Green Seniors in the European Union

ENGS-board member Jocelyne Le Boulicaut was looking forward to the next presidential elections. She expressed her concern with (the lack of) chances of older people and wrote it down in a well-considered proposal to ‘Les Verts’. Meantime the party took it over in its program for the next presidentional elections.
This is the original French version of her proposal…

Aujourd’hui près d’un quart des Français a plus de 60 ans, et l’espérance de vie augmente régulièrement. La situation des personnes âgées et marquée par de fortes disparités sociales, qui placent les uns dans l’opulence extrême, les autres dans une grande pauvreté, aggravée encore par la stagnation et la réforme des pensions. Les aînés ne sont pas, comme l’instillent certains discours, une charge pour la société, ils sont un maillon important de la transmission de l’expérience collective et de la cohésion.           Ils méritent mieux par ailleurs que le paternalisme et le clientélisme des petits cadeaux de certaines minicipalités, qui entretiennent leur séparation d’avec la société et ‘in fine’ leur solitude.                                                                                                                                                Afin de donner aux différents âges qui succèdent à la vie professionnelle la réponse adaptée et les possibilités de choix les plus ouvertes, afin aussi que toute la société fasse de cet âge de la vie une question de solidarité et d’attention à l’autre, les écologistes proposent de:

• favoriser l’activité bénévole et les lieux d’échange intergénérationel par la création d’agences intercommunales pour le travail bénévole et incitation fiscale par des réductions d’impôts; par le soutien aux clubs de seniors, aux universités et lieux de formation dits du troisième âge; par l’encouragement à la mixité des générations dans la construction des logements.
• de sécuriser les revenus et l’accès aux soins des plus fragiles par:     l’augmentation du minimum vieillesse; la revalorisation des retraites à partir de celle des salaires et non de l’indice des prix; la garantie d’une visite médicale annuelle gratuite.
• d’ouvrir un choix quant aux mode d’hébergement par la création de logements adaptés; l’augmentation du nombre de places en EHPAD; l’assistance aux travailleurs immigrés âgés.
• de soutenir et d’améliorer les emplois de services
• de financer la perte d’autonomie et la prise en charge de la dépendance
• d’organiser les soins pailliatifs et la possibilité de mourir dans la dignité.

Austrian Finance Minister Maria Fekter blamed older people that retire too quickly in her opinion. She made it without any nuance or restriction. On behalf of Austrian Green Seniors Birgit Meinhard-Schiebel wrote the Minister a protest letter…

‘Dear Minister Fekter,

On the occasion of your speech at the Economic University of Vienna and a ‘Report’ on Austrian TV, you literally said, that you find it ‘intolerable that people retire at 58 years of age… many already at 52… ‘alive and kicking’… all of them disabled pensioners.’          

This classification of older employees, but especially of people who have already retired, is a dangerous generalization and discrimination. You neither differentiate how many people actually are retired at that point in time, nor for what reasons.

It is still very common that people are forced into retirement and have to overcome many obstacles such as sick leave and unemployment until an ‘early retirement’ can be reached, with deductions and under unheard conditions.                                                     Your statement could easily be understood to mean that a large number of older people only have in mind to abuse ‘the social welfare state’ and to profit from it.                           Of course there are black sheep among persons who opt for early retirement, but certainly the majority of white sheep have to fight threatening poverty in old age, due to failed labour market and finance policies. And: any kind of poverty is much more expensive for the national economy thant preventing it.                                                              I would like to ask you to formally apologize for this kind of discrimination and for stoking fears of a generational conflict for thos concerned.

Up to now the Minister did not react…

The number of members has increased from 185 (at the turn of the year) to 300 paying membrers (in May 2011) when we held our annual meeting. This is of course very gratifying and it indicates that more and more members of the Green Party are taking an interest in matters concerning the elderly. Besides, quite a few Gröna Seniorer are themselves still active and taking part in different political bodies.
Gröna Seniorer submitted five motions in various subjects to the Party Congress such as: women pensions, dental care for elderly, health economics and discrimination of elderly.
One of the motions dealt with our position within the party. At present considered as a network we were applying to become a side-organisation like the Young Greens. As such we would have much better conditions when it comes to economy and to representation in the decision making bodies.
The motion was rejected by 129 to 109. So we were nearly there and are, of course, not going to give it up! Recently we have tried another way to get influence, namely by taking part in the ongoing activities to compile the new Green Policy Program.

(Eva Hellung Strohl – November 2011)

Older People dancing for health

During the last EGP-council ENGS has been recognized as the official Network of Green Seniors. From now onwards we can add our own points to the EGP-agenda.
During the council ENGS kept a fringe meeting about ‘The Social Dimension of Ageing’. A report will follow.
‘Another Ageing for Europe!’, our white paper has been presented succesfully to the council. Translations in Dutch, French, German and Spanish can be expected.