Europe: The European Commission has recently expressed its concerns over the decline that has been evident in the proportions of the working age population in the European Union member nations. The Commission reported that about 82 regions in 16 EU countries, which includes the Baltic countries and some other regions in France, Spain, Greece, Poland, Romania, Czech Republic and almost all Finnish regions, are suffering from the declining working population.
At the same time, these regions have been undergoing a decline in the share of University and Higher-education graduates. The negative mobility of the population, aged between 15-39 years, between the nations has been further worsening the issue.
As the Commission noted, this is leading to a widening gap between the rural and urban movement of the population. The data from Eurostat reveals that the rural working-aged population has exhibited a decline of 0.6%, while the Urban working population grew at 0.1 %.
The receded participation, owing to the low population count, has inhibited the progress of various economic sectors in many regions. Consequently, the lack of innovation in the projects has also kicked in, with the lack of fresh blood in the working proportions.
Further, the citizens have been lagging in having proper access to services that governments of the respective regions have launched for their development.
Therefore, to support the affected EU regions, the European Commission has launched the ‘Talent Booster Mechanism’. As the Commission envisages, the project will help to train, retain and attract the people and inculcate appropriate skills that are needed to cope with the impact of the demographic transition.
The Commission further stated that “We must ensure that regions experiencing population shrinking have the relevant and adequate means to attract and harness the fruit of their investments. By addressing these challenges, we will ensure the future prosperity of our societies and well-being in the EU.“
