The European Commission has presented the European Care Strategy to ensure quality, affordable and accessible care services across the European Union and improve the situation for both care receivers and the people caring for them, professionally or informally.

Affordable and accessible care services of high quality offer clear benefits for all ages. Participation in early childhood education has a positive impact on a child’s development and helps reduce the risk of social exclusion and poverty, also later in life.

Long-term care empowers people, who as a result of old age, illness and/or disability depend on help for daily activities, to maintain their autonomy and live with dignity. However, for many people these services are still not affordable, available or accessible.

To address these issues, the Commission is proposing concrete actions to support Member States in increasing access to high-quality and affordable care services, while improving working conditions and work-life balance for carers.

Long-term care

The Commission recommends that Member States draw up national action plans to make care in the EU more available, accessible and of better quality for all, for instance by:

• ensuring that long-term care is timely, comprehensive and affordable, allowing a decent standard of living for people with long-term care needs
• increasing the offer and mix of professional long-term care services (homecare, community-based care and residential care), close territorial gaps in the access to long-term care, roll-out accessible digital solutions in the provision of care services, and ensure that long-term care services and facilities are accessible to people with disabilities
• ensuring high-quality criteria and standards for long-term care providers
• supporting informal carers, who are often women and relatives of care receivers, through training, counselling, psychological and financial support
• mobilising adequate and sustainable funding for long-term care, including by using EU funds

Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on the European care strategy – COM(2022) 440 (2022)

Proposal for a COUNCIL RECOMMENDATION on access to affordable high-quality long-term care – COM(2022) 441 (2022)

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