Brussels 15 May 2013
The Group of Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats in the European Parliament together with the European Federation of Retired and Older People (FERPA), a member of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), invited trade unions and non-governmental organisations to discuss - on 15 May 2013 in Brussels - the issue of access to quality long term care as a right for all. About 500 participants attended the event, amongst them many colleagues from the pensioners' organisations of various national trade union confederations and sectoral trade unions, amongst them a number of EPSU affiliates. FERPA used the occasion to announce that it intends to launch a European Citizen Initiative (ECI) to guarantee universal access to quality long-term care during the summer.
In our ageing societies in Europe, characterised by an increase of people suffering from chronic-degenerative diseases and multi-morbidity, the issues of long term care and (supported) independent living present pressing challenges and are high on the political agenda. At the same time, the scope, standards and quality of publicly provided or (co-) funded long term care and access to these services remain very diverse across Europe. This diagnosis encouraged FERPA to launch, most probably during July 2013, the ECI, entitled “for a right to quality long-term care accessible to all in the European Union and to protection for people with increasing care needs”. In collecting at least 1 million signatures in at least 7 member states FERPA at a later stage then intends to demand the European Commission to take further steps in ensuring universal access to long-term care across Europe. Measures FERPA has in mind to promote this objective would comprise safeguarding access to services supporting elderly people and those needing long-term care for all needing them, provisions to define, regulated and monitor the quality of the services, improved rights of the users of such services and measures of health prevention and to support active ageing. The FERPA initiative foresees for EU-level activities to come up with supplementary initiatives for the systems of long-term care and the policies in place in the Member States and also to encourage the rational and effective use of the services.
During the conference at the EP, it was highlighted by many speakers that quality long term care can only be assured if working conditions in this sector are good. Some speakers also emphasised that long-term care has to be fully covered by public services and cannot be left to the markets, as this would endanger quality, accessibility and affordability of these services. Further more, several speakers criticised the austerity course of the EU and its Member States as a further threat to quality long-term care for all needing it.
EPSU welcomes the planned initiative of FERPA as it might help to put a focus on the huge challenges our European societies face on the backdrop of demographic change, European economic governance and welfare state reforms to provide, also for the future, high quality long-term care services for all European citizens. In the run towards the elections of the European Parliament in June 2014 the ECI will be placed this will help to have more political attention to work towards models of sustainable funding, high quality services and an improvement of the working and pay conditions for those doing the often demanding care work. Elderly care is another important field of the welfare state where a social investment approach should be put in place. EPSU will see with FERPA about the concrete objectives of their initiative and what EPSU's role could be.
EPSU recalls that it is in fact one of the responsibilities of the European institutions to ensure that services of general economic interest can fulfil their missions and properaly operate. We therefore consider important that the planned ECI on universal access to long-term care also makes a clear reference to Art. 14 TFEU on Services of General Economic Interest that provides the legal basis for the European Commission to act in a way to support policies that guarantee public services principles (such as accessibility, availability, affordability, continuous provision), the quality of the services and good working and pay conditions for those employed in the sector of health and social services. This would also imply a reference to Protocol N° 26 and the European Charter of Fundamental Rights, in particular to Art. 31 on fair and just work conditions, Art. 34 on access to social security and social assistance and Art. 35 on access to health care.
Read more about the joint S&D Group and FERPA event
Read more on the planned European Citizen Initiative on FERPA’s webpage
- Log in to post comments