Activites

• 1998/04/06 Final act published in Official Journal
• 1998/03/12 Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
  • T4-0151/1998 summary

    In adopting the report by Mr Jesús CABEZON ALONSO (PSE, E) on the demographic report 1997, the European Parliament expressed the view that the solution to the protection and preservation of the welfare society, or the European social model, was to maintain solid and sustainable economic growth, improve employment policies and consultations between the two sides of industry and combat social exclusion. Parliament considered it important to separate the sources from which social security benefits were funded, differentiating between those which were paid out of contributions from employers and workers and universal benefits funded by means of general taxation. It took the view, in particular, that private pension funds should remain voluntary and supplementary to public pension schemes. Social security systems should recognize years given over to care of the family (bringing up children and looking after the elderly). In view of the impact of demographic trends, Parliament urged the Commission to keep and add to demographic data and to make them available by means of new communications technologies. The Commission should also draw up an action plan indicating how it was thinking of responding to the changing age structure in the EU and, in future demographic reports, should analyse assistance to dependents and the impact of this trend. With regard to demographic trends and employment, Parliament considered it necessary to expand the participation in the labour market of available and non-active labour, namely women and the over-50s. Their experience and capacity for work should be put to use with the aid of collective agreements which took account of the changes in the organization of work. Measures should be taken to reconcile family life and work. Parliament called on the Member States, in particular, to ensure that rules governing early retirement and assignment to non-active status were not abused by undertakings in order to make older employees redundant. It believed, on the contrary, that early retirement should be a source of additional jobs, as young employees replaced those who retired. It considered that the European Union should look into employment management policies and family allowances in the Member States and make proposals in the light of demographic trends. At regional level, it noted that disparities were growing and that this phenomenon affected the distribution of jobs. It called on the Commission, therefore, to review these imbalances and support initiatives to promote mobility and intensify coordination or, if appropriate, harmonization of legislation on the social security of migrant workers. It called, in particular, for a detailed study of demographic disparities in the regions of the EU. Parliament called for greater attention to be devoted to social aspects of the demographic situation in the Central and Eastern European countries. Populations there had ceased to grow, or were even in decline, due to emigration, aging of the population and a fall in the proportion of young people, a lower fertility rate and higher infant mortality. Parliament therefore called on the Commission and Council to investigate ways in which the EU could help reduce mortality, particularly among children, in the CEECs, especially Romania. It took the view that the large number of 'dependents' in relation to those in work was bringing pressure to bear on social security systems in the applicant countries, which should be taken into account in the accession negotiations and the pre-accession strategy.�

• 1998/03/11 Debate in Parliament
• 1998/02/05 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
  • A4-0056/1998
• 1997/10/20 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
• 1997/07/09 Non-legislative basic document published
  • COM(1997)0361 summary

    OBJECTIVE: Presentation of the third report on the demographic situation in the European Union (1997 report). SUBSTANCE: Taking up the main conclusions of the second demographic report (1995 report - see COS0386) concerning the effects of an ageing population on social security systems in the Member States, this report concentrates on three main aspects of European demography: 1) the labour market: according to the report, future economic growth will to a large extent be dependent on quantitative and qualitative changes in the labour force. The stabilisation and then fall in the size of the population of working age could prove a favourable factor in reducing imbalances between labour supply and labour demand. However the pressure of ageing will increase considerably on social protection, especially pay-as-you-go pension systems, and in certain sectors it could involve keeping workers in employment for longer. However, keeping older workers in employment will inevitably imply the internal ageing of the labour force. It will therefore be necessary to do everything possible to adapt the work force to demand and thus to adopt active measures such as re-qualification and life long learning. Measures will also be needed to enhance employability of the labour force and ensure economic competitiveness. For women an innovative approach will be necessary, including measures to encourage more flexible access to the employment market allowing reconciliation of work and family life. At the same time hitherto exclusively voluntary activities must be encouraged and a better organization of work; 2) regional demographic impact: in most of the Union countries, future demographic growth will be unevenly distributed. In certain cases the differences between the national and regional situations will be considerable with not insignificant repercussions in relation to the convergence process and economic and social cohesion. These demographic imbalances will also be the source of malfunctions in the labour market because of the shortage of labour in certain regions. Optimum use must therefore be made of labour resources in the regions where they are scarce and a maximum of jobs must be created where labour is in surplus or where unemployment is persistently high. Lastly, it is necessary to respond to the major challenge with regard to labour in the 21st century: the mobility of the workforce which is crucial in the context of rapid technological change; 3) effects of demography in the applicant States: although it will occur later by comparison with the situation in the Union, population ageing will also affect eastern European countries. In half of these states demographic trends have already started to put pressure on the social protection system. These states are also going to experience a sometimes significant fall in the population of working age which will involve problems of a similar nature to those with which the Union will be faced after 2010. A future of sustained growth would require the activation of the existing labour force reserves. The gulf between the cities and the countryside may pose a special challenge in these states, as also may health (mortality rates which are still too high in certain countries). �

Documents

• Non-legislative basic document published: COM(1997)0361
• Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading: A4-0056/1998
• Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T4-0151/1998

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)