Testimonies

3 April 2014

Bartłomiej Kozek: AGE Manifesto – a Call for Solidarity Between Generations

It’s becoming fashionable to call the European youth „a lost generation”. It also becomes trendy to point to other social groups to say that they are the beneficiaries of a broken economic system that penalises young people– and European seniors are said to be amongst them.

The reasoning goes as follows – while seniors have stable pensions, the youth has precarious jobs. While seniors are growing in numbers and political power, the youth does not have the means to grow – no stable employment and no housing conditions to have children and therefore grow in numbers themselves.

It’s easy to be lured to this rhetorical trap of „privileged old people” that i.e. block waiting lists in hospitals. Solidarity in times of austerity tends to be a trade that Europe is lacking at present – with no exception towards its inter-generational aspect.

But things can be different – and many both youth and seniors’ organisations are trying to prove it. AGE is amongst them.

I’ve read the AGE Manifesto for the EP elections 2014 with huge interest. As a young person, I recently got engaged in animating journalistic activities of seniors living in the capital of Poland, Warsaw.

I’ve seen with my own eyes how working with them enriches me and how many stories can they show me and the crew of this project - „Zdaniem Seniora” (According to Seniors), organised by Fundacja Zaczyn.

The people involved told us one important thing – they do not only want a „senior-friendly world” – they want more inter-generational dialogue and work towards a better future for us all.

I find this spirit also in the AGE Manifesto that shows how discrimination can be a multi-dimensional issue and that we cannot be certain that if we allow it to prosper, it will spare us in the long run.

We now may be young, but we will get older (and that will happen eventually), and other negative issues, such as gender or LGBT discrimination will hit us even harder then.

Seniors wanting to have a right to work, learn or be fairly treated in medical facilities are therefore not fighting for some sort of „caste privileges” – they are also fighting to strengthen my rights in the future – that’s the main thought from the front page article of Adam Ostolski, a Polish sociologist and leader of the Green Party, that was published by my magazine – „Zielone Wiadomości” (Green News).

That’s a thought I could not agree more with.

 

Bartłomiej Kozek

Journalist of „Zielone Wiadomości” (Green News) magazine

@BartlomiejKozek

3 March 2014

We must not lose our vision of a citizens’ Europe

I will be voting in Greece in the May elections, not for the cynical parties who seek election of MEPs simply to break the EU up and go back to narrow, nationalist governments and ideologies, but for those who retain the vision of a better EU. Why am I pro Europe? Despite the unnecessary suffering caused by the austerity programmes and the hi-jacking of the European Union by banking and business interests, I cling to the ideal of a Europe for all its citizens. And I know why.

I grew up in immediate post WWII England with a mother with a strong commitment to Europe. I remember at each election she undertook door to door campaigning for Jo Grimond’s Liberal party of the 1940s and 50s, then reduced to just one seat in Parliament, which strongly supported European co-operation (now the EU) and opposed imperialism and racism. Others scoffed – she continued lobbying for her understanding of what the post world war Europe should look like. I do not remember her mentioning the UN 1948 Bill of Human Rights, as I was small, but she would have supported it .

The independence movements from Britain and the other European imperialist countries also constituted the essential background in the formation of my understanding of the need for European countries to think again about their attitudes to the world including their often bloody nationalist pasts. Democracy, equality, respect for the other have become accepted fundamental rights , and however faulty and faltering we move towards these goals, eventually we believe they can be achieved. Pride in one’s culture and history cannot be confused with nationalism even if this, particularly via the French Revolution and various independence movements, was a fundamental step towards an understanding of citizenship and universal human rights.

So many of the conflicts in each country over the role of national parliaments versus the European Parliament are the responsibility of small powerful interest groups – from national politicians to international business and banking interests. I feel the future lies far more at local and regional levels where citizens can be active. This is an issue that many have identified as critical in the development and survival of the EU. In Ulrich Beck’s book “German Europe”(2013) he underlines the way in which younger people take the EU and European integration for granted; many have holidays, exchange experiences, education in other Member States. Yet we ignore at our peril the many citizens of all ages for whom the EU is still not a first hand experience and for whom“Brussels”is portrayed as a non democratic set of bureaucratic and business interests. They can be more easily seduced into believing that old nationalist solutions are viable. All of us in NGOs and citizen movements must consider how we can be effective and turn the EU into a place for all it’s inhabitants. Discussions and actions about poverty, minimum income, age friendly environments, social inclusion are just some of the arenas where the EU institutions supported by citizens’ groups can make a difference. We must not lose our vision of a citizens’ Europe.

Liz Mestheneos
Hellas 50+ - Former AGE President

24 February 2014

Helen Campbell: Creating a New Old Together

It is important that citizens of Europe, of all ages, have a strong sense that the people they elect to the European Parliament genuinely have their interests at heart. As Europe grows, it can be a challenge for the citizens of individual Members State to maintain a strong bond with the European project. The European Parliament elections present an opportunity for citizens and prospective parliamentarians to become connected at national level while focusing on issues that affect people across the EU. While citizens must take responsibility for using their vote – a privilege that we mustn’t forget has been hard won over past centuries; those hoping to be elected must listen to and show that they hear the concerns of the electorate

The AGE manifesto, which represents the concerns of the 165 million older people in Europe, articulates clearly what we as older people want our representatives to campaign on our behalf. Developing an Age Friendly European Union will benefit all ages, as well as those fortunate enough to live into older age. Age friendly environments are about a new way of looking at the built environment, accessibility to public services, ICTs and age friendly work places; an age-friendly environment also recognizes that physical activity, participation in creativity and social connectivity are key ingredients contributing to physical and mental health into older age.

We are now presented with a new possibility, the hope of living to an older age with a better quality of life than ever before in history.

As older people, we look to our MEPs to be our partners in this enterprise; that they will insist on human rights for all ages, that they will work to ensure fairness and sustainability of our social and health protection systems and above all that they will listen to us older people whenever decisions are being made that affect us. Together we can develop a new vision of ageing that will hopefully be available for all of us – together we can create a new old.

Helen Campbell
AGE Vice-President

10 February 2014

Le député européen : un profil idéal

Although elected in a country, MEPs represent in principle the whole Europe and are part of an organized political party at European level. They must participate in plenary sessions and working groups, which requires high availability and should normally exclude all forms of “tourism or “consolation prize”. MEPs must be dedicated to this mandate for 5 years. In essence, availability, command of English, expertise, openness, respect for citizens would be good criteria for an eligible position on the list… Let’s wait for May 2014 to see what French political parties decide.

Bien qu’élu dans un pays, il est en principe un représentant de l’ensemble de l’Europe et s’inscrit dans un parti organisé sur le plan européen. Par exemple, Daniel Cohn Bendit a été élu en 2009 sur une liste française.

Il doit participer à des sessions plénières et à des groupes de travail, à Strasbourg ou à Bruxelles ce qui impose une forte disponibilité et devrait normalement exclure tant le cumul de mandats que le mandat « touriste ou « lot de consolation » Le député européen doit être l’homme d’une seule fonction pendant 5 ans.

Il y a deux langues officielles dans les instances européennes, le français et l’anglais, mais dans un environnement de 24 langues, l’anglais est le plus communément répandu. Une bonne maitrise de cette langue, avec idéalement une troisième langue sont des plus sur le CV qui permettent de dialoguer hors séances et mieux comprendre la pensée de l’autre. C’est aussi un gain de temps et d’efficacité pour ne pas devoir attendre les traductions.

Le travail en commission est important pour l’analyse des textes et faire valoir ses points de vue. Une expertise sur un sujet qu’il soit de politique sociale, de défense, de finances … est un moyen d’affirmer une crédibilité des arguments avancés. Une présidence ou vice-présidence de groupe de travail procure au pays représenté un avantage dans l’organisation de l’ordre du jour, la maitrise des débats et des comptes rendus.

Les partis européens sont des regroupements de tendances où le consensus est de mise. L’ouverture d’esprit doit prendre l’avantage sur l’idéologie et la prise en compte du seul contexte national.

Il devrait aussi avoir le souci de rendre compte régulièrement aux électeurs de l’activité des instances européennes, Commission ou Parlement, et contribuer à l’information du citoyen et à la perception des enjeux européens.

En substance, disponibilité, maitrise de l’anglais, expertise, ouverture d’esprit, respect du citoyen seraient de bons critères pour une position éligible en tête de liste…. Attendons mai 2014 pour en savoir plus sur les choix des partis en France.

Michel Riquier

AGE France

5 November 2013

The EP can draw its weight and credibility only from the mandate given by EU citizens’ participation at elections, says Marjan Sedmak, President of AGE Platform Europe

We can claim, without any hesitation, that this Manifesto for European Parliament elections 2014 represents a strong message to the future MEPs about expectations and concerns of EU older citizens.

But there is much more. From the French revolution to Earl Montesquieu’s idea of division and balance of powers dominated the idea of democracy in general. In the EU, including its predecessors, for decades the councils of ministers have decided on issues that influenced daily routine of the millions of common citizens that not only were never consulted but which on many occasions were not even aware of the decisions made by ministers. And the long distance between national constituencies and high-level decision-makers behind closed door offered a lot of possibilities to the packs of lobbies without any democratic credentials to become a part of decision making processes. The syntagma of EU democratic deficit appeared in EU vocabulary.

The treaties of Maastricht and Lisbon shifted the balance of powers more in favour of EP, and it’s high time that the EU as a »meta-State« (Adam Michnik) gets a fully operational and highly credible Parliament, both to establish a better balance of powers and to enhance the link between the EU and its citizens. More and more decisions regulating the daily routine of EU citizens are taken on EU level, and therefore it’s imperative for the EU institutions and processes to become more democratic and transparent. One of the messages we are sending with this Manifesto is in favour of supplementing representative democracy with strong elements of participatory democracy.

But there is still more. The average participation in EP elections is low, not exceeding 43 percent, and in some countries as low as 20 percent. More responsibility and better participation would not only convey higher credibility to EP, it would also be the best answer to those movements and parties which misuse the present economic and financial crises to spread anti-European slogans. They don’t have any credible program and they replace the program with provocation, cheap demagogy, hate speech and hatred against those who don’t agree with them.

87 percent of the EU citizens agree with the statement that the EU needs additional tools for the defense of human rights. There is a huge amount of work in this field for the next EP. But the EP can draw its weight and credibility only from the mandate given by EU citizens’ participation at elections. The Manifesto is trying to motivate European seniors to go to the polls but it is a collective work of tens of European older people organisations and therefore at the same time a narrative and message that should restore the enthusiasm which has for so many years accompanied the development and expansion of the European integration.

Marjan Sedmak

AGE Platform Europe, President