An analytical report prepared by Asghar Zaidi and David Stanton under the joint management project by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the European Commission’s Directorate General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion (DG EMPL) was launched on 16 April 2015 at an International Seminar “Building an evidence base for active ageing policies: the Active Ageing Index and its potential”.

This publication focuses on the challenges and opportunities of population ageing in Europe. Reviewing the outcomes of EU-funded research in social sciences funded under the sixth and the seventh framework programmes, it aims to address the question of how the EU is preparing for advanced population ageing and what type of public policies it should pursue.