Answer given by High Representative/Vice-President Borrell on behalf of the European Commission
3.12.2021
The EU undertakes to ensure that all human rights, including the rights of older persons, remain at the core of the response to the pandemic and the global recovery.
The EU agrees that more needs to be done to improve the situation of older persons to make their needs more visible and strengthen the protection of their human rights, through a more effective implementation of the existing instruments.
In this context, the EU continues its active participation on these issues at the United Nations (UN) Open Ended Working Group on Ageing, the UN General Assembly 3rd Committee and at the Human Rights Council.
The EU has adopted an open attitude in the discussion about the possible existence of normative gaps with regard to the rights of older persons. In order to mainstream their rights throughout the work of the UN, the EU will actively promote a regular, coherent and comprehensive discussion on ageing as well as equitable and sustainable solutions for the needs of older persons.
The EU will continue to engage in best practice sharing, data collection and dissemination with a view to arriving at a joint position on the need for a new international legal instrument.
Feedback and outcomes of the ongoing process to revisit public policies and making sure that they are fit for Europe’s ageing population, launched by the Commission in the 2021 Green Paper on Ageing[1], will be key.
While the EU has a robust legislative framework in place, it is renewing its entire framework on equality and non-discrimination to better deliver, including for older persons.
- [1] European Commission Green Paper on Ageing: Fostering solidarity and responsibility between generations COM (2021) 50final https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/default/files/1_en_act_part1_v8_0.pdf