Group of European Pensioners from Savings Banks and Financial Institutions

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Index of documents > Euromeetings Magazine > Euromeetings Number 6



 

EUROPEAN PLATFORM

 

During the General Assembly held on April 7th, 2000, in Platja d’Aro, attended by 400 retired people from Germany, Denmark, Belgium, Spain, France, Italy, Portugal and the United Kingdom, after verifying that the lack of coordination between the European associations of the elderly makes us less efficient when dealing before the European Union, we agreed on getting in touch with other organisations and promoting a meeting with them, in order to study together the possibility of joining our efforts to defend, with a single and more powerful voice, the dignity and the rights of the elderly in Europe.

 

 

In order to accomplish this, during our last €uromeeting, held in ISDABE last May 14th, there was a monographic meeting under the motto 'A single voice in Europe' - 'We can do it together; scattered, we are ignored'. We invited the most important European organisations of the elderly. During the meeting, we could listen to Dr. Giuseppe BERTOLDI, President of F.I.A.P.A. (Fédération Internationale des Associations des Personnes Agées); professor Antonino Liberatore, National Secretary of U.S.P.U.R. (Unione Sindicale Professori Universitari di Ruolo); Mr. Eduardo Rodríguez Rovira, President of C.E.O.M.A. (Confederación Española de Organizaciones de Mayores); monsieur René LETERRE, President of the French Federation of Retired Staff from Savings Banks, member of the Social and Economic Council of France, and Vicepresident of the Confederation Française de Retraités (this is the result of the merger of the three big French confederations of retired people), and also Mr. Francisco Sanabria Celis, President of A.S.P.U.R. (Association of Retired University Professors).

 

At the same time we were talking about this, we found out that the Platforme AGE (Plate-forme Europèenne de Personnes Agèes) bad been created, formed by P.E.O.S. (Plate-forme Européenne des Organisations de Seniors), F.I.A.P.A. (Fédération Internationale des Associations de Personnes Agées) and Eurolink AGE; we agreed unanimously on becoming a member of AGE.

 

A meeting is already organised, and it will be held in Brussels, December 7-8. The aim of this meeting is the launching of the Platform AGE during the first days of 2002. We are already a member of AGE; in this way, we will be more useful to our people. We will keep you informed.

 

 

MODIFICATION OF STATUTES

 

The liberal trend invading Europe has transformed savings banks from many countries (Belgium, United Kingdom, Italy...) in commercial banks and, in France, in cooperative banks; that is the reason why the associations of pensioners from savings banks in these countries have had to adapt to these changes and, in many cases, their members come both from savings banks and banks. In order to adapt our Group to these changes, the General Assembly held a meeting in Lisbon on October 31st, 2000, and agreed on a modification of statutes that includes a new name, European Group of Retired Staff from Savings Banks, Banks and Similar Entities. The new address is Rue Marie Thérèse, 11, Brussels.

 

 

NEW MEMBERS

 

The following associations have joined lately our European Group: HBK-Senioren-club, from Belgium; Association of Retired Staff from the Swedbank, Sweden, which will be the Group’s representative in the Nordic countries; and ASPUR (Association of Retired University Professors), which had been cooperating with the Group since the International Congress of Alicante in 1999, organised by the CAM and our Group, helped by the University of Alicante, and sponsored by the UNESCO. We want to give all of them a most warm welcome.

 

 

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 

 

 

 During the General Assembly, held in ISDABE last May 14th, we agreed on the creation of an Executive Committee, formed by the President (myself) and the candidates who will become my substitutes, that is, our treasurer José Roberto López and vicepresidents Jean Vauriot (France), and Franco Salza (Italy). This committee has the same functions as the Management Board (between meetings), but it will meet more often, in order to speed up decisions and to help the candidates to be more prepared when they become president.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

José Lidón

President of the Group

of European Savings Banks,

Banks and Related

Institutions Retired Staff