Brussels, 07/10/2004 (Agence Europe) - The Committee of the Regions (CoR) shares the priority strategies proposed by the Commission to boost a deep cultural transformation aiming to make the most of human capital throughout their lives, promote active ageing, stop older people from being excluded and increase their employment rates. This is the substance of the opinion unanimously adopted by the CoR at its September plenary session entitled "Increasing the employment of older workers and keeping them in the employment market for longer".
The CoR hopes that Community policies will ensure that strategies are promoted which guarantee good health and safety and work conditions, flexible ways of organising work, permanent access to training, an improvement in the quality of work. It stresses that in order to increase employment rates for women, strategies must be brought in allowing women to reconcile their working time with time spent on family obligations.
Presenting his opinion to the plenary, the rapporteur Alvaro Ancisi (EPP, Italy), a State advisor from Ravenna, demanded recognition for the huge "contribution of older people to voluntary activities, which are useful socially, for the economy, for individual well-being and for social cohesion at a local level. The regional and local authorities have a major role to play in this area", said Mr Ancisi, explaining that the low employment rates for older people means "lost opportunities not only for individuals, but also for society". A higher rate would support economic growth, increase tax revenue, help to shore up the social protection system, and pensions themselves, noted Mr Ancisi, stating that employment of older at least partly cancels out the forecast reduction of the working-age population.