THE EUROPEAN COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS
- draws attention to the Europe-wide shortage of skilled care workers and its far-reaching social impact, particularly in areas affected by depopulation or regions lagging behind, where care for older and dependent people is less accessible, the enormous potential of the care sector for the labour market and, in this connection, the fact that there will potentially be 8 million jobs available in the health and social care sector over the next decade;
- stresses that women are disproportionately affected by the lack of care services, as they still carry out the lion's share of additional or informal care responsibilities, affecting their ability to balance work and private life and take up paid work;
- stresses the need for a joint strategy shared by all EU local and regional authorities responsible for health, care and education, and Member States, as well as the EU institutions, to provide accessible long-term care that meets the needs of both people in need of care and care workers, and to ensure high-quality, affordable and accessible childcare throughout the EU. This strategy must therefore also be integrated into the European Semester process. In accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, such a strategy must start from the principle that care and early childhood education are organised differently in different Member States;
- stresses that both jobs and continuity of care can be safeguarded by establishing crisis-resilient employer structures, particularly with regard to ownership structures and use of the profits generated;
- stresses that, in the future, the long-term care sector must not revolve around achieving profits but around regularly investing in quality-enhancing measures and highly skilled staff. Against this background, the CoR supports the European Parliament call on the Commission to present a framework directive on long-term, formal and informal, care that would lay down fundamental principles and provide evidence-based criteria for accessible and integrated quality long-term care and support services across the EU