Brussels, 15th May 2011
Considering family life as a primary criterion when designing working conditions can help sustain the democratic process and contribute to the social cohesion.
Promoting working conditions that are compatible with family life and putting family first in the framework of national policies. Those are the points to which the European Federation of Catholic Family Associations (FAFCE) wishes to draw the attention of the European governments at the occasion of the International Day of the Family.
The family is entitled to protection by society and the State, a right stated by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that defines the family as the natural and fundamental group unit of society (art. 16.1).
Harsh living conditions and unbalanced working conditions are one of the main factors that influence the decision to found a family or not, in particular for women.
This is why FAFCE considers it urgent to undertake the necessary steps that would improve the above dimensions. According to the principle of subsidiarity, to which FAFCE is particularly attached, each EU Member State has the competency of finding the best solutions to address the needs at its national level by means of proximity. Therefore FAFCE wishes to draw the attention of the EU Member State governments to the declaration which was signed on the 1st of April 2011 by the EU Trio Presidency ‐ Spain, Belgium, Hungary – and Poland which is the next country to hold the Presidency. The declaration invites all relevant actors to make further progress both at European and Member States level in order to achieve better reconciliation of work, family and private life.
