The Commission's strategy rests on five policy pillars:
- promoting demographic renewal, in other words, new birth policies, which, the Commission recognises, should be combined with better access to accomodation, affordable and quality childcare and a better balance between working life and private and family lives. The Commission has started a consultation with the European social partners on this reconciliation of professional, private and familiy life;
- promoting employment: creating more jobs and longer working lives, stimulating "active ageing" and improving public health;
- improving the productivity of Europeans at work;
- receiving and integrating migrants;
- making sure that public finances remain healthy and guarantee adequate social security and equity between generations.
"The source of the problem", the communication says, "is not higher life expectancy as such, rather it is the inability of current policies to adapt to the new demographic order and the reluctance of businesses and citizens to change their expectations and attitudes, particularly in the labour market".
The "demographic challenge" has to be "mainstreamed" (integrated) into all other European and national public policies, according to the Commission. It can be questioned whether this "mainstreaming" will fare any better than in other areas where the Commission has wanted more horizontal policy integration in the past (Lisbon, sustainable development).
The Commission's strategy to tackle the "pension bomb" has paid litte attention to research which has pointed to the more positive impacts of this demographic change (improved role for women in society, less use of natural resources, reducing therefore Europe's "ecological footprint" or new consumption patterns of older generations leading to new market opportunities).
