ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the concepts covered in the preceding chapters of this book. The book provides the preparatory picture by setting out the EU's own range of concerns. It introduces the subject of two-way 'lesson-trading' – between countries and/or between regional blocs – as a matter for academics and policy-makers to approach with circumspection and discrimination, to the extent that they were interested in the best practicable results as opposed to, maybe, the best political effect. The book shows that the policy focus on ageing within the EU has largely been upon retirement pensions, particularly in their relation to employment policy. It indicates the rising health-care expenditures consequential on the ageing of their populations. The precise needs of older people, moreover, can be very wide-ranging. In health care, they cover services for primary and secondary, preventative and curative, and chronic and critical care.
