Blog post by Nena Georgantzi, Human Rights Manager of AGE Platform Europe
This 1 October 2025, on the International Day of Older Persons, AGE Platform Europe is launching its proposal for an EU Action Plan to Combat Ageism.
Why must older persons with disabilities be at the centre? What are the key initiatives it sets out? And how could this plan close the gaps left by the current Disability Strategy by better reflecting the realities of ageing with and into disability?
Discover the answers in this editorial.
As the EU renews its commitment to equality and intergenerational fairness, it must close a persistent gap: the absence of a dedicated, strategic focus on ageism. Despite its far-reaching impact – from the labour market to healthcare, from digital exclusion to political participation – ageism remains one of the least addressed forms of inequality in the EU framework.
This silence weighs heavily on older persons with disabilities, who face the compounded effects of both ageism and ableism. Some grow older with pre-existing disabilities, while others acquire a disability for the first time in later life. Both groups are too often overlooked: seen as dependent rather than as rights-holders, excluded from mainstream disability policies, and denied equal access to support in the community. The current equality framework overlooks key aspects of ageism leaving older people vulnerable to exclusion, neglect and abuse.
A historic opportunity
As the EU develops its Intergenerational Fairness Strategy, it has a unique opportunity to address systemic ageism through a genuine intersectional approach. Grounded in human rights, equality, and solidarity across generations, a comprehensive EU Action Plan to Combat Ageism would complement the EU Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2021-2030. It would provide the age-sensitive lens the strategy currently lacks, ensuring that accessibility, participation, and independent living extend to all, no matter their stage of life.
This vision embraces the advantages of longer lives and the inclusion of all age groups in Europe’s green and digital transitions. Tackling ageism is not only a matter of justice – it is vital to Europe’s growth, competitiveness, innovation, crisis preparedness, and global leadership.
Why older persons with disabilities must be at the centre?
Older persons with disabilities are disproportionately affected by poverty, exclusion, and discrimination. They are more likely to face barriers in living in the community, encounter inaccessible healthcare, or be excluded from assisted technology and digital innovation. Women, migrants, and minority communities often experience further inequalities.
Without a framework that addresses the intersection of age and disability, EU policies risk leaving these citizens behind. A robust action plan would fill this gap, building on the Disability Strategy while ensuring that ageing policies work for older persons with disabilities too.
Flagship initiatives for systemic change
AGE Platform Europe, the representative organisation of older persons, has developed a detailed proposal for an Action Plan that includes nine flagship initiatives with the power to dismantle structural ageism across Europe:
- Review EU law for compliance with age equality principles, close legal gaps, and address new challenges in digital and cross-border contexts.
- Spotlight older people’s rights through an annual EU event on 1 October, the UN International Day of Older Persons.
- Create age-friendly labour markets by dismantling workplace barriers, promoting lifelong learning, and tackling age discrimination at work.
- Guarantee income security with a directive on adequate minimum pensions, fair across borders and reflecting real living costs.
- Recognise and support care by valuing unpaid carers in pension entitlements and strengthening social protection.
- Expand community-based care with EU-wide targets and rights-based support models.
- Champion older persons’ rights globally by combating ageism in EU foreign and development policy and supporting a UN Convention on the Rights of Older Persons.
- Challenge stereotypes through an EU-wide public campaign promoting intergenerational solidarity.
- Ensure leadership and coherence with a dedicated focal point on age equality within the European Commission.
Towards intergenerational fairness
Taken together, these initiatives would not only combat ageism but also reinforce Europe’s broader equality agenda. They would strengthen the protection of older persons with disabilities – closing the gaps left by the current Disability Strategy and ensuring that EU law and policies reflect the realities of ageing with and into disability.
An EU Action Plan to Combat Ageism would form the backbone of a future EU Strategy on Intergenerational Fairness. It would send a clear message: that the EU values dignity, inclusion, and rights across the life course.
Know more about AGE Platform Europe
AGE Platform Europe iw the largest European network of non-profit organisations of and for older people. AGE’s vision encompasses an inclusive society, based on well-being for all, solidarity between generations and full entitlement to enjoy life, participate in and contribute to society. At the same time, each person’s rights and responsibilities throughout their life course have to be fully respected.