Brussels, 29 May 2020

“Only through intergenerational balance and solidarity can we hope that Europe will maintain a social and economic cohesion. If the “Next Generation EU” is to help build Europe’s future, then the opportunity to invest in the family to bring Europe out of the demographic imbalance should not be missed“. That is what Vincenzo Bassi, President of the Federation of Catholic Family Associations in Europe, stated on the use of the European Commission’s proposed “Next Generation EU” (previously called the Recovery Fund).

“Family-responsive policies are the first and most important policies for an integrated sustainable development. Moreover, during this period of pandemic, European citizens have expressed their fears, especially about the future of their children and the ability to keep their family commitments on a continuous basis. For this reason, rewarding parents and their children is the most concrete way to reward European citizens, who, thanks to their families, have proved to represent the best guarantee for the future of Europe. In this sense, the SURE instrument dedicated to mitigate the negative social impact of the coronavirus outbreak should also be allocated to policies that take into account the specific parental responsibility of the European workers: care allowances must be measured on the basis of the family commitments“, concluded Vincenzo Bassi.

Earlier this month, FAFCE welcomed the Exploratory opinion on “Demographic challenges in the EU in light of economic inequalities and development disparities” adopted by the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), which underlines that “family-oriented investments must be a priority as they lay the foundations for the future”.