A “long-lived” Europe that needs more regular immigrants to remain globally competitive. This is the main message that emerges from the European Union’s demographic plan, presented in Brussels on 11 October by Dubravka Šuica, EU Commission vice-president for Democracy and Demography. The plan to be approved by the Board of Commissioners is based on 4 priorities: family, youth, elderly and immigrants. At the press conference in Berlaymont, Šuica said, “Europe needs enough workforce to be competitive” and stated that we also need to invest in legal immigration to keep the European industrial sector afloat. The Croatian politician, the former mayor of Dubrovnik, reminded that last year legal immigration counted three million entries, while there were 300 thousand people who entered the European bloc of 27 people illegally. The commissioner stated that the plan was not binding. It offers a suite of tools for Member States that each country can benefit from according to its own needs and characteristics.
common problems
The Commissioner reminded that EU countries face different problems in some cases: For example, in the Netherlands there is excessive demographic density, which creates a housing crisis problem in such a small region. population decline and brain drain in Croatia, with young people attracted by the high salaries offered by other EU countries. “Italy is facing both a declining birth rate and an aging population at the same time,” Šuica said at the press conference. Instead, various states show some common problems: falling birth rates, parents unable to reconcile work and family life as best as possible, young people having difficulty accessing the workforce, industries struggling to find labor, especially a specialized company to keep companies going.
elderly economy
In order to prevent the EU’s demographic characteristics from turning into “obstacles to the EU’s competitive advantage”, the European executive was asked by the Competitiveness Council to create this suite of tools. According to the Commissioner, we also need to change the perspective in the narrative, because living longer leads to difficulties but also offers different opportunities, such as the so-called. Silver EconomyThe economy of older people depends on consumption, services and special needs. “We need to change the narrative from ‘aging continental Europe’ to ‘long-lived Europe’, which offers different opportunities, such as the permanent acquisition of skills and their transfer to new generations”, Šuica emphasized.
Demographic evolution to manage
Instrumentation is based on four main axes. First, support for parents, especially by creating quality childcare opportunities and facilitating a better compromise between family aspirations and paid work. The second pillar focuses on young people, whose “skills development and development” must be ensured in order to facilitate access to the labor market and at the same time guarantee “affordable housing”. Third, there are instruments dedicated to making older generations more autonomous, “to sustain their well-being through reforms combined with adequate policies on the labor market and the workplace,” we read in the document. Finally, the most discussed column is the one that describes “controlled regular migration” as a solution to the labor shortage. This process, we read in the text, should take place “in full complementarity with the assessment of talents within the EU”.
hostile environment
Asked how to promote migration in a European environment that is in many cases “hostile” to migrants, the commissioner said: “It is true that without migration we cannot meet the labor needs in Europe, and therefore migration is a pivotal key to the toolkit, but not the only one. Legal migration, as opposed to illegal migration.” we’re talking about.” Finally, Šuica noted that each Member State will have the opportunity to choose the instruments it is most interested in developing according to its specific needs.
Financing to be used
Brussels called on Member States to develop and implement integrated policies to counter the challenges posed by demographic evolution, to integrate the demographic issue into all policies and to take into account local realities. Digital technologies play an important role, having the capacity to “neutralize the effects of demographic evolution” when used to increase competitiveness. The European Executive points out that Member States already have financing systems in place to support them, such as the Recovery and Resilience Facility and the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+). To improve existing tools, Brussels has pledged to strengthen the data and information base by further developing the Demographic Atlas. It also aims to help countries improve their population and housing statistics by supporting analytical activities and research in this field. The ‘Talent Utilization’ platform, supported by new calls to be made within the scope of the talent incentive mechanism, will be officially launched on 23-24 November 2023.
Socioeconomic gaps
According to Eurobarometer’s demographic survey, seven in ten Europeans believe that current demographic trends put the Union’s long-term economic prosperity and competitiveness at risk. Population aging is the most concerning issue (42% of those interviewed), followed by the decline of the working-age population due to labor shortages (40%). The decline and aging of the population is already having negative effects on the economy, society and competitiveness. If these trends are confirmed, the labor shortage will worsen and pressure on public budgets will increase, with profound impacts on investment and productivity. Demographic evolution also affects social and territorial cohesion and the necessary intergenerational change of European societies. Without regulations, existing socioeconomic gaps could worsen and cause even more damage.
Source: Today IT

Emma Fitzgerald is an accomplished political journalist and author at The Nation View. With a background in political science and international relations, she has a deep understanding of the political landscape and the forces that shape it.