The European Parliament adopted at this week's plenary session a report on Europe's ageing, in which it called on the European Commission to launch a pilot project for quality care for the elderly and to support member states in implementing care policies for the elderly.

The report titled “Old continent growing older – possibilities and challenges related to ageing policy post 2020”, which the European Parliament adopted on Wednesday with 479 votes in favour, 103 against and 113 abstentions, says that valuing the elderly and combating discrimination against them is possible only through policies based on intergenerational solidarity.

It also calls for a more positive perception of old age, fairer pensions and measures to address the differences in men’s and women’s pensions.

On 27 January, the European Commission presented the Green Paper on Ageing, launching a wide debate on the issue of ageing. The green paper describes the effect of this demographic trend and invites the public to express their views on how to address this trend in a public consultation that lasted 12 weeks.

Dubravka Suica, European Commission Vice-President for Democracy and Demography, said in a debate with MEPs that they had received 473 response from EU member states and non-European countries and that they were now analysing that input in the Commission.

Suica said that in the last 50 years life expectancy had increased by approximately 10 years. The green paper on ageing is the first result of this report, followed by a long-term vision for rural areas, which will also address the issue of depopulation.

Today 20% of the population is aged over 65, and by 2070 an estimated 30% of the population will be in that age group and that the percentage of the population aged over 80 will reach 13%, Suica said.

Ageing is not a problem only for the elderly but it affects all of us and we must balance our policies for all citizens and guarantee that no one is left behind, Suica stressed.

The number of persons who might require long-term care will increase from 19.5 million in 2016 to 23.6 million in 2030 and 30.5 million in 2050 (in the EU-27 area), according to the official EU website.