Here you will see news from Europe, from civil society, from research, highlighting emerging trends from local to international level relevant for families of today.
On the initiative of Minister Suzanne Raab, Austrian Minister for Women, Family, Integration and Media , a high level conference of European Ministers responsible for Family Affairs took place in Vienna on 13th June 2024, as part of the commemoration of the 30 anniversary of the International Year of the Family.
Ethnic segregation is a widespread and systematic practice in many European countries. These practices are illegal yet continue to shape the lives of children and families across Europe. Our rights to education, housing, and health, ostensibly enjoyed by us all, remain divided along ethnic lines. For many Roma, their enjoyment of these rights is severely limited, often with the tacit support of the state.
On 6-9th June 2024, Europeans voted to renew the European Parliament and new Members of European Parliament (MEP) will convene for the first time in Plenary mid-July in Strasbourg, France. While the European People’s Party (EPP), European Conservatives (ECR) and Identify and Democracy Group (ID) have seen an increase in seats, the Greens and Renew Europe have had significant losses. The Socialists have maintained around the same number of seats. The biggest increase has been for the non-aligned MEPs which are a heterogenous group, yet with most of them coming from the far right.
COFACE is part of the rEUsilience project which aims to understand how different families respond when they are faced with socio-economic shocks and major decisions regarding managing family life and securing a decent income. A key outcome of this project is a compendium of families’ risks, resources, and resilience which provides users with open-access data to understand the situation of families in Europe.
On 2-3rd May 2024 in Brussels, the Belgian presidency of the EU organise a conference entitled European Child Guarantee from engagement to reality. The event had a dual objective: firstly, to give key players the opportunity to analyse the work already completed and what remains to be done to achieve the objectives set, and secondly, to provide Child Guarantee coordinators with a platform to share their knowledge in the implementation of the European Child Guarantee.
On this 2024 International Day of Families and ahead of the European elections in June, COFACE is pleased to publish its assessment of the European Union’s work from 2019 to 2024 as well as its key demands to the EU for the 2024-2029 mandate. Both will be presented to friends of COFACE in Brussels during a Meet&Connect event in the presence of the Belgian Presidency of the EU, the occasion also to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the International Year of Families.
COFACE has the ambition to shape together a strong social Europe fit for families and foster a European society that is more inclusive, offers equal opportunities and brings everyone forward.
In preparation of the next European elections on 6-9th June 2024, here are ten specific actions we would like to see integrated in the programme of the European Union.
While social media are used for many purposes and from all ages, young people constitute a significant proportion of internet users. Unfortunately, as they engage in online activities they may enter dangerous situations such as cyberbullying, online sexual exploitation and other forms of cybercrimes. But what happens when the parents themselves expose their children to these dangers through actions such as sharing information about their children online under the veil of parenting?
The Covid-19 pandemic and the European energy crisis resulting from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have brought energy poverty to the forefront of social and political debate. EU policies have increasingly reflected this, but gender considerations remain overlooked.
