AAL (Ambient Assisted Living) - Preparation of an Article 169 initiative

"Ambient Assisted Living" (AAL) is the name for a European technology and innovation funding programme. The programme intends to address the needs of the ageing population, to reduce innovation barriers of forthcoming promising markets, but also to lower future social security costs. AAL aims - by the use of intelligent products and the provision of remote services including care services – at extending the time older people can live in their home environment by increasing their autonomy and assisting them in carrying out activities of daily living.

Project Objectives

The project AAL itself prepared the above mentionned funding programme as a so-called Article 169 initiative - refering to the respective article of the European treaty. This article allows the EC to participate in the AAL programme which, however, remains a member state driven initiative in the first place. Before this becomes true, a co-decision process is required to get both, the approval of the Council and the European Parliament. This procedure officially stared on 14 June 2007 - with the adoption of a European Action Plan for "Ageing Well in the Information Society" by the Commission. Since 2008 the AAL JP (Ambient Assisted Living Joint Programme) is implemented.

More Informationen on the AAL JP can be found at  http://www.aal-europe.eu/ 

An information folder can be found here: AAL-flyer

Project partners

VDI/VDE Innovation + Technik GmbH, Germany; Interuniversity MicroElectronics Centre, Belgium; National Technology Agency, Finland; Vienna University of Technology, Austria; Special Materials for Advanced Technologies II, Italy; Ministry of Economy, Finance and Industry, France; Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Germany; Austrian Ministry of Transport, Innovation and Technology, Austria; TEMAS AG Technology and Management Services, Switzerland

Disclaimer

AAL was funded as a Specific Support Action project under the IST priority within the 6th European Framework Programme. The project duration was from 1 September 2004 to 31 December 2006.