The Commission presents a report on the implementation, results and overall assessment of the 2012 European Year for Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations.
The European Year for Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations has managed to mobilise numerous governmental and non-governmental actors. It has helped convey a more positive image of population ageing by highlighting the potentials of older people and promoting their active participation in society and the economy.
The decision on the EY2012 defined a budget envelope of EUR 5 million for the period between January 2011 and December 2012. No new credits were allocated to the European Year, and the money was taken from existing financial appropriations. The budget for the European Year was mainly used to finance the communication activities of the Year
Most of the activities at the EU-level were designed to support stakeholders in the Member States and facilitate their participation in the European Year. The EU programme was thus implemented in close cooperation with national coordinators for the European Year and the Stakeholder Coalition.
The main activity at European level was a communication and promotional campaign implemented by a contractor. The central hub of this campaign was the European Year website.
Implementation and new initiatives: many Member States and civil society organizations have used the European Year as an opportunity to develop new initiatives or strengthen their existing ones (such as Generations@school). The activities triggered by the EY2012 demonstrated the development of several new tools, mainly:
· the Guiding Principles on Active Ageing, endorsed by the EU's Social Affairs Ministers on 6 December 2012: the 19 Guiding Principles are structured under the headings of the Year: employment, participation in society, and independent living. They are addressed to Member States and other relevant levels of government and organizations which have a role to play in further improving conditions for active ageing. The application of these Guiding Principles would also contribute to the attainment of the employment and poverty reduction targets of the Europe 2020 Strategy, notably as a result of more people being able to work longer and earning better pension entitlements;
· the development of an Active Ageing Index which was developed in close cooperation with the United Nations Economic Committee for Europe (UNECE) and the European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research (Vienna). The index measures different dimensions of active ageing and quantifies untapped potentials for each country.
· a covenant of mayors on demographic change: this provides a framework allowing local and regional policy makers to commit to taking new measures in response to ageing. This goal of establishing such a covenant is now being pursued in the context of the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing (EIP AHA) and its action group on Innovation for age-friendly, buildings cities and environments
Policy maker in the Member States are invited to make the most of these tools. The EU will continue to support them. This will take the form of policy guidance, notably in the context of the European Semester, the cycle coordinating economic and budgetary policies in the EU.
Active and healthy ageing is, also one of the investment priorities of the European Social Fund (ESF) in the 2014-2020 programming period.
The independent living pillar of the European Year 2012: the Commission supports the Social Protection Committee in producing a report on long-term care published in June 2014. It examined how the gap between long-term care demand and supply can be closed through appropriate investment in measures that reduce the need for long-term care and enhance the efficiency of its delivery, including through the use of technology-enabled services.
The Commission concludes that the European Year 2012 has contributed to establish active ageing firmly on the European and many national policy agendas in a cross sectorial multi-stakeholder approach. This momentum needs to be maintained. The strong solidarity between generations that characterise Europes societies and welfare systems can only be sustained in the context of ageing populations and tight budgets by promoting active ageing in all its forms.