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reubravka Suica, 63, is Vice President of the EU Commission and, as Commissioner, she is responsible for demographic and democracy issues. Suica’s area of expertise is not in the public eye during the Corona crisis, but it is crucial for the future of Europe. WELT spoke to her on the phone.
WORLD: Ms Suica, what demographic developments will the European Union (EU) have to adapt to in the future?
Dubravka Suica: An important trend is: life expectancy has increased ten years in the last 50 years. That is good news, but it also poses enormous challenges for the health and pension systems. It is also about fairness between generations: how can we ensure that young people have sufficient financial resources to build their own future, given the trend of increasing social contributions? And how can we guarantee at the same time that older people can live with dignity after a long working life? It is not about old against young. Every age offers opportunities and challenges.
Dubravka Suica: “Ten percent of young people aged 18-24 in the EU have poor or no education”
What: REUTERS
WORLD: The proportion of older people in the EU is growing. At the same time, the population is shrinking. Is Europe losing weight around the world?
Suica: This is mainly due to ourselves, our productivity, our innovative strength and our social cohesion. But the facts are clear: in the 1960s, the share of the 27 EU countries in the world population was twelve percent; today it is six percent and in 2070 it will be only four percent. At the same time, compared to other continents, Europeans will be the oldest and Africans the youngest. More than one in three people on earth (32 percent) will come from Africa by 2070.
WORLD: What does this mean for the European economy?
Suica: In 2004, the EU’s share of world economic output was 18.3% and in 2018 it was 14.3%. The acceleration of this trend will depend on the competitiveness of the European economies.
WORLD: Are you sure?
Suica: Currently, yes. Our common economic strength is very strong. But there are some things that concern me and that we must urgently address. Ten per cent of young people aged 18-24 in the EU have poor or no education. And one in three EU citizens has completely inadequate digital skills. 15 percent don’t even have any knowledge.
WORLD: What can Brussels do?
Suica: We do not want and cannot prescribe anything. But we want to identify the problems and make recommendations to the Member States.
WORLD: What does that mean in concrete terms?
Suica: One recommendation is to take better advantage of the potential of the elderly. We want older people to make a more productive contribution to society than before. If you are 65 or 70, you can still achieve a lot if you want to. We want as many people as possible to continue to get involved in old age.
WORLD: What do you think about that?
Suica: You could keep working, keep learning, exchange ideas more intensively with younger people, promote innovations or volunteer.
WORLD: What depresses the elderly?
Suica: Certainly the fear of poverty in old age. We have to take this very seriously and take countermeasures. But in many EU countries there is also the threat of a “care drain”, that is, the economically justified departure of health workers who lack care for the elderly. This fear of inadequate care overwhelms many older people. They don’t want to be a burden to their loved ones.
WORLD: Many people, not just older people, are convinced that Brussels has no idea what concerns them. Is that so?
Suica: It is enough that this impression exists. That is one of the reasons why we are holding an important conference on the future of Europe. There we will listen carefully to what depresses people and what they want, even in old age.
WORLD: Another conference?
Suica: This will not be an event for the Brussels bubble. We will also go out to the regions, there will be a forum at European level where we will discuss together and learn from each other. Citizens must not only cast their vote every five years in elections to the EU Parliament, they must also be heard and have a voice in the meantime. I know there is this gap between the people and the politicians. We want to make them a little smaller.
WORLD: With a new strategy, you also want to better enforce children’s rights. How about you?
Suica: Children are particularly important to me. I myself am a grandmother and taught children as a teacher for years. The leitmotif of this strategy will be inclusion. The main objective is to improve the protection of disadvantaged children. 24 percent of children in Europe live at or below the poverty line. We are concerned about migrant children, unaccompanied youth, but also children with health problems and members of minorities. Everyone deserves a good life. A child is a child, everywhere, no matter where they live, what family they come from, and what history they have. My goal is for us to be pioneers in the implementation of children’s rights around the world.
WORLD: How you gonna do it
Suica: With money from the EU Social Fund and the Corona aid fund “Next Generation EU”. And, of course, in dialogue with the Member States, which have much more to do in this area.
WORLD: In a public hearing, the EU Commission has just asked people in rural areas about their lives. Why?
Suica: We want to pay more attention to rural areas and their role in society, not with abstract ideas, but with concrete actions. 100 million citizens live in rural areas, which by the way make up half of the entire surface of the EU.
WORLD: Why is the issue so important to Brussels?
Suica: The Austrian-Bulgarian intellectual Ivan Krastev recently gave a lecture to European ministers. He said that the true border in the EU is no longer between east and west, but between urban and rural areas. I agree.
WORLD: How is that?
Suica: People in rural areas often have the feeling of being left behind. Often there are no doctors, buses, shops or the Internet.
WORLD: How could this happen?
Suica: One important reason is demographic development. Many rural areas are experiencing population migration because people cannot find work there or life in the city seems more attractive.
WORLD: Do you see a direct connection between support for democracy and demographic development?
Suica: Absolutely. A new study by the EU Commission concludes that people in rural areas vote for anti-European parties and represent anti-democratic attitudes much more frequently than residents of urban centers. This has to do with the age of the rural population, their economic situation, their level of education and the difficult supply situation in many rural areas. People often blame democracy for their living conditions.
WORLD: What to do?
Suica: Our goal is to make rural areas attractive to young people again. This includes Internet for all, good transport links, schools, cinemas, doctors and workplaces. I know it won’t be easy. But I won’t stop fighting for it.
