Several MEPs and representatives of associations called for the creation of a European Parliament board of inquiry or special committee to shed light on the treatment of elderly and/or disabled people in residential institutions during the Covid-19 pandemic, during a joint debate between the Committees on Employment and Social Policy (EMPL) and Civil Liberties (LIBE) on Thursday 28 January.
During this debate, held in the presence of Commissioners Dubravka Šuica (Democracy and Demography) and Helena Dalli (Equality), French MEP Anne-Sophie Pelletier (The Left), Maciej Kucharczyk of AGE Platform, and Yannis Vardakastanis of the European Disability Forum (EDF) called for the creation of a Parliamentary commission to investigate the situation of caregivers and users of residential institutions.
For although the situation improved during the second wave of the pandemic—as Joanna Goodey from the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) pointed out—the health and lockdown measures went against the fundamental rights laid down in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the European Charter of Fundamental Rights and the European pillar of social rights.
“Proportionate measures are needed”, she said.
During the debates, two elements were regularly cited. First, several MEPs, such as Polish Sylwia Spurek (Greens/EFA) and Elżbieta Rafalska (ECR), stressed the need to de-institutionalise national care systems to keep people with disabilities and older people at home in their communities for as long as possible. Even Ms Dalli recognised the need to strengthen the plurality of solutions. Mr Vardakastanis, for his part, called for European funds to stop funding these institutions.
The second salient point concerned the quality of the data collected, which is difficult to compare between Member States, as pointed out by Ms Goodey and Maite Pagazaurtundúa (Renew Europe, Spain). The latter ask whether the Commission will ask the EU’s statistical office (Eurostat) to look into the matter. Ms Dalli stressed the importance of data to analyse what worked and what did not work during the crisis.
The two Commissioners highlighted the European Commission’s willingness to make progress on the issue within the scope of its action set by the European Treaties and pointed out the adoption the day before of a Green Paper dedicated to the issue of ageing (see EUROPE 12645/3) and which explores the potential of the ‘silver economy’. This economic approach has irritated some MEPs, notably Ms Pelletier. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)