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How is Europe addressing the challenges of the long-term panacea?

21/04/2026 by the Logistics TransportIn the the General Assembly

Europe’'s aging population means the need for long-term care workers is increasing to support the elderly and those in need of assistance in day-to-day activities. About six million people currently work in the industry, but estimates suggest the bloc will need another 1.6 million maintenance workers by 2050.

Banska Stiavnica’da in ’ has launched a community-based pilot project to help older people live safely and independently at home for as long as possible.

Access to quality care and services for the elderly in this part of the country is not always possible due to lack of funding and staff.

Lucia Schneider, 38, has been caring for her grandmother Eva’ for nearly a year. He's one of the lucky ones who can provide care as part of his job.

Lucia Euronews’e “My job is to help my grandmother clean, shop and shower, ” said.

Increased demand for long-term caregivers

According to data released by the European Commission, public expenditure on professional long-term care is low in Europe’, and GDP in 2019’ only %It represents 1.7’sini. According to data released by the European Commission, the care of the elders mostly falls to families due to the costs.

Eva has been living alone since her husband passed away, and her small pension doesn't cover all her needs. That's why his family needs to support him financially.

Eva, “ said I couldn't go to the nursing home because my pension was too small to pay.

However, Eva prefers to stay home and be close to her family as long as she has the opportunity.

Projections, SlovakiaNumber of people in need of long-term care in ’ by 2070 %It shows that it will increase by more than 50’; That's twice the average increase in AB’.

Support and technology for the elderly

Mária Petrová lives alone and needs long-term care. A year ago, she enrolled in a community social work centre for one of the projects supported by the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+).

The goal is to bring together social service providers, healthcare providers and municipalities to provide more services to the elderly.

The support and technology he receives allows him to live independently at home.

“I have to go to the doctor often. Mr. Zorván is taking me to the hospital, and he's waiting for me, and he's bringing me home.

“ [my control monitor] shows my fever, blood pressure, and other things. All of this helps a lot mentally and physically, ” added.

How does the EU support long-term care?

Pavel Červienka leads the project in the field. He consults with the municipality and the elderly in the region to meet their needs.

“We came up with the idea of connecting municipalities to micro-regions, ” said. “In this way, we can accumulate more funds, pay a sufficient number of caregivers, and possibly motivate more people to start social work.”

Pavel Adamy’ye is accompanied by Alžbeta Zaušková, one of the social caregivers of the project. For him, this job is a profession that should be valued more.

Alžbeta, “This is a very important job nowadays, so it can be better in terms of working hours and be better paid, ” explained.

Due to staff shortages and increasing pressure on public finances, the European Union adopted the European Care Strategy to improve the working conditions of caregivers and ensure that the elderly age with dignity.

Euronews asked Ivailo Kalfin’den, Director of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound), to explain the biggest challenges facing long-term social care in Europe’.

“There are so many, so it's hard to summarize them. But perhaps the biggest challenge is access to long-term care services. Simply put, there are many people who do not have proper access to long-term care.

“But the elephant in the room is the staff and caregivers. With its aging population, care workers are increasingly needed in Europe’, and caregivers are becoming scarce. There are not enough young people in the care industry, and this gives a very bad perspective in the future if nothing is done.”

Maintenance work is often characterized by difficult working conditions and low wages. This means that it is difficult to attract more people to that sector.

Ivailo Kalfin, “The Commission will therefore put forward a long-term care strategy, ” said. “Of course we need to talk about salaries because care workers are underpaid. But it's not just salaries, there are also a number of additional supports that can be provided to care workers, for example, a little more support for mental health, because they work in difficult conditions.

“Then education is also very important because [technological] change can help, but it can also be an obstacle. Therefore, it is very important to keep these people up-to-date with current information.

“Many of them have short-term interviews, so they always need to be available, but they also need to have time to rest, relax, regroup before returning.”

For Ivailo Kalfin, supporting unofficial caregivers, such as family members caring for their relatives, creates even more challenging challenges.

“, these unofficial caregivers are mostly women. Because women tend to work in less paid, more precarious jobs. And this is a stigma that has been going on for many years, ” said.

Most of these people who look after the elderly or disabled at home can't go to work. I mean, they have really low incomes, and in practice, that's their job. So if we want to ensure a minimum quality of life, they need support from the social system. - ”

Producer/Writer/Reporter: Fanny Gauret

Accelerated course author: Jeremy Wilks

The video editor: Silvia Lizardo

The producer is: Louise Lehec

Camera number one: Mathieu Rocher

The camera 2: Yves Pottiaux

EuropeAggravating ’'s fuel poverty crisis

20/04/2026 by the Logistics TransportIn the the General Assembly

Millions of Europeans have to choose between eating and warming up in this winter, while Real Economy Bulgaria is increasingly seeing how EU funding is diverting their savings to other vital needs by providing warm food support to families.

The food or warm-up dilemma

More than 35 million Europeans are unable to keep their homes warm this winter. This is equivalent to Greece, Portugal, Hungary and Ireland, where the entire population in ’ decides between heating and putting food on the table.

Two main causes of fuel or energy poverty are living in buildings with low income and low energy efficiency.

In Europe, rising fuel prices and the ongoing pandemic in ’ in recent months have exacerbated the problem, making it more difficult for people to pay their bills.

The right to access basic services such as energy is included in the European Pillar of Social Rights, a guide to stronger social rights in the European Union.

The EU outlined measures it proposed countries should implement to keep fuel prices low, including emergency income support and tax cuts.

FranceIn ’, the number of people using food banks, such as Banques Alimentaires, partly funded by the European Fund for the Poorest, FEAD, has increased since the beginning of the pandemic. %Increased by more than 30’.

A similar picture is emerging across Europe at a time when people are struggling to pay food and rising energy bills.

BulgariaIn ’, more than a quarter of the population cannot afford to heat their homes; This is the highest level in Europe’, followed by Lithuania and Cyprus.

“, these are lentils and potatoes. I can't complain. I'll survive. - ”

In Bulgaria, temperatures regularly drop below zero during the winter months in ’. For the most vulnerable, especially those who can't afford to heat up, finding money to heat someone's home can be a major concern.

Insufficiently insulated buildings, low incomes and rising energy prices are the main causes of energy poverty.

Kocherinovo is a small mountain village in the west of the country. Nikola, 71, lives there alone. receives a small pension of around 150 euros per month; That's about half the minimum wage. Nikola receives a government-paid energy allowance, with which he can buy wood for his stove.

“I bought 520 leva for the firewood in October, this is for the whole winter. Five cubic meters for 500 leva. I bought eight and paid for the rest out of my own pocket. One cubic meter was 75 leva, now 90 lev, 15 lev more.”

Rising energy prices have had a significant impact on Nikola’'s budget. Even if he gets medical help and receives a Covid bonus for retirees, he has a hard time paying his bills, medicines, and food.

European FEAD fund

“A hot lunch for the soulThanks to the program called ”, Nikola eats hot food every day; which means he won't have to make an impossible choice between choosing to eat or warming up at home. The initiative is funded by FEAD, the European ’'s Poorest Relief Fund.

In 2020, more than 15 million Europeans such as Nikola benefited from food aid thanks to the European FEAD fund.

Sixty-two-year-old Evelina also lives in the same village and has a hot lunch for “ruh, a hot meal from ” every day.

Although he is disabled, he takes care of his parents alone. Their pensions are not enough to cover the family's expenses, so they benefit from various government benefits that allow them to make a living.

“I'm getting help with food and warm-ups, and there's also an assistant who's coming to help me. Much better, at least I don't have to cook anymore. - ”

Evelina was able to save some money by buying a more energy-efficient stove. It burns pellets instead of wood.

The energy price is a significant part of the cost of living in ’, Bulgaria, especially for the poorest households. In 2018 ’ represented about 16% of expenditures, while in Sweden ’ average energy costs were around 4%.

Working with and completing national measures to help the most vulnerable and energy-poor is a strategy of FEAD’. The hot food and bread offered relaxes family budgets, allowing people to channel their savings into other vital needs.

Andriana Sukova, Deputy Director-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Accession at the European Commission, says such unified support is vital.

The food and basic material assistance provided through the “FEAD program, but also accompanied by national policies and national measures, has proven crucial for poor people to reduce the burden of personal income, keep their homes warm or buy the medicines the elderly need, maintain a balanced and reasonable life.

In the coming period, FEAD’'s work will continue with the support of the European Social Fund Plus’ and its budget will almost double.

The focal point is: Europe’'s energy crisis

To learn more about the current energy crisis, Real Economy met with Thomas Pellerin-Carlin, Director of the Jacques Delors Energy Center.

According to Euronews: How can we be in a situation where millions of people in “ can't afford to heat their homes?’

Thomas Pellerin-Carlin: “This is the result of the choices we have made in the past to build an inefficient system based on fossil fuel use.

For this reason, we are in a situation where tens of millions of Europeans cannot heat their homes as they should.

And when we face the fossil fuel crisis and the shock from fossil fuel prices, it only gets worse.

According to Euronews: “Many European countries are taking relief measures. How much difference do they make?”

Thomas Pellerin-Carlin: “We know that the countries that do the best are in fact the countries where policies are implemented that explicitly encourage the transition to renewable energy and the transition to efficiency.

Energy poverty in Europe is at its worst south of ’, and that's a bit counterintuitive. The colder the country, the worse you might think energy poverty is, but in reality, the opposite is the case.

Because energy poverty is not the result of geography or nature, it is the result of political choices.

If Sweden is doing well now, it is not because of the current Swedish government, but because Sweden’ has been investing for 30 years in the renovation of homes and the development of renewable heating systems.”

According to Euronews: “What do you think should be done at the European level?”

Thomas Pellerin-Carlin: “There are three things for me: In our view at the Jacques Delors Institute ’, the European Green Deal, part of the ’, should be to ensure that every family can properly heat their home in the winter. First of all, it should be a political goal.

How do we apply this? The first is through regulation. This means that we require poorly insulated buildings to be refurbished when rented or sold.

The third is to provide funds to support such renovations, especially for the poorest countries, such as Bulgaria.

For this, the European Commission has received a nice proposal from ’ to create a social climate fund, and this will be an important step in the right direction.”

Plans to protect the business keep millions on the job, what if it ends beforehand?

20/04/2026 by the Logistics TransportIn the the General Assembly

Real EconomyIn this part of the ’, we ask you what will happen when the job protection programs in Europe’ come to an end. Plans to quit kept millions of people at work during the pandemic and quarantines. With these emergency measures phased out, how will Europe ensure there are enough jobs and people have the right skills for the jobs of the future?

The European Union ’'s goal of exiting the pandemic is a strong social Europe ‘. The Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan sets out three goals to be achieved by 2030.

Adults at Least ’i must be running and other ’ must attend the training every year. The number of people at risk of poverty and social exclusion should also be reduced by at least 15 million.

Nicolas Schmit, European Commissioner for Business and Social Rights, says companies play an important role in education. “It is in the hands of companies to retrain most of their staff, to re-skill, to increase their skills.

Companies need to reskill those with the lowest “en skill level because their jobs are changing too. Now all your work %There's the idea that the 90’ has some kind of digital component. If you're working in construction, for example, you'll need to have some digital competencies on how to manage it while you're on the construction site.”

Schmit emphasized that the “ Commission wants to support these strategies at the corporate level, along with public employment services at the regional level.

Financial aid behind education and transition

The European Commission recommends that ’'s EASE (Providing Active Support for Employment) countries create new jobs by supporting entrepreneurs and educating people on new skills to find jobs in growing sectors such as green and digital.

Money can be obtained from the Recovery Fund and the European Social Fund Plus’ to help finance this.

Schmit, “This is part of the withdrawal of permit programs” says and adds: “We need a new type or very active labour market policy, and that is the sense of EASE. And we need that for these new transitions, which are also green transitions and digital ones.”

the Pin Project

ItalyTwo young entrepreneurs with innovative ideas were given the chance to start a business in the Puglia region of ’ with the PIN project co-financed by the European Social Fund.

State-of-the-art prosthetic hand

Giovanni is a mechanical engineer. Adam’s Hand’i, a mobile bionic hand with integrated artificial intelligence system, is about to launch. This high-tech start-up received €30,000 and business support to create ’. “ tells us that the ”PIN project is fundamental to its business, as it allows it to obtain the initial funding needed to purchase its first machines. That's what helped him create the first Adam ’'s Hand prototypes.

In addition to financial and infrastructural support, the PIN project also helped bring some skilled workers back south. “ says this is a great source of satisfaction for him and his team.

Nicolas Schmit believes that giving companies the opportunity to hire new employees, as Giovanni’ did, is part of EASE’'s role when their leave program ends. According to Schmit’, this will help people benefit from “transitions, support them through skills, but also encourage new companies or other companies to only hire people, giving them recruitment subsidies if necessary in a way.

For now, Giovanni’de employs 20 people and has to move forward in a highly competitive environment. At the same time, it has its eye on the international market, which means that this market can grow in the near future and create more jobs.

The eco-packaging

A fairer and more accessible labour market is one of the objectives of the European Pillar of Social Rights, which also supports the green transition. This transition and green sector is full of opportunities for Laura and her business partners in general. Three freelance architects returned to Italy to bring agriculture and design together.

The PIN project helped them establish a company that designs ecological and reusable packaging. They were given help with management skills and the latest ways of working. Laura tells us that this is thanks to the PIN project and that they are able to talk to customers instantly thanks to new tools that allow them to develop. This helped them achieve many goals.

Today Italy has customers all over ’.

With a total budget of approximately €17 million, the PIN project has funded more than 500’ innovative projects such as Giovanni’s and Laura’s.

Training for the New Era

The European Social Fund supports 10 million people each year, such as Giovanni and Laura.

According to economist Andrea Garnero’, developing skills is key to this support. “ says that the skills that will be demanded of workers and companies will change. As work from home becomes more widespread, they will need to rely more on technologies. “Member states have played an important role in accompanying companies and workers through these transitions, and they need training and reskilling opportunities, ” adds.

EU Social Summit

With the Social Summit to be held in Porto, ’, Portugal on May 7, the European ’'s commitment to Social Rights comes to the fore. The two-day event will bring together EU leaders, institutions and social partners to discuss some of Europe’'s biggest challenges, such as climate change and digital transition. These two challenges also affect job opportunities, job creations and education.

Nicolas Schmit says the summit comes at a time when “ people are nervous, afraid of cuts, of a major restructuring. According to him, the summit is a message from “ that the crisis in itself will not be a crisis of cuts in social services and social infrastructures. We need economic development, but we also need social dimensions and integrity in our societies, “.

With plans to keep the job coming to an end, it is hoped that Avrupa’, with its social initiatives and support, will overcome this challenge and keep people at work.

There is no turning back or forward: The Nightmare of the Immigrants Trapped in Bosnia

06/10/2024 by the Logistics TransportIn the Category: Logistics

Bosnia is a transit country for migrants trying to reach the European Union, but the external border of the European Union is closed. This situation has caused thousands of migrants to be in a difficult situation. Hundreds of them, like Salman and his brothers, barely sleep in abandoned buildings, makeshift tents, and even old freight cars. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, temperatures in winter are well below zero. So why aren't these people being placed in emergency shelters?

Impact on mental health

Salman tells me that some of his travel companions had mental health problems on their journey from Pakistan to Bosnia. Middle-class families are saving thousands of euros to send their sons to Europe. But now they are halfway there, there is no way forward or back, they are crushed by the guilt of having failed their families at home.

Salman and his brothers are among a group of Pakistani migrants who have been stranded in the Tuzla region for a year and a half. They've been living in an abandoned freight car for seven months. They tried to cross the Bosnian-Croatian border several times, but failed. They say they will try again, and if they fail, they will choose to return to Pakistan. According to them, this puts their families at great risk. It cost between 3,000 and 4,000 euros per person to bring them all the way here, and many families owed to raise that money.

Local authorities refuse to open a migrant camp in the Tuzla region, but the city remains an important transit area between Serbia and Croatia.

Charities fill the gap

NGOs such as EMMAUS come into play and offer migrants an environment where they can warm up. Most of them are economic immigrants from Pakistan or North Africa, like Brahim Radi and his Algerian friends. He tried to cross the Croatian border many times. He told me a Croatian border guard broke his tooth with a baton. He thinks some of them lost their eyes and broke their ribs as they confronted the border guards.

In Emmaus ⁇ ta, immigrants can shower and wear clean clothes. Dzeneta Delic-Sadikovic is a young lawyer, managing Emmaus ⁇ u in Tuzla ⁇ . He's telling me this: The problem of violence on the Croatian-Bosnian border must end. These people do not want to stay here, a solution must be found for them to leave Bosnia and turn to Europe.

Lipa

We went to Camp Lipa, which burned at Christmas in western Bosnia. The investigation is ongoing to determine who started the fire, but there is no answer to this question for now.

Camp Lipa was set up for the summer. Local authorities have failed to make it winter-friendly. The International Organization for Migration recognized this and withdrew from operations there. The Bosnian government has found another place for this near Sarajevo. Local protests, however, made the transfer impossible. To prevent people from freezing to death, the Ministry of the Interior stepped in and set up heated tents.

Suleiman Shahid is a Pakistani immigrant. He was a civil engineer back home. He's been at Camp Lipa for four months. Euronews found his team filming in the camp and offered us homemade food. That's when he says they have to walk two kilometers to get to drinking water. He tells them that only ⁇ 33 to 45 people are given three bottles of water ⁇ per day.

There are currently around 9,000 migrants in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The EU ambassador in Sarajevo told us that finding shelter for them should not be a difficult task and urged the authorities to step up the action.

For now, however, migrants have to go to a local water source to bathe. No hot water. Ziaullah Zaheer is an Afghan immigrant. He is one of the official speakers of immigrants in Lipa ⁇ . He says AB ⁇ needs to take serious steps to help migrants. Zaheer left Afghanistan because he was the target of fighter groups. One of his brothers lost an eye in the violence in his hometown. He wants to go to Europe for a safer life.

A dysfunctional system

The EU transfers about 20m euros to Bosnia and Herzegovina every year. Money was supposed to be used for migration management, but dysfunctional government structures in the country often hinder it. Decisions of the federal government may be blocked by local authorities. Some regions in the country refuse to bear any burdens related to housing for migrants.

A border town camp

We set off for Bihac ⁇ a, close to the Croatian border, where there are about 60 occupied houses. The International Organization for Migration is delivering food to them. Natasa Omerovic, who works for the international organization, says that the situation is dire, serious and these people need basic living conditions, (...) nearly 1000 ⁇ people live in slums in places and buildings all over the region.

Beer is an old refrigerator factory. Until last September, it was used as a temporary camp housing 2,000 migrants. But the locals were upset by the escalation of thefts, and that's not all. Seid Sehic, who lives near the old camp, describes the traumatic event he experienced while planting potatoes:

5 immigrants came to my garden and one of them had a long knife in his hand and attacked me, luckily the knife did not enter my stomach, it just ran over my dress. I pulled back and took the pitchfork that was on the ground. I hit the immigrant who was trying to stab me and told him to put the knife down.

We discussed the immigration issue with the Prime Minister of the Una-Sana canton, which also includes Bihac ⁇ . A senior diplomat said that we should not forget one thing about Mustafa Ruzniç ⁇ : He's a man who's ready for immigrants to freeze to death. It legitimizes this harsh anti-immigrant stance due to security concerns and numerous crimes committed by immigrants in its territory. He tells us: In the canton of Una Sana, there are constant fights between Pashtuns and Hazaras, between Shiites and Sunnis. In the last three years, these immigrants have committed more than 3200 crimes. These crimes include rapes, migrant murders and numerous attempted murders of our citizens. They're arsonists and they're breaking into private houses. All migrants who roam our city need to be deported, they are here illegally, he said.

His attitude towards immigrants is unlikely to change. This may explain why there are ⁇ KAMP YOK ⁇ billboards at the entrance to the Beer camp and why angry locals oppose the reopening of the fully equipped campsite.

Also in April last year, Bihac ⁇ ta had a major fight between rival migrant groups. 450 people participated. The camp was closed in September, but the entire infrastructure is still there. The EU has proposed reopening the facility to address the urgent problem of migrants sleeping outside in the middle of winter. But local decision-makers vetoed it. IOM executive Natasa Omerovic tells us how tragic this is:

⁇ This place is available in 24 hours, ready. We have a total of 250 accommodation units and each accommodation unit can accommodate 6 people, which gives us the number of 1500 people who can accommodate in this camp ⁇ he said.

IOM staff helped 303 migrants stranded last year return to their homes. They help voluntary returnees with logistics and plane tickets.