On Wednesday 11 October, the European Commission offered the Member States a ‘toolbox’ to address the issue of demographic ageing and labour shortages in the EU.
Presented by the Vice-President for Democracy and Demography, Dubravka Šuica, the ‘toolbox’ focuses in particular on legal labour migration, which must be “regulated”, she insisted. In recent months, it should be noted, the subject of migration has once again become contentious within the European Council.
The Vice-President also made it clear that legal migration was “just one tool among others”.
In the Commission’s view, there is a general need to “change the narrative on ageing” in favour of a positive narrative of increasing life expectancy. In any case, these demographic changes must not become “obstacles to growth and competitiveness”, explained Ms Šuica.
The ‘demography toolbox’ is built around four pillars, according to a press release: - supporting parents by making it easier to reconcile family life and paid work, in particular by guaranteeing access to high-quality childcare services and a good work-life balance; - supporting younger generations and giving them the resources to prosper and develop their skills, facilitating their access to the labour market and affordable housing; - empowering older generations and safeguarding their prosperity through reforms combined with appropriate labour market and workplace policies, with the Vice-President calling for the development of a “third age economy”; - addressing labour shortages, where appropriate, through managed legal migration, in “full complementarity to harnessing talents from within the Union.
The Vice-President stressed that not all Member States face the same challenges. While Croatia is facing a brain drain of its young people, the Netherlands has a population density problem and difficulty building housing. Meanwhile, the birth rate is plummeting in Spain.
The Commission calls on the Member States to develop and implement integrated policies to address these issues and to integrate these demographic concerns into all policy areas.
“Member States’ policies should be grounded in the local realities as demographic challenges differ across Member States and regions. Gender equality, non-discrimination and intergenerational fairness must be at the heart of policy choices”, adds the Commission.
To reach the EU’s employment rate target for 2030, “we must strive to at least halve the gender employment gap compared to 2019”, it writes in its communication. Increasing women’s participation in the labour market could be one of the most effective remedies for the negative consequences of an ageing population. The employment rate for women is still 10.7 percentage points lower than for men in the EU.
The Commission is still asking the Member States to keep people in the labour market longer, at a time when ageing will put a strain on public finances.
“In an ageing society, it is crucial to empower older workers to remain active for longer. The average employment rate of workers between 55 and 64 years of age has increased from 45% in 2011 to 60.5% in 2021. However, disparities between Member States in this area remain considerable, indicating that there is still room for improvement”, writes the Commission.
The Commission also recommends combining pension reforms with active labour market policies, as not all Member States’ pension reforms over the last two decades have been successful.
Link to the toolbox: https://aeur.eu/f/90c (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)