My message today is that we should move forward confidently and positively, armed with the knowledge that we have among us in the EU many millions of people with skill, knowledge and long experience of living and working in a complex world. Longer life and the ageing of our society can create opportunities, both for society as a whole and for individuals. The challenge for us, public policymakers, is to help people realise those opportunities. This will require change. We must be ready as individuals to change our expectations, our attitudes and our lifestyles and as a society to change the way we conduct public policy and organise work.
Life is more fulfilling for people who remain active in old age.
We know from geriatric medicine that active lives and healthy life-styles slow down the physical ageing process. They also enable us to continue to provide for ourselves, to offer services to others and to minimise our dependence. Yes, there is a cost dimension to the forthcoming increase in the numbers of older people. We can, if we modernise our policies, meet the financial challenges of ageing without damaging the stability of our social systems and without disappointing the confidence which our citizens have placed in them. But we can do much more than that.