution and productivity of older workers, notably those with disabilities or chronic conditions;
Amendment 42 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Points out the essential role of investing more in education and training, with priority for lifelong learning, in order to prepare and maintain an active and productive ageing workforce and to safeguard the social inclusion and financial independency of elderly people;
Amendment 48 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Stresses the need of a holistic approach to ageing and of comprehensive development and reforms not only in the field of lifelong learning and the labour market but also in the accessibility to all these, including transportation, infrastructure and buildings;
Amendment 50 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 b (new)
Paragraph 5 b (new)
5b. Recalls the needs for older workers to improve the recognition of informal and non-formal education, notably those gained through volunteering and informal care;
Amendment 51 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 c (new)
Paragraph 5 c (new)
5c. Believes that intergenerational initiatives at work, such as knowledge transfers, are essential both to ensure the better integration and training of young workers and to offer possibilities for older workers to make other workers benefit from their experience;
Amendment 52 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 d (new)
Paragraph 5 d (new)
5d. Believes that adequate transitions from employment to retirement through phased retirement options, part-time work and flexible working hours are essential to ensure active and healthy ageing of older workers;
Amendment 57 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Maintains that further reforms of pension systems are necessary in order to make them sustainable, notably with special attention paid to reducing the gender pay gap in work and consequently in pensions and also calculable for the future generations; more coherence must be established between the effective retirement age, the official retirement age and life expectancy;
Amendment 64 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6a. Is convinced that further reforms of healthcare systems are necessary, especially by investing in health promotion, prevention, screening and early diagnosis and also developing a more affordable, high quality long-term care system;
Amendment 68 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Believes that volunteering and 'old people for old people' initiatives for the ageing population could provide a means of inclusion and a reasonable contribution to the sustainability of long- term care systems at the same time; therefore, encourages development and innovation in this field;
Amendment 71 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 b (new)
Paragraph 7 b (new)
7b. Points out that ageing does not only mean challenges but offers possibilities as well, especially innovation opportunities which, on the long run, could contribute to job creation and growing economic welfare in Europe;
Amendment 74 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7 c (new)
Paragraph 7 c (new)
7c. Calls for the need of paying special attention to the inclusion of ageing people living in remote areas or with multiple disadvantages.
Amendment 75 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 b (new)
Paragraph 8 b (new)
8b. Urges the Commission to take stock of the European Medicines Agency's work on medicines for older people and to integrate it in order to improve access to safe and adequate medicines for older patients;
Amendment 98 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Welcomes the Commission's approach in regard to active ageing and independent living, more specifically, its comprehensive view on the role and importance of ‘place in ageing’ as the radius or perimeter in which people live their lives increasingly contracts as they age, and as older people tend to prefer living independently for as long as possible while staying active in their community;
Amendment 117 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15 b (new)
Paragraph 15 b (new)
15b. Welcomes the foreseen alignment of EU funding instruments to optimise the impact of funding; supports the Joint Programming Initiative "More Years, Better Life" and the decision to identify "Innovation for healthy living and active ageing" as a priority theme for the Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) wave in 2014-2015 of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT);
Amendment 120 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Supports the Commission's approach in regard to age-friendly innovations; however, invites the Commission to ensure that these innovations are end-user- oriented and user-friendly; hence, invites the Commission to develop a methodology through which the current and future needs of older people can be evaluated, sincefurther involve end users in its policies and funding programmes; recalls that features adapted to older people's needs are proven to be generally to the advantage of younger generations as well;
Amendment 128 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 c (new)
Paragraph 16 c (new)
16c. Welcomes the existing initiatives on accessibility, such as the Access City Awards; calls on the Commission to adopt an ambitious European Accessibility Act to improve the market of accessible goods and services;
Amendment 132 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 g (new)
Paragraph 16 g (new)
16g. Welcomes the current initiatives in the field of standardisation, such as the mandates on "Design for All", accessibility of ICT and of the built environment; notes the commitment of the Commission to launch similar initiatives for European standards on eHealth and independent living; calls the Commission and Standardisation bodies to further involve users in these initiatives in order to adequately address their needs;
Amendment 133 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16 h (new)
Paragraph 16 h (new)
16h. Recalls the need to better involve national, regional and local authorities in the creation of age-friendly environments and innovations; welcomes the Commission's proposal to include active and healthy ageing and innovation as priorities for investment in the cohesion policy package 2014-2020; calls for further initiatives to facilitate exchange of good practices between public authorities; notes that a Covenant of Mayors on Demographic Change would be an appropriate political structure to facilitate and speed up the creation of an age- friendly EU by 2020 and increase the healthy life years expectancy of EU citizens;