INED researcher joins APRe! delegation on visit to European Parliament

A delegation from APRe! - Association of Pensioners and Retired People, composed by four members of the APRe! Board - Maria do Rosário Gama; José João Lucas; Jorge Fernandes and Anabela Paixão - and Teresa Martins - a researcher in the areas of education and ageing at inED - Centro de Investigação e Inovação em Educação, at ESE.PPorto), was received by portuguese MEPs at the European Parliament on 14th November 2024.

The purpose of this visit to the European Parliament was to personally present the proposal for the creation of the ‘Europe for all ages’ Intergroup to Portuguese MEPs, encouraging them to support the creation of this Intergroup.

Following previous contact from APRe! meetings were held with 5 MEPs elected by Portugal to the EP - João Oliveira (elected by the Portuguese Communist Party - Group of the Left in the European Parliament - GUE/NGL); Sebastião Bugalho and Paulo Cunha (elected by the Social Democratic Party - Group of the European People's Party - Christian Democrats); Marta Temido (elected by the Socialist Party - Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament); Catarina Martins (elected by the Left Bloc - Group of the Left in the European Parliament - GUE/NGL).

The Manifesto presented by AGE Platform Europe at the elections to the European Parliament guided the proposal to create the Intergroup, as well as the demands presented by APRe! as a member of AGE Platform Europe.

These meetings resulted in immediate support for the Intergroup from Marta Temido and Catarina Martins, a commitment from Sebastião Bugalho and Paulo Cunha MEPs that a PSD MEP will support the Intergroup, and a declaration of convergence with the issues behind the creation of this Intergroup from João Oliveira MEP (PCP), who agreed to analyse the possibility of formally supporting the Intergroup.

As a result of these meetings, further meetings have already been scheduled with MEPs Catarina Martins and Marta Temido to further discuss the issues raised in the Manifesto. These meetings will take place in Portugal during December. Follow-up meetings have also been requested to MEPs João Oliveira and Sebastião Bugalho.

The visit to the European Parliament by the APRe! delegation and the follow-up meetings took place as part of the Sowing a future for all ages project (SFAA), a project co-funded by AGE Platform Europe through the Regranting Scheme 2024 (Financial Support to AGE Members) - under the CERV programme - Citizens Equality Rights and Values Programme 2024.

As part of the Sowing a future for all ages project (SFAA), sessions to present the Manifesto were also held in four Portuguese cities - Lisbon (18 October); Coimbra (28 October); Porto (30 October) and Faro (21 November 2024). From this project will be produced a publication on some of the Manifesto's themes, viewed from Portugal.