Brussels, 21 January 2022
Dear Mr. President,
Following your speech at the European Parliament on the occasion of the start of the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union, we would like to express our concerns about some contradictions in your statement.
While on the one hand you speak of a “rule of law that is existential for our Europe“, on the other hand you propose to enshrine in the Charter of Fundamental Rights a practice that is illegal in several EU Member States.
Similarly, you rightly point out that this Charter has enshrined “the abolition of the death penalty throughout the Union“, yet you wish to recognise as a fundamental right a practice that is considered by many citizens a fatal act of violence against our most vulnerable members.
The recognition of a so-called “right to abortion” would, moreover, be in flagrant contradiction to the Charter itself, which enshrines in its first two articles the inviolability of human dignity and the right to life.
Dear Mr. President,
We are expressing our concerned together with all those who, in accordance with science, believe that human life begins at conception.
In 1948, Denis de Rougemont stated that “the supreme conquest of Europe is called the dignity of man and its true form is in freedom“. Should we fear that limits will be imposed on the freedom to take responsibility for new life, by accompanying mothers and families in difficulty?
As you said in your statement, democracy, progress, and peace are all “under threat”. The first and greatest threat is the killing of the unborn. If, as you said, democracy was born in Europe and has been given new lives over the last seventy years, do we not owe the same to the children who will participate in and make that democracy possible?
Dear Mr. President,
We sincerely invite you not to use this Semester for political and ideological purposes. We invite you to work for the common good of our peoples, our families, and our children, who are the future of Europe. Our Federation, together with all persons of good will, is at the service of the institutions to work together constructively, respecting the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality. If these common touchstones are missing, the words dearest to you—such as “values” and “democracy”—will be emptied of their meaning.
On the contrary, our societies deserve concrete, supportive, and effective European policies, based on the real needs of families. Such policies are necessary to face the triple challenge of the digital, environmental and demographic transitions.
Please accept, Mr President, the expression of our highest consideration.
Vincenzo Bassi, President
Antoine Renard, Honorary President
