The MEP and Chairwoman of the Intergroup on Family and Protection of Childhood, Marie Panayotopoulos-Cassiotou, chaired a seminar on "The Future of Families in Europe" on Wednesday 28 March at the European Parliament in Brussels. This seminar, which gathered a large number of MEPs and NGOs included the participation of the President of the Organising Committee of the World Congress for Family, Katarzyna Mazela, as well as the ECOSOC rapporteur for the family, Stephane Buffetaut.
The meeting focused initially on the presentation of the 4th World Congress for Family which will take place in Warsaw on 11-13 May 2007 on the topic "The natural Family - Spring for Europe and for the World".
"To the demographic winter of Europe, we propose the spring of the natural family. Within the framework of the Congress, a series of initiatives will enable each participant to put his individual faculties to the service of the promotion of the natural family, in respect of our respective competences" underlined the President of the Congress' Organising Committee. The Parliamentary forum, which will be organised on the 11th of May 2007 under the Presidency of the Sejm, assisted by the European Forum for Human Rights and the Family, and with the participation of Panayotopoulos MEP, Zaborska MEP and Carlo Casini MEP, will be the highlight of the Congress.
The seminar, during which Mario Mauro, Ingo Friedrich, Carlo Casini, Anna Zaborska and Marie Panayotopoulos-Cassiotou intervened, enabled Buffetaut, the EESC's rapporteur, to present his opinion on "family and demographic changes". The text, which was elaborated on the request of the German Presidency of the EU, emphasizes that the fight against the damaging effects of climate change requires a broad political coordination on different levels (family, social, economic, environmental policies as well as gender equality policies) which could be implemented by the adoption of a European action plan. In addition, Buffetaut recommended the creation of a "European Family Pact" by the Council, the Parliament and the Commission which would reaffirm the Member States' will to implement family-friendly policies, allowing Europeans to have as many children as they desire. These policies should foster a family-friendly environment by setting a minimum base of public budgets for children and families, direct financial aid, tax adjustments and a sufficient child care facilities. Finally, Buffetaut stressed the necessity to establish a European register of good practices regarding family policies and he insisted on the need for assuring a constant and stable family policy by maintaining financial aid for children.
The resolution, which was adopted at the end of the seminar, recalls the importance of recognising and promoting the role of the family as the founding structure of society through which moral, cultural, spiritual and material values that are vital for intergenerational solidarity and economic and social cohesion are transmitted. The resolution also underlines the importance of family structures for the healthy development of children and underlines that the complementarities between men and women must also be a reality in family life. Finally the text stresses the socio-economic importance of services that are provided for children and the elderly within the family and asks for a better recognition of the qualifications acquired as well as for the provision of social rights, including pensions, for people who take up such responsibilities. It was reminded that in the absence of a binding legal instrument at EU level, article 12 of the European Convention on Human Rights should be respected in the implementation of EU policies.
The debate was followed by a joint press conference with Panayotopoulos-Cassiotou, Anna Zaborska, Stephane Buffetaut (European Economic and Social Committee), Katarzyna Mazela (President of the Organising Committee of the World Congress for Family), the European Foundation and Femina Europa.
For further information:
Maria Panayotopoulos-Cassiotou MEP, Tel: +32-2-2847447, Fax: +32-2-2849447
E-mail: marie.panayotopoulos-cassiotou@europarl.europa.eu
The meeting focused initially on the presentation of the 4th World Congress for Family which will take place in Warsaw on 11-13 May 2007 on the topic "The natural Family - Spring for Europe and for the World".
"To the demographic winter of Europe, we propose the spring of the natural family. Within the framework of the Congress, a series of initiatives will enable each participant to put his individual faculties to the service of the promotion of the natural family, in respect of our respective competences" underlined the President of the Congress' Organising Committee. The Parliamentary forum, which will be organised on the 11th of May 2007 under the Presidency of the Sejm, assisted by the European Forum for Human Rights and the Family, and with the participation of Panayotopoulos MEP, Zaborska MEP and Carlo Casini MEP, will be the highlight of the Congress.
The seminar, during which Mario Mauro, Ingo Friedrich, Carlo Casini, Anna Zaborska and Marie Panayotopoulos-Cassiotou intervened, enabled Buffetaut, the EESC's rapporteur, to present his opinion on "family and demographic changes". The text, which was elaborated on the request of the German Presidency of the EU, emphasizes that the fight against the damaging effects of climate change requires a broad political coordination on different levels (family, social, economic, environmental policies as well as gender equality policies) which could be implemented by the adoption of a European action plan. In addition, Buffetaut recommended the creation of a "European Family Pact" by the Council, the Parliament and the Commission which would reaffirm the Member States' will to implement family-friendly policies, allowing Europeans to have as many children as they desire. These policies should foster a family-friendly environment by setting a minimum base of public budgets for children and families, direct financial aid, tax adjustments and a sufficient child care facilities. Finally, Buffetaut stressed the necessity to establish a European register of good practices regarding family policies and he insisted on the need for assuring a constant and stable family policy by maintaining financial aid for children.
The resolution, which was adopted at the end of the seminar, recalls the importance of recognising and promoting the role of the family as the founding structure of society through which moral, cultural, spiritual and material values that are vital for intergenerational solidarity and economic and social cohesion are transmitted. The resolution also underlines the importance of family structures for the healthy development of children and underlines that the complementarities between men and women must also be a reality in family life. Finally the text stresses the socio-economic importance of services that are provided for children and the elderly within the family and asks for a better recognition of the qualifications acquired as well as for the provision of social rights, including pensions, for people who take up such responsibilities. It was reminded that in the absence of a binding legal instrument at EU level, article 12 of the European Convention on Human Rights should be respected in the implementation of EU policies.
The debate was followed by a joint press conference with Panayotopoulos-Cassiotou, Anna Zaborska, Stephane Buffetaut (European Economic and Social Committee), Katarzyna Mazela (President of the Organising Committee of the World Congress for Family), the European Foundation and Femina Europa.
For further information:
Maria Panayotopoulos-Cassiotou MEP, Tel: +32-2-2847447, Fax: +32-2-2849447
E-mail: marie.panayotopoulos-cassiotou@europarl.europa.eu
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