Age Platform Europe General Assembly was held in the hotel CROWNE PLAZA EUROPA in BRUSSELS, on May the 12th and 13th.
The opening act was conducted by the President, Liz Mestheneos (Greece); it was attended by 107 delegates of the 146 associate groups, representatives of 27 member states of the European Union. This year I have been the only representative of the GROUP, as our president, José Roberto had died.
The works were conducted by Lazsio ANDOR, European commissioner for Employment, Social Affaires and Inclusion and Jan JARAB, a High commissioner for human rights.
After closing the statutory part of the assembly with the nomination of the new president, Marjan SEDMARK (Hungary), Anne Sophie Parent (France), the general manager of AGE PLATFORM Europe has presented the MORAL REPPORT 2010.


MORAL REPORT 2010

OUTSTANDINGS MOMENTS of the AGE mission

• Fight against the poverty and social exclusion of the elderly people
• Health cares and a longer life expectancy
• Transport and mobility
• New technologies
• Abuse
• Several discriminations
• Training throughout life
• International solidarity
   

Some interesting facts of the activity report 2010

• AGE has actively participated in the parliamentary commission’s works about the ageing of the European Parliament.
• From now on, AGE participates in the European Commission works in order to create a Managing related with the access to the possessions and services without taking care about religion, belief, disability, age or sex. The Commission has recently provided AGE with a group of work composed by 12 NGO among which we can find AGE and banks, insurances and travel agent’s representatives. There is an agreement in sight to set up an intercomunitary Managing so as to ban any age, disability or sex discrimination when we want to obtain bank borrowings, insurances and trips. On the occasion of the General Assembly, we exchanged reviews about the subject with William Ridonjades, French Federation of Insurance Companies President. The collaboration between AGE and the federation has made progress and the European Commission has recently published a document demanding the adaptation of these measures.
• AGE  Works with the representants of the insurance companies in order to help them to improve the limitation of the elderly people’s specific needs.
• AGE in collaboration with LEF (European Women’s Lobby) launched a successful campaign with the intention of abolish the 5/2 of the Managing 2004 article which allowed to a different access concerning insurances.
• AGE has been invited to participate in the European Commission Works related to retired pensioners problems who has minimum incomes and specially focus on retired pensioners women and disabled elderly people.
• Due to an AGE request, European Parliament has just set up a multidisciplinary expert group in order to study the best strategy which better adopt to the senior citizens specific needs as concerns medicines for geriatric use. AGE will be associated with this research to improve the security and efficiency of medicines.
• During the last three years AGE has achieved the inclusion in fighting against abuse at senior citizen in the UE program. In 2010, AGE and 18 NGOs collaborators have created a cooperation so as to elaborate An European CHARTER of fundamental rights that should exercise the dependents elders by the day by day activities in the context of long term cares.
• AGE has participated in the European Parliament’s  works concerning with the definition of the applicable CHARTER in all European countries against the abuse at elderly people in the context of long term cares.
• AGE participates in the Group of work that deals with the elaboration of an European managing “leave of absence of closely assistants” so as to help workers to conciliate work and family life and the senior citizens take cares of their setting who are depending on them.
• Nowadays, AGE is focus on specific problems of poverty and social exclusion of elderly people who are more than 80 years.
• Finally, Age Platform has achieved that 2012 was declared as the international solidarity and the active ageing year by the European Parliament; then we  should be prepared to “2012, the Active Ageing and the Intergenerational Solidarity year”.

ACTION PLAN 2011

Age Platform Europe has presented its strategic plan for 2011 in the context of the community program to the employment and social solidarity (PROGRESS).

Three key axes:

• Strategy for the new employment abilities.
  AGE will fight against employment discrimination and would propose new solutions for a labour market that include all ages and sexes.
   
• Platform against  poverty.
  AGE will contribute in the proposals of modernization and durability of the social systems of protection, AGE will also promote the elderly people fundamental rights who face up to poverty and social exclusion in order to allow them to live better in the framework of the European Union.
   
• Innovation
  AGE will support for European innovation cooperation for active ageing and good health so as to help the elders to have an active, healthy and independent  life thanks to the new technologies and the politics that promote the Health.

And later...

In the next 10 days, AGE essentially would try to defend senior citizens’ fundamental rights (ageing in good health, autonomy and cooperation between generations).

Furthermore, AGE would followed the process under way to the Lisbon Strategy, his charter of fundamental rights and European strategy 2020 closely.

AGE would strive to create synergies among the European process of United Nations so as to contribute to benefit a society for all ages specially focus on the promotion of  the CITIES program- FRIENDS of the WHO (World Health Organization).

During this Assembly, I gave the general manager of AGE the Group conclusions about solidarity, drawn up in Olbia.
GET, European Group of Work of our EUROPEAN GROUP, raises the AGE dossier thanks to its communications. We can mention: Health discrimination and abuse, (Albufeira 2008), Social economic discrimination (Santander 2009), Intergenerational solidarity (Toledo 2010).

The Group and AGE Platform Europe: An essential complementarity.

Jean Claude CHRÉTIEN