Green Paper
on
Ageing
Fostering solidarity
and responsability
between generations
The Green Paper on Ageing was adopted on 27 January 2021, COM (2021) 50 nal.
| 1
1. INTRODUCTION 2
2. LAYING THE FOUNDATIONS 4
2.1. HEALTHY AND ACTIVE AGEING 4
2.2. EDUCATION AND TRAINING IN A LIFELONG LEARNING
PERSPECTIVE
5
2.3 TERRITORIAL ASPECTS IN ACCESS TO EDUCATION 6
3. MAKING THE MOST OF OUR WORKING LIVES 7
3.1. BRINGING MORE PEOPLE INTO THE WORKFORCE 7
3.2. PRODUCTIVITY, INNOVATION AND BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES 9
3.3. EMPLOYMENT AND PRODUCTIVITY – A TERRITORIAL
PERSPECTIVE
10
4. NEW OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES IN RETIREMENT 12
4.1. STAYING ACTIVE 12
4.2. OLD AGE POVERTY 13
4.3. ADEQUATE, FAIR AND SUSTAINABLE PENSION SYSTEMS 14
5. MEETING THE GROWING NEEDS OF AN AGEING
POPULATION
16
5.1. MEETING THE HEALTH AND LONG-TERM CARE NEEDS OF AN
AGEING POPULATION
17
5.2. MOBILITY, CONNECTIVITY AND ACCESSIBILITY 18
5.3. TERRITORIAL DIFFERENCES IN ACCESS TO CARE AND
SERVICES
19
5.4. IMPROVING WELL-BEING THROUGH INTERGENERATIONAL
SOLIDARITY
21
6. OUTLOOK 22
TABLE OF CONTENTS
2 |
1
INTRODUCTION
Ageing        
        







        



     




This trend is having a signicant impact on people’s
everyday lives and on our societies.
 
        
       



       

        

        
   
         
new approaches



          broad
policy debate on ageing      


       



     







   

         

life-cycle approach
         
       
2 |


) 

| 3| 3
      
         


        
       
       
        
         
      
   intergenerational solidarity
and fairness between both young and old.  
     
      


EU policy
agenda.


          
        
       
          


) 





Formative years:
life-long learning,
healthy & active
ageing
Working age:
labour markets,
productivity,
innovation
and business
opportunities
Retirement:
volunteering,
intergenerational
relations /
adequate, fair
and sustainable
pension systems,
old-age poverty
Growing needs:
healthcare,
long-term care /
mobility,
connectivity,
well-being
4 |
2
LAYING THE
FOUNDATIONS
        
         
          
   Laying the right
foundations


        


        


4 |

Healthy and active ageing    


         
       
     
        

         



        

 Public policies can
play a signicant supporting role.  


       
       
       
      





        
      
        


      


| 5


Lifelong learning     
    
        



          
        







         

early childhood
  
school education and training,
        


        
    


        


    
      Adult education
and training
      


      
 
        
         




| 5
6 |
       
     low populated regions,
         
        
        





distance learning
     

      

     

           

     

   

      
  
      



1. How can healthy and active ageing policies
be promoted from an early age and throughout
the life span for everyone? How can children and
young people be better equipped for the prospect
of a longer life expectancy? What kind of support
can the EU provide to the Member States?
2. What are the most signicant obstacles to
lifelong learning across the life-cycle? At what
stage in life could addressing those obstacles
make most dierence? How should this be tackled
specically in rural and remote areas?

| 7
         





shrinking
working-age population,      
        
       
       



3
MAKING THE MOST OF
OUR WORKING LIVES






        




women
       




       
          
     

gender equality

    
       
       


         

 

        





          

        
  people with a migrant background 











8 |


Legal migration

         


       
       
      




       




         



        
   people with disabilities


      
older workers 








       
     
       


       
           
        
        

       
   
       
working conditions,
     

      
      


Senior entrepreneurship
      
      
       

         
        
       










The employment rate among
older workers in the EU remains
lower than for younger ones.
59.1% of those aged 55-64 were
employed in 2019 compared to
80.6% of all those aged 25-54.
55-64 years 25-54 years
59.1%
80.6%
| 9


higher productivity
      

       
 innovation



   investment in research and
development and intangible assets in general 


     
       
      


‘silver economy’







       job opportunities
        
    

      
Scientic and medical innovation

        


      
      
      
products and services
for healthy and active ageing





) 
10 |




          
       






         
         

Map 1. Projected maximum working age that keeps the size of the working-
age population constant, 2040
Only one in ten
Guadeloupe
Martinique
Canarias
Guyane
Açores
Mayotte Réunion
Madeira
<= 62
63 - 65
66 - 68
69 - 71
72 - 74
>= 75
Age
Maximum working age in 2040 that would keep the absolute number
of working age population (20-64) constant as compared to 2020.
Source: DG REGIO based on Eurostat regional demographic
projections (proj_19rp3)
© EuroGeographics Association for the administrative boundaries
0 500Km
REGIO
gis
Regions where the working age
population is projected to grow
Regions where a longer working life
could keep the working age population constant
Regions where a longer working life would
still imply a smaller working age population
| 11
 potential of less developed regions, including
rural regions,

       
        
   

         

        
      


Digital connectivity   





Infrastructure

 services,       


3. What innovative policy measures to improve
participation in the labour market, in particular by
older workers, should be considered more closely?
4. Is there a need for more policies and action at EU
level that support senior entrepreneurship? What
type of support is needed at EU level and how
can we build on the successful social innovation
examples of mentorship between young and older
entrepreneurs?
5. How can EU policies help less developed
regions and rural areas to manage ageing and
depopulation? How can EU territories aected
by the twin depopulation and ageing challenges
make better use of the silver economy?
12 |
4
NEW OPPORTUNITIES
AND CHALLENGES IN
RETIREMENT
        
        
        
       
      
      

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






      
       


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
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
Volunteering    
      
        
        

       
        

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      
        


are unpaid carers,
       
       

Intergenerational learning,   
   
      

       

 mobility      

        
       
      
         


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        
      old-age poverty.  
        
        

   
  
         
          


         

Women





      migrants    
        




Older people with disabilities



       












Box 1. Autonomy, participation and rights of older people
The European Pillar of Social Rights serves as a
compass on the path to better working and living
conditions for all, regardless of age, and genuine
social rights. It includes a number of principles that
focus on the challenges of ageing.
Older people oen nd themselves in a situation
of vulnerability; some in more ways than one,
for instance, those with ill health or a disability
(
23
), those from an ethnic or religious minority or
those who are LGBTQI. Some may need assistance
directly related to protecting themselves or their
assets, such as taking care of nances or managing
medical treatment. This has also been highlighted in
the recent New Consumer Agenda (
24
). In addition,
vulnerable older persons may also face risk of
abuse such as through neglect, or physical or mental
violence. The heavy toll on vulnerable older people
during the pandemic underlines the importance of
protecting their autonomy, as well as their health
and living conditions.
Access to goods, services, including public services,
and participation in political, social and cultural life
increasingly requires digital skills. Technological
developments may amplify older persons’
vulnerability, for example if they are less familiar or
at ease with digital tools, or have limited access to
digital technology. This may make them more prone
to fraud, scams and rogue trading as we have seen
during the pandemic and lockdowns. Older people
living abroad or owning assets abroad may also be
particularly vulnerable due to the barriers of foreign
languages and unknown administrative and legal
systems and specic measures for protection may
be needed in cross-border situations.
The growth in the number of older people in the
EU brings specic security and safety concerns, as
organised criminals may target them, for instance
with house calls, street cons, burglary, pickpocketing
or other scams and crimes.
In order to enable older people to enjoy their rights
and autonomy and participate in society to the fullest
extent possible, such situations of vulnerability need
to be taken into account and, where necessary, be
addressed specically by policymakers at all levels.
14 |

pensions in an ageing society    
      

    

   
       


      



   






        




     



      
      
       
   early retirement  



       
redistribution and fairness logic
        
      
         



        
 
         
      


       
     extending access 
        
      
   
          
       

          

supplementary pensions,   
   

  



        
      
    















| 15
6. How could volunteering by older people and
intergenerational learning be better supported,
including across borders, to foster knowledge
sharing and civic engagement? What role could a
digital platform or other initiatives at EU level play
and to whom should such initiatives be addressed?
How could volunteering by young people together
with and towards older people be combined into
cross-generational initiatives?
7. Which services and enabling environment would
need to be put in place or improved in order to ensure
the autonomy, independence and rights of older
people and enable their participation in society?
8. How can the EU support vulnerable older persons
who are not in a position to protect their own nancial
and personal interests, in particular in cross-border
situations?
9. How can the EU support Member States’ eorts
to ensure more fairness in the social protection
systems across generations, gender, age and income
groups, ensuring that they remain scally sound?
10. How can the risks of poverty in old age be
reduced and addressed?
11. How can we ensure adequate pensions for those
(mainly women) who spend large periods of their
working life in unremunerated work (oen care
provision)?
12. What role could supplementary pensions play in
ensuring adequate retirement incomes? How could
they be extended throughout the EU and what would
be the EU’s role in this process?
16 |
5
MEETING THE
GROWING NEEDS
OF AN AGEING
POPULATION


long-term care.
        
        
        




        






        
   

loneliness and social isolation










Figure 1. EU dependency rates (
30
) increase with age, 2015-2019
Source: Calculation of the Commission’s Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Aairs based on Eurostat online data
table hlth_silc_06
| 17

Health care and long-term care workforce: Demographic challenges and potential contribution of migration and digital technology,

The number of people who receive publicly-funded







         
        




      
healthcare

   
        
        

     


      

      
    
       
  infrastructure    





       
          
 cross-border mobility

         






long-term
care 

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
   
       



  access, aordabilityquality,
       workforce. 



       


Quality       

     
       
         

     
        





    sta    

  


   

        


strong long-term
care systems



           


18 |
     social and technological
innovation,      
      

      
        
        



Integration of care    
     
   
          


Social enterprises    
      

        

       



      
       









          



     

  

       
mobility
        


      
   
       

 automation and digitalisation   
        
     
       
       
        



      urban infrastructure
and services.
       
      

      
     




) Transforming the future of ageing,







) 
| 19
      
          
       
  
       

       access
to healthcare       
   

   




Digital solutions
         

        

       

 transport      
         


     




Box 2. Addressing the needs of all generations
One of the big issues in the debate on how to
respond to ageing is intergenerational fairness. The
challenge is to maintain an adequate level of social
protection without putting an excessive burden
on the shrinking working-age population whose
contributions represent the biggest nancing source
for social systems. Shiing the tax burden from
labour to pollution, as proposed in the European
Green Deal, may oer new solutions. In the absence
of further reforms, the increasing diversity in the
labour market has fewer people covered by and
contributing to social protection systems.
The sustainability of public nances needs to be
closely monitored, especially for countries with high
public debt. Currently, the total cost of age-related
public expenditure exceeds 25% of GDP in the EU
as a whole. In the 2018 Ageing Report, these costs
were projected to increase by 1.1 percentage points
(pp) by 2070, with an increase of 3 pp or more in 11
Member States. The rise is driven mainly by spending
on long-term care and healthcare in line with the
need to adequately meet the needs of an ageing
population. In addition, the fall-out of ghting COVID
19 and the economic consequences of lockdown
measures have posed further challenges.
In practice, however, the rise in age-related spending
may prove to be even higher, for example, if past
pension reforms are reversed or new reforms
are adopted that increase spending. In the area
of healthcare and long-term care, technological
progress could help improve the quality of services,
but may also lead to higher expenditure; similarly,
better access to aordable long-term care may
require additional public nancing.
Fiscal sustainability and adequacy are two faces of
the same coin, as Europe is strongly committed to
upholding its high social standards. Policy measures
can help reconcile social and scal sustainability
by prolonging working lives as well as increasing
coverage and rethinking social protection systems.


20 |
Map 2. Driving time to the nearest health care facility
| 21





         

        
        
  

    
intergenerational cohesion.
          
  lonely (
41
).    

       


 mental health.     
         
             

     
       



        


         
‘multi-generational housing’,     
     




13. How can the EU support Member States’
eorts to reconcile adequate and aordable
healthcare and long-term care coverage with
scal and nancial sustainability?
14. How could the EU support Member States in
addressing common long-term care challenges?
What objectives and measures should be pursued
through an EU policy framework addressing
challenges such as accessibility, quality,
aordability or working conditions? What are the
considerations to be made for areas with low
population density?
15. How can older people reap the benets of the
digitalisation of mobility and health services? How
can the accessibility, availability, aordability
and safety of public transport options for older
persons, notably in rural and remote areas, be
improved?
16. Are we suciently aware of the causes of and
impacts of loneliness in our policy making? Which
steps could be taken to help prevent loneliness
and social isolation among older people? Which
support can the EU give?
17. Which role can multigenerational living
and housing play in urban and rural planning
in addressing the challenges of an ageing
population? How could it be better harnessed?

Demographic landscape of EU territories — challenges and opportunities in diversely ageing regions


 Loneliness – an unequally shared burden in Europe
22 |
       
       



       


   

        

       
  

         
       
       
        
      

          


      
       


       
       
        

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        
      


       

        


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





       
         



6
OUTLOOK
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HOW TO TAKE PART IN THE
CONSULTATION:






   
          

Green paper on ageing
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
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