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
reached the current situation in each individual country must first be taken into consideration before implementing new laws and regulations. Therefore, it is important to customise the education system so that it is able to suit all job opportunities and their necessary skills. This will allow for the creation of a strong work force that will then be able to lessen the financial burden without having to heavily rely on tax increases. If the current trends and policies regarding the ageing population are no rectified, then it has been predicted that the average annual growth rate in GDP for EU-�-25 will half from the period between 2004 and 2010, and 2030 to 2050 due to the lack of a productive work force. This contraction in growth rate will intensify the financial problems associated with the already present issues. Hence, focusing on promoting entrepreneurship and self-�-employment could increase job opportunities, improve skills development and provide aid to give everybody the opportunity to fully participate in the economy￟and society. Furthermore, by introducing competitive industries or investing in them may create jobs and increase productivity resulting in an overall economic growth. In conclusion, it is important to realise that when dealing with an ageing population, the underlying problems revolving around education and health must first be identified and addressed as these are the building blocks for a strong work force. Additionally, the council of the European Union rightfully realises that each Member State of the European Union should be able define its own parameters when enforcing its pension system and further related policies so that they are suitable for the specific situation in each Member State.