Brussels, 05/07/2005 (Agence Europe) - To deepen the debate begun on 16 March by the Commission's Green Paper on demographic change (EUROPE 8910), the Commission will be organising a conference in Brussels on 11-12 July, “Confronting demographic change: for a new solidarity between generations”. The conference will bring together ministers, parliamentarians, high level social partners and interest groups, as well as independent experts to discuss future politics that could be put in place to tackle demographic change.
The conference will be hosted by Commissioner Vladimir Spidla and closed by the president of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso. Discussions will be organised into four workshops: 1) work-life balance and sexual equality; 2) active ageing; 3) migration and integration: challenges and opportunities; 4) Is fertility a matter of public concern? A final Round Table of “ageing, intergenerational solidarity and social policies” will allow for a broader debate about the role that the different actors and policy makers should play to assure that our societies can deal with demographic change in a successful way.