A new EU healthcare strategy – Video conference with Sirpa Pietikäinen

On 24 January 2023, the ESU executive committee was invited to a video conference. Besides some information on ongoing ESU initiatives, the meeting focused on the new European care strategy. Both childcare and long-term care received new European guidelines. We focused only on long-term care. 

Although Care is primarily a Member States’ competence, the EU can play an important role in promoting and stimulating policies for the senior generation.  

On 7 September 2022, the European Commission proposed the following:

1. A communication on the European care strategy

The Commission sets out a vision for the provision of long-term care in Europe, outlines supporting measures at EU level and calls for action at national level. These include direct technical support under a new flagship project “Towards person-centred integrated care”, the upcoming Horizon Europe partnership “Transforming health and care systems” and a strategic partnership with WHO.

2. A proposal for a Council recommendation on access to affordable high-quality long-term care.

It aims to improve the situation of formal and informal care providers and attract more care workers, including through legal migration programmes. 

The focus is on:

• The adequacy, availability and quality of long-term care, Member States should set high quality criteria and standards for all long-term care institutions.
• Fair working conditions for care staff. This includes developing attractive wages in the sector by promoting national social dialogue and collective bargaining.
• Address skills needs and shortages of workers in the care sector. Member States should design and improve primary and secondary education and training, build career pathways through retraining and upskilling, establish pathways to regular employment status for undeclared care workers, explore legal migration pathways for care workers and make the care profession attractive to both men and women.

ESU welcomes this initiative. It is now up to Member States to implement care policies adapted to their national needs and capabilities. It is important in this implementation phase that all actors play their role and feel involved. The ESU has invited governments, formal and non-formal care providers, families, civil society … invited to work together to provide the best possible care for everyone who needs it. 

To encourage this process, we have prepared a resolution that can be amended and adopted by the EPP.

A first draft of the resolution will be sent to our associations. We hope to finalise it by the end of February.