Discussion Papers

Europe is and further will be facing new challenges related to the consequences of demographic change. Among other socio-demographic transformations, population ageing is inevitable in most European states due to long-term demographic trends. Therefore, social and health policies are focusing more and more on the circumstances and effects of longer lives, e.g. with regard to promoting active and healthy ageing, encouraging longer working lifetimes and designing new public-private pension arrangements to ensure adequate material well-being in old age.

This paper focuses on the views and concepts of European civil society actors on the issue of demographic change and related fields. Chapter 1 clarifies the scope of this paper in terms of how EU civil society is understood, what aspects of demographic change and population policy are considered and which period of time is cov­ered. Chapter 2 provides examples of institutionalised forms of exchange between the EU and civil society organisations at the European Commission level in areas relevant to the issue of demographic change.

This paper offers insights into how demographic change is discussed as a political challenge at the European Union (EU) level, specifically the European Commission. Chapter 1 provides basic conceptual specifications and definitions on how population policies and demographic change are understood in this paper. Chapter 2 describes the institutional set-up and framework of population policies at the EU level. Chapter 3 gives a short overview of how demographic issues are institutionally framed as areas of political action within the European Commission.

This document highlights some of the emerging issues in policy-relevant population research in light of the fundamental demographic developments of our times. It sets an agenda of the most urgent topics and most exciting approaches in the field of policy-relevant population studies. The four sections of the document introduce and elaborate on main thematic fields of demographic research. In these, we handle the most relevant topics and enquiries on population dynamics that impact mar­kets, society, and policies today and in the near future.