It has been a year since the COVID-19 first case was recorded in Europe. The first European reported from France on 24 January 2020. This case had a travel history to China. In Germany, cases were reported on 28 January, related to a person visiting from China.
European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), an agency of the European Union, published an interactive timeline to see the main ECDC outputs and developments since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The pandemic outbreak will leave a lasting impact on the way we live and work together. It shows a link between demography and economy. The impact of demographic change in Europe is presented in the European Commission’s Demography Report. It was created to show the right tools to provide solutions and support people throughout the process of change. Demographic ageing will have an impact on the labour market – on employment, productivity and skills. This brings a need for more jobs to increase productivity. As for now, 20% of the population is above 65, and by 2070, it is projected to be 30%. We need good quality, affordable and sustainable healthcare. The European Commission adopted the green paper on ageing to launch a broad policy debate on ageing to discuss options on how to anticipate and respond to the challenges and opportunities that ageing brings. The demographic change will impact small regions with a rapidly shrinking population and low incomes. Europe’s population will get smaller. In the ’60s Europe held almost 12% of the World population and by 2070 it will be reduced to just 4%. The smaller Europe get, the more united and strategic it must be. The next steps are new policy initiatives and developments. In 2021, the Commission will present a long-term vision for rural areas.
Demographic change will affect everybody. The findings of the Commission’s Demography Report show that there is no one approach to deal with the situation. The European Union, Member States and regions have a shared interest in responding to demographic change for the benefit of all Europeans.
Source: European Commission