Position Paper Please send your finished Position Paper to: academicprep@eyp.nl by Sunday January 26th 23:59 CET. The file should be renamed as follows: POSITION_PAPER_[COMM]_[FIRSTNAME]_[LASTNAME] Please enter in the email topic: ‘POSITION PAPER [COMMITTEE ABREVIATION (e.g. EMPL)] [FIRST NAME] [LAST NAME]’! Name Committe e Topic
Example EMPL II – Committee on Employment and Social Affairs Shifting demographic tides across Europe: How can we reform our welfare systems and transform our societies to cope with the challenges inherent in an ageing population and longevity?
As our society advances and continues to develop at an astonishing pace, lives are being extended through improvements in medicine. It has been predicted that by the year 2060, the average life expectancy for women will be 89 years and the average life expectancy for men will be 84.5 years. This increase in life expectancy combined with the fact that the baby boom population is now beginning to retire, the ageing population is increasing, and not only that but it is also much larger than what the current working force can sustain. This causes the EU to question and reassess its retirement and pension plans, along with its health care and education systems as both play an important role in coping with the shifting demographic tides across Europe. The European Employment Strategy has already set objectives as a part of the Europe 2020 strategy in order to reach an employment rate of 75% for people aged 20-‐-64, reduce school drop-‐-out rates to less than 10% and have at least 40% of 30-‐-34 year olds completing third level education and finally reduce the risk of poverty and social exclusion by at least 20 million people. However, in order for these goals to be