The impact of demography on Social Europe

Background

The EU has achieved high longevity, a high level of education and prosperity, and a good level of health over the past decades, yet its Member States are facing multiple demographic challenges, including a stagnating or even shrinking population, low birth rates and growing imbalances between age groups and between regions.

Demographic developments have a considerable impact on the labour market, pension and social protection systems, with current trends potentially jeopardising sustainable development going forward.

The EESC sees demographic trends as another transformative challenge for European society alongside the digital and green transformations and, in this own-initiative opinion, explores measures and policies needed in order to keep the European social model viable and  to ensure more sustainable societal development

Key points

• An ageing society faces distinct challenges compared to a society with a more balanced age distribution. Upholding the right to age with dignity, along with a life-cycle approach is essential to addressing these challenges;
• The EESC’s proposals for achieving more sustainable societal development include: striving for higher birth rates, exploiting the full potential of the labour market, making work pay by having high-quality, well-paid and productive jobs, improving working conditions, reforming pension and care systems to ensure accessibility for everyone, enhancing legal migration pathways to attract in particular foreign talent supported by bold integration measures, working towards upward regional and social cohesion and analysing the factors driving people to leave the EU;
• The EESC recommends that the European Commissioner for Demography be supported by an appropriate structure within the European Commission, and that a European agency for demography be set up to ensure research and statistics in this field, while at the same time ensuring collaboration with and sufficient financing for existing agencies like Cedefop and Eurofound. This would facilitate the integration of demographic consideration in all relevant policy areas and impact assessments. 

The text of the draft opinion can be found here.

Additional information

Section: Employment, Social Affairs and Citizenship (SOC)

Opinion number: SOC/796

Opinion type: Own-initiative

Rapporteur: Christa Schweng

Date of adoption by section: 3/9/2024

Result of the vote: 89 in favour/3 against/8 abstentions

Date of adoption in plenary: xxxx – xxxx

Result of the vote:   in favour/ against/ abstentions

Contacts

Press officer: Leonard Mallett

Tel.: 00 32 2 546 93 37

Email: Leonard.Mallett@eesc.europa.eu 

Administrator: Triin Aasmaa Gomes

Tel.: +32 2 546 95 24

Email: Triin.AasmaaGomes@eesc.europa.eu