For the active, elected representative, there is never a dull moment at the European Parliament, whether it is meetings in Brussels or Strasbourg. The EU’s highest and most democratic institution is the ideal forum where past and future generations congregate freely to stake out a realistic and often challenging agenda.

In recent weeks I have found myself dealing with two issues that directly concern two different generations – the retirement age, which is of obvious interest to all those who have reached a certain age and are now looking forward to the day when they can relax and enjoy the fruit of their many years of labour, and the vote for 16-year-olds, no doubt a proposition that aims to instil a keener sense of responsibility in the daily lives of young people all over the European Union.

Of course, I have made it known where I stand on both issues.

In the first case, it is my strongly held belief that the question of sustainability with regard to the retirement age and the attainment of a well-deserved pension cannot be put under any more pressure by politicians and their bureaucrat colleagues. Things have already been pushed to the very edge of the social precipice by the austerity measures that several right-wing and conservative governments within the Union have imposed over the years.

I will continue to insist that after an average career of 40 years, each and every worker deserves the right to retire and spend his or her last healthy years with the family. During that long period of work he or she has contributed regularly and loyally to a pension fund and it makes no sense to concentrate all our efforts simply on how to push the pensionable age further and beyond human decency.

Of course the problem of sustainability cannot be ignored, but we need to show a more positive attitude if we really want to tackle it in a sensible and humane way. There is, within the Union, a new awareness that things can’t go on like they have been during recent years. Given the poor economic conditions, discussions on the sustainability of pensions will persist, but happily there is a shift towards more rational thinking and less imposition.

The evident change, even here in Malta under the new Labour government, is for an accent on economic growth and the gradual integration into the labour market of more and more young people and women whose contribution would offer a welcome respite to national pension funds and their sustainability.

At the other extreme end of the generational spectrum, lowering the voting age to 16 is another proposition that the Joseph Muscat government is already acting on. The huge contribution of the younger generation during the 9 March general election was evidence enough of the commitment and dedication that young men and women can bring to the democratic process. It is now reflected in the cross-generation set-up of today’s executive, Cabinet of ministers and many official bodies.

It is also reflected in the government’s decision to give 16-year-olds the right to vote in the next round of local council elections as a start towards effecting a similar move in the case of a general election. It shows faith in our youth while it instils an overriding attitude of responsibility that, in turn, would bode well for the future of our young citizens. If they have burdens to carry, they should have rights to enjoy.

I ardently believe the same right should be granted to all 16-year-olds in the EU come next year’s European Parliamentary elections. That way we can make sure that member states are nurturing the next few generations of politicians willing to take the European project a step further.

Mr Cuschieri is a member of the European Parliament

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