1. Calls on the Council to declare dementia to be an EU health priority and strongly urges the Member States to develop specific national plans and strategies for Alzheimer's disease in order to deal with the social and health consequences of dementia and to provide services and support for people with dementia and their families, as has been done in several Member States where the ‘Alzheimer's and similar diseases’ plan launched in 2008 has made it possible to coordinate medical and social care and clinical and basic research into these diseases at national level;

– We have supported this proposal because, among other things, it calls on the Council to declare dementia to be an EU health priority and strongly urges the Member States to develop specific national plans and strategies for Alzheimer’s disease in order to deal with the social and health consequences of dementia and to provide services and support for people with dementia and their families, as has been done in several Member States where the Alzheimer’s and similar diseases plan launched in 2008 has made it possible to coordinate medical and social care and clinical and basic research into these diseases at national level.

1. Calls on the Council to declare dementia to be an EU health priority and strongly urges the Member States to develop specific national plans and strategies for Alzheimer’s disease in order to deal with the social and health consequences of dementia and to provide services and support for people with dementia and their families, as has been done in several Member States where the “Alzheimer’s and similar diseases” plan launched in 2008 has made it possible to coordinate medical and social care and clinical and basic research into these diseases at national level;

AB. whereas many jobs in the European Union, in particular in sectors such as family work (assistance to children and to elderly, sick or disabled people), medico-social work, hotels, catering (horeca) and agriculture, do not attract job-seekers from the Member States and are held by workers from third countries, owing to wage levels, the precarious status of the jobs concerned or their demeaning social image,

AB. whereas many jobs in the European Union, in particular in sectors such as family assistance (assistance to children and to elderly, sick or disabled people), medico-social work, the hotel trade, catering and agriculture, do not attract job-seekers from the Member States and are filled by workers from third countries, owing to wage levels, the precarious status of the jobs concerned or their demeaning social image,

- improve their employability by enhancing participation in vocational education and training, rehabilitation and appropriate incentives and working arrangements, as well as the necessary social support and care services, including through the development of the social economy.