Brussels, 25th April 2025
On Thursday 24th April, FAFCE president Vincenzo Bassi was invited to speak on “Intergenerational solidarity and demography policies of the EU” at the European Parliament Intergroup on Demography.
The president of FAFCE was kindly invited by the three co-chairs of the Intergroup : Mrs. Romana Tomc (EPP), Mr. Paolo Inselvini (ECR) and Mr. Vasile Dîncu (S&D).
In his welcome speech, MEP Paolo Inselvini reminded the audience that the aim of an Intergroup is to conduct a dialogue with associations from the civil society and that the specific goal of this Intergroup is to raise awarness about demographic challenges.
Before begining to speak, Mr. Bassi paid tribute to the late Pope Francis, whose heritage he described as “huge“. Vincenzo Bassi added that “The encyclical Laudato Si is the most important, as it affirms that no sustainable development is possible without solidarity between generations. So this encyclical is about consumerism.”
In his speech, FAFCE president emphasis on the fact that “There is no sustainable development without intergenerational balance. We need a new definition of demographic policies because there are currently considered as costs. This is a problem, as demographic expenditures are then as a burden on the deficit.”
Speaking about economic growth, Vincenzo Bassi said : “As return on investment, wan can have an economic growth and not only a social growth. But there is an inconsistency between what we want for the future and the accounting rules. We do not need to change tax rules, it is not necessary.” But he insisted on the political role played by MEPs : “This intergroup should convince the EU institutions to change the practics, not the rules. Last year, the Council made a very good recommendation to develop the social economy; to develop companies that serves the communities. Through social economy, we can reach two goals : to provide services that States cannot provide anymore and to avoid depopulation of rural areas.”
Giving the exemples of rural exodus and depopulated regions, Vincenzo Bassi explained that “Many families goes to towns because there are services there.” As a result of this rural exodus, loneliness of newly arrivant in urban centers is becoming a concerning challenge : “To defeat the challenge of loneliness, you need networks of families. But to tackle lack of infrastructures for families, we need services. Social entreprises, as suggested in the framework of the EU Council, are respectful of european competences.” But he also dismissed the simple idea of going back to the old ages : “We are living in a modern age and we cannot recreate the villages. But we can re-create the quality of relationships through family networks“. Finally Mr. Bassi recalled the beauty of having a child : “We need to recover the education inside the family, because families have the first responsability for demography. […] What is learned inside the family cannot be learned elswhere. So we need families as it is a prototype of entreprenalism, service and gratuity !”
As a synthesis, MEP Romana Tomc declared that “We are jumping from one crisis to another. But demography is coming slowly above all other crisis.” She added “We need more children to be more cometitive, but we don’t want children just because of competitiveness but because we love them !”
The speech of FAFCE president Vincenzo Bassi was followed by a session of Q&A by attending MEPs from the Demography Intergroup and by gests. The questions covered various topics such as the current culture about family, the role of migration or the educational challenges.
FAFCE particularly thanks the co-chairs of the Demography Intergroup, Mrs. Romana Tomc (EPP), Mr. Paolo Inselvini (ECR) and Mr. Vasile Dîncu (S&D) for hosting this meeting !
