Our 20th Euromeeting took place in Fuengirola (Málaga), in a fun and friendly environment where we were taken away by the charm and attractiveness of all the scheduled cultural visits. Moreover, for many participants this week was also a work reunion, just like it has been for many years. The dates (2nd-9th May) coincided with a heat wave in Andalusia, a situation which happens very often in Southern Spain. Although the environment in Fuengirola is not the best to work in, this did not stop us as we had important matters to discuss and decide. The heat and the beach did not prevent us from working during those days.
The Board of Directors meeting, the GET Meeting (The Work and Study Group), the Delegates Meeting and the General Plenary Assembly (in which many attending members participated) all took place according to schedule.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
The Board of Directors met on Saturday 3rd, which included the new members elected in Tossa de Mar. At the beginning of the meeting, the President suggested we had a minute of silence in memory of our dear Arline Easson (UK), who actively followed and participated in our work for many years and whose death we were made aware of after the Euromeeting in Tossa de Mar.
The Secretary, Antonio J. González Díez, continued by reading the minutes from Tossa de Mar, which was approved unanimously.
The Vice-president, Francisco Ramírez, presented the financial situation and the Group’s budget for this current year. Both documents were approved unanimously.
The President, Cândido Vintém, presented a report of the activities he carried out during the year. The joining of the Italian delegation to the European Group was approved unanimously. Therefore, Italy has the right to one delegate in the Assembly.
Due to the number of new members and people leaving the Group, we needed to select new delegates in order to reorganise the internal structure of the Group. Those chosen members were: Portugal (Orlando Santos - Carlos Garrido - José Ribeiro Gonçalves - Mendes de Almeida); France (Jean Wojtiuk - Jean Yves Martin - Jacques Hubert - Michel Pageault); Spain (Domingo Pérez Auyanet - José Garcia Villa - Almela José Alcázar); Italy (Egidio Ramondetti); Germany (Ruth Rebert – plus guest).
The GET meeting
The Work and Study Group (GET) met to analyse, discuss and approve the conclusions of the debated topic in Tossa de Mar (HOW WILL EUROPE OVERCOME THE CRISIS AND WHAT WILL BE THE ROLE OF THE ELDERLY IN THE FUTURE?). The meeting took place on the 5th.
After an interesting debate among the members of the Work and Study Group, which was extremely enriching for writing the final conclusions based on the speeches made by the different delegates and by the guest speaker who were present in Tossa de Mar.
This document, once translated into several languages, will be presented by the President during the General Assembly of the AGE Platform, which will be held in Brussels 2nd – 4th December. This document will be included amongst the reports given to AGE for the Commissioner of Social Affairs of the European Union.
Due to the urgency we need to present our final documents to the AGE Platform during the preparation for the General Assembly each year, for the year 2015, the Work and Study Group will write the final documents of the conclusions of the speeches on the topics debated both in Fuengirola (2014) and in La Coruña (2015).
MEETINGS
The Delegates meeting and the Plenary Assembly took place on 3rd and 7th May. The elected delegates for each national delegation attended the Delegates meeting. Mr. Pietro Venturino (Italy) and Mrs Shirley Gylee (UK) were also invited to participate to the meeting. In this meeting, everyone was informed about the issues discussed in the Board of Directors meeting.
The General Plenary Assembly took place on 7th May and was well attended. The different national delegations made speeches on the chosen topic for this Euromeeting -"Towards an Age-Friendly European Union". The guest speaker (Henrique de Melo, Portugal) also spoke about this topic and about his professional experience as a Director of Personnel at the most popular bank in Portugal.
The general idea is that the European institutions need to pay more attention to the "golden generation", because it (or we) is necessary for Europe to continue being a reference point in social terms. Everyone present reaffirmed the role our generation still has in on-going training and volunteer work.
The audience had the chance to take part in all those matters and do their bit to help. Everyone agreed entirely that we all worked very well in this ever so special Euromeeting.
Cândido Vintém President of the European Group
