Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on Promoting solidarity between the generations COM(2007) 244 final
Date: 2007-12-13
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: European social policy, Structural Funds, employment policy, equal treatment, family policy, family solidarity, population ageing

C 120/66

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

16.5.2008

Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the ‘Communication from the
the European Economic and Social
Commission to the European Parliament,

the Council,

Committee and the Committee of the Regions on Promoting solidarity between the generations’

COM(2007) 244 final

(2008/C 120/16)

On 20 June 2007 the European Commission decided to consult the European Economic and Social
Committee, under Article 262 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the

Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social
Committee and the Committee of the Regions on Promoting solidarity between the generations.

The Section for Employment, Social Affairs and Citizenship, which was responsible for preparing the
Committee's work on the subject, adopted its opinion on 14 November 2007. The rapporteur was
Mr Jahier.

At its 440th plenary session, held on 13 December 2007, the European Economic and Social Committee
adopted the following opinion by 106 votes to 21 with 28 abstentions.

1. Background

The principle of solidarity between the generations is one
1.1
of the structural keys to the European social model. Owing to
demographic imbalances,
it must be reinforced through new
commitments and solutions, striking a new financial equili-
brium. Therefore,
solidarity
between the generations, an active approach must be taken by
the public authorities, at various levels, and all the social players
must be involved in guaranteeing high-quality social services of
general interest for families, young people and all those unable
to support themselves, together with lasting pension and social
security systems.

to maintain this principle of

In connection with these issues, particularly the reconci-
1.2
liation of working and family life,
the promotion of equal
opportunities and of employment (especially for women), the
EESC recently stated its position in a series of opinions (1), the
recommendations of which are fully reiterated in the analyses
and proposals made herein.

Although the Commission communication is entitled
1.3
Promoting solidarity between the generations, it concentrates on
the family, including in relation to the new Alliance for Families,
recently established by the European Council. The amount of
activity currently being witnessed at Community level amounts
to an important renewal of interest and action in the area of the
family after a long break. It is also — as the Commission's
Communication itself states — ‘the first stage in a European
response to the challenges laid down by demographic change’.
For this reason, the opinion concentrates on these issues.

(1) See, above all: EESC opinion of 16 December 2004 on Relations
between the generations (rapporteur: Mr Bloch-Lainé) (OJ C 157 of
28.6.2005); EESC opinion of 14 March 2007 on The family and demo-
graphic change (rapporteur: Mr Buffetaut) (OJ C 161 of 13.7.2007);
EESC opinion of 14 March 2007 on The economic and budgetary
impact of ageing populations (rapporteur: Ms Florio) (OJ C 161 of
13.7.2007); EESC opinion of July 2007 on The role of the social part-
ners in reconciling working,
family and private life (rapporteur:
Mr Clever).

In 1983, the European Parliament passed a resolution on
1.4
European family policy which gave the policy visibility at
European level for the first time and, above all, paved the way
for the creation of a budget heading the following year for
promoting pro-family activities.

1.5
1989 saw the first meeting of the Council of family
affairs ministers, which adopted some important measures on
proposals from the European Commission. Thus the Commis-
sion itself was asked to set up a European Observatory on the
Social Situation, Demography and Family, now the European
Observatory on Demography and the Social Situation (SSO),
and a high-level group of government experts on the family.
Finally, the Commission created an Interservices Group on the
family dimension of various Community policies. On this occa-
sion the Council also opted for institutionalising contacts with
family organisations and with the European Parliament's Inter-
group on Family and Protection of Childhood.

1.6
In 1994, 1999 and 2004, the Parliament passed new
resolutions, while the cross-party group itself was set up in
1988.

1.7
However, one of the consequences of a crisis in 1998
regarding budget headings and their legal basis was to put an
end to the heading allocated for supporting families.

1.8
the
The present Communication is the outcome of
Commission's thinking on demographics which began with the
2005 Green Paper on demographic challenges (2) and continued
future of
with the Communication entitled The demographic
Europe — from challenge to opportunity (3). It is also part of a
wider institutional dynamic launched by the German Presidency

(2) COM(2005) 94 final.
(3) COM(2006) 571 final, examined by the Committee in an exploratory
opinion of 14 March 2007 on The family and demographic change,
requested by the German Presidency (rapporteur: Mr Buffetaut)
(OJ C 161 of 13.7.2007).

16.5.2008

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 120/67

with the conclusions of
the Spring European Council and
ending with those of the Council of Ministers on the Alliance
for Families on 30 May 2007 and reprised in the Conclusions
of the European Council of 21-22 June 2007.

The Communication points out that Europe has essen-
1.9
tially three types of intervention to support the family: compen-
sation of direct and indirect costs relating to the family; support
services for parents in the form of care and education of chil-
dren and those in need of care, and adapting employment and
working times as well as conditions and access to social services
of general interest at local level. These aspects have evolved in
very different ways in the various Member States depending on
political choices and the goals these entail. While the Commis-
it
sion has difficulty identifying the most effective policies,
(the
nevertheless highlights
Scandinavian countries) have been successful
in finding a
mixture of policies promoting reconciliation of work and family
life and gender equality, so as to encourage both higher birth
rates and a sustained level of female employment.

some countries

the way that

Although family policies are, strictly speaking, a matter
1.10
entirely for the Member States, the Commission points out that
the European Union has always sought in its policymaking to
take account of
its
members. Moreover, the balance between family and working
life is one of the key planks of Community employment policies
as part of the Lisbon Strategy.

the family and the quality of

life of

1.11
The Commission's Communication goes on to set out
the nature of the European Alliance for Families and the Com-
munity action geared to supporting it. Particularly important
elements of this are a high-level group of government experts
on demographic issues, the establishment of European as well as
national, regional and local forums and networks, the creation
under the auspices of the European Foundation for the Improve-
ment of Living and Working Conditions of an observatory on
best practices, and a series of research tools focused particularly
on the 7th Framework Programme. Finally, the Commission
intends to mobilise the resources of the European Structural
Funds to support equal opportunities and the balance between
family and working life.

2. Remarks and challenges

2.1.1
There is no doubt that the question of inter-genera-
tional solidarity is a very broad and involved one and is in turn
part of a more complex set of challenges posed by various
social, economic and international changes underway, among
them population ageing, which will have a substantial impact

In its Communication,

on the lives of Europe's citizens in the future, especially on
working and social conditions.
the
Commission notes that the Lisbon strategy provides the basis
on which family policy can be modernised by promoting equal
opportunities and above all by improving the reconciliation of
work and family and private life, which increases women's parti-
cipation in the labour market. This reconciliation is also high-
lighted in the integrated guidelines
for growth and jobs,
according to which employment policy should be tailored to the
circumstances of family life and changes in those circumstances
during different periods of life. The open coordination method,
which affects social protection and social integration, focuses on
improving the situation of poor children and their families,
supporting long-term care of dependants and modernising
pension systems.

The meeting of generations that

2.1.2
is played out and
develops within the family is an enormous challenge from
which Europe is not exempt. The family is the natural forum for
solidarity between the genders and through the life cycle. Social
change has resulted in the emergence of a wide range of
different family structures. When designing measures, account
must be taken of all the different family situations, with due
respect for subsidiarity and national legislations (4).

2.1.3
The most recent reports on the socio-demographic
situation tell us that in several countries the number of family
units is growing, while their size is dropping. At the same time,
the structure of families is changing far more rapidly than was
once the case due to the fall in the number of marriages (down
from 8 per thousand inhabitants in the 1960s to 5,1 per thou-
sand in 1999), the higher age at which they are contracted, the
increase in separations and divorces, the increase in the number
of
those who live alone and the increase in children born
outside of wedlock. On this last point, the number of children
in the EU living with only one parent has risen by 50 % since
1983 and today stands at 13 % (with a peak of 25 % in the
United Kingdom) (5). An increasing number of children live in
blended families, which have several grandparents and siblings
from former families. Adoption of children from outside Europe
is increasing, and new family cultures have appeared as a result
of immigration.

2.1.4
The fertility rate in Europe is now around 1.45 children
per woman and hence well below that required to replenish the
population.
It is lowest in the Mediterranean countries. The
decline in birth rates is an almost universal phenomenon within
the European Union and amounts to more than 45 % since the
1960s.

(4) See the EESC opinion of 31.1.2006 on the ‘Green paper on applicable
law and jurisdiction in divorce matters’, rapporteur: Mr Retureau
(OJ C 24, 31.1.2006), where it is stated that ‘the Green Paper (wisely)
does not propose to harmonise substantive law.’

(5) Eurostat, Population in Europe, 2005. Although the presence of one
parent families varies widely among EU Member States (below average
in Italy, above in Sweden), composition by sex is almost identical in all
countries (with a clear prevalence of women), with the sole exception
of Sweden, where 26 % of lone parents are men.

C 120/68

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

16.5.2008

2.1.5
As a result, our societies have ever fewer young people
and children and ever more pensioners and older people gener-
ally. In 1950, 40 % of the population of the EU-25 were under
25. In 2000, the figure was down to 30 % and in 2025 it will
fall to 25 %. By contrast, in 1950 only one person in ten was
older than 65, while in 2000 it was already one in six and in
2025 it will be close to one in four. These figures are indicative
of profound changes in the structure of consumption,
in
housing and care needs, in social behaviour and in the actual
priorities of public policies.

2.1.6
Of course, Europe's various forms of social security,
working conditions and medical advances mean that most older
people can count on a substantially longer life and a relatively
comfortable income. Nevertheless, serious problems of poverty
affect at least a sixth of women over 65 and in general around a
quarter of the elderly living alone (6). Poverty and exclusion
among elderly women is usually the result of their having a
weak or non-existent employment history. Obviously, this situa-
tion becomes graver for those over seventy and eighty, creating
an increasingly unsustainable burden on families, in so far as
the social security and care system is unable to provide adequate
services.

According to Eurobarometer (7), 97 % of Europeans view
2.2
the family to be one of the most important things in their lives,
coming immediately after health. This favourable view becomes
the
even more positive when Europeans are asked about
future (8). The importance of the family is evident when help is
needed: 70 % say they turn to their partner, while 25 % turn to
another family member, notably in cases of illness (88 %) and
need of advice (78 %) or money (68 %).

urban areas, a phenomenon also aggravated by migratory move-
ments, which tend to be greater in cities where there is a
demand for a larger work force.

The percentage of the European population over the age
2.4
of sixty-five rose to 17,2 % in 2005 (EU-15). Due to greater life
expectancy, women make up the larger part of the growing
contingent of the elderly and account in all European countries
for more than 50 % of those over sixty-five.

As far as poverty is concerned, around 72 million people
2.5
in the EU-25 (i.e. 15 %) are directly affected and 26 million are
teetering on the poverty threshold (9). Of
these, around
12 million are older persons; 9 % of the EU population have
lived in a low-income family for two out of the last three years
of their lives; families with several children are at particular risk
of poverty. Around 20 % of Europe's 94 million young people
under 18 are exposed to the risk of poverty and in the last three
decades the child poverty rate has risen in all EU countries and
now surpasses that for the population as a whole, with particu-
larly serious peaks for single-parent families, families that experi-
ence long-term unemployment or underemployment, and large
families. The children of poor families suffer hardship, are
gravely disadvantaged, have more health problems and do less
well at school, with obvious social, economic and political costs
for the future. Such lack of concern for children's rights can
cultivate juvenile delinquency and the exploitation and traf-
ficking of children.

3. General comments

2.3
Europe's families are increasingly living on the outskirts
of large cities. However, the pattern varies greatly depending on
age: the very elderly and the young are more attached to living
in big cities, while families with children and people of retire-
ment age tend to relocate to small centres. The difference of
location depending on age tends to create new problems in
terms of managing services and of social cohesion in large

(6) Poverty is calculated here in relation to the income levels of each
Member States, so that it appears lower in some of the new Member
States (for example, only 6 % in Poland), while markedly higher in
others, such as Ireland (44 %), Greece (33 %), Portugal (30 %), Belgium
(26 %) and the UK (24 %). Europe's Social Reality, BEPA consultation
document, March 2007.

(7) Eurobarometer 273, ‘European social reality’, February 2007.
(8) See on this issue the book Valori a confronto, ed. R. Gubert and G. Pollini,
Milan 2006, which draws on research data of the European Values
Study, which involved 40 000 people in 33 European countries
(EU and certain countries of the Council of Europe) and was carried out
by a number of the continent's universities. ‘The demographic future of
Europe’, a research project carried out by the Robert Bosch Foundation
and the German Federal Institute for Population Research, which inter-
viewed 34 000 people in 14 European countries, confirms the strong
attachment Europeans have to the family.

3.1
Despite the above, the European institutions have so far
found it very difficult to see the family as a social structure that
plays an essential role in present-day society and for this reason
merits greater interest from the Community.

Although there is no shortage of official declarations
3.2
from the most disparate public bodies at
international and
European level ascribing to the family a crucial role in society,
in practical terms, Europe appears as yet not to have included
the family in its priorities, which rest essentially on two pillars:
the forces of the free market and competition, on the one hand,

(9) Calculated on the basis of a poverty threshold of 60 % of average
income. ‘The social situation in the European Union 2004’ and Eurostat
2003. See also the latest, 2005-2006, edition of ‘The social situation in
the European Union’, published by the Commission in spring 2007,
which dealt with the balance between generations in an ageing Europe.

16.5.2008

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 120/69

and equality of opportunity for all citizens, on the other. The
reference to these two pillars is evident, for example, within the
Lisbon Strategy and the Social Agenda 2005-2010.

3.3
Generally speaking, the European Commission continues
to address the issue of the family from the vantage of social
policy, employment and equal opportunities (10). As a rule,
however,
in many documents dealing with matters such as
young people, children's rights, education issues and so on, the
actual notion of
the family almost never appears and the
approach focuses essentially on individual rights or on the indi-
vidual as an economic actor. Rarely is he viewed in terms of his
relationships, and first and foremost as part of a family and of a
system of social relationships that centres upon the family.
However, the family continues to play an important role in
sustaining a person's growth, overseeing his integration in
society and work and, very often, taking upon itself the burden
of illness and of any brief or sustained period of disability and
reliance on others. The social services provided by the state or
the private or social market remain essential, especially in
promoting reconciliation of work and family life, preventing
family poverty and unemployment, and supporting and helping
families afflicted by illness,
substance abuse, child-rearing
problems and domestic violence. These services are not enough
in themselves to adequately meet the emotional and psycholo-
gical needs of the individual, be it the person cared for or the
carer (11).

agenda for lending substance to the proposed Alliance for
Families. This is a constructive platform which takes on board a
number of the suggestions already formulated by the EESC and
more generally in the debate in recent years to respond to
demographic challenges, support cooperation and partnership
between various players, promote a better response to the needs
of families looking after children and other dependents, improve
reconciliation of work with both family and private life —
including with a substantial investment in quality services for
children and for families — and so help to establish a new and
more robust solidarity between the generations.

3.7
The deplorable fact remains, however, that the lack of
support from some Member States has made it impossible to
apply the open coordination method to this area, which would
have given the Alliance greater strategic and structural weight.
the Communication
The EESC recognises, nevertheless,
provides possible foundations on which to develop an organic
platform which does not prejudice the possibility of further
developments based on more explicit coordination.

that

3.4
However, the increasing calls from Europe's citizens for
attention to be paid to the family do appear to have received a
very positive response from the German EU presidency, which
proposed a grand alliance between the institutions in order to
promote coordinated policies to counterbalance the fall in births
and the increase in the number of older people. In the last two
years, in fact, there has been a fresh start in all the Union's insti-
tutions which is more systematic, strategic and forward-looking
and thus offers greater potential.

3.8
Vigilance will be required, then, to ensure that after the
crucial impetus given by the German Presidency, this new work
does not get sidelined. As part of the new and increasingly
intense interest of various European bodies in social questions
and the wellbeing of citizens, the family is emerging as a new
focus of attention, thought and action. These initial and diffident
openings must be progressively enhanced and extended with a
detailed work plan to culminate in the Third European Demo-
graphic Forum, scheduled for 2010.

First and foremost, there are the important provisions of
3.5
the Charter of Fundamental Rights of
the European Union
regarding the family (12), though it is regrettable that the revision
of
include an explicit reference to
‘supporting family life’ in Article 3 on the aims of the European
Union.

the EU Treaties did not

the
The EESC expresses its profound appreciation of
3.6
Commission's Communication, which sets out a practical

(10) Family issues are allocated to DG Employment, Social Affairs and
Equal Opportunities. Individual documents can be found on the
website of the European Alliance for Families: http://ec.europa.eu/
employment_social/families/index_en.html. It is regrettable, however,
that it is not possible to access all the extensive work carried out for
more than a decade before 2000 by the European Observatory on the
Social Situation, Demography and Family (established in 1989).

(11) Susy Giullari and Jane Lewis, ‘The Adult Worker Model Family, Gender
Equality and Care’; Social Policy and Development Programme Paper
Number 19, United Nations Research Institute for Social Develop-
ment, April 2005.

(12) The articles concerned are: 7, 9, 14, 24-3, 33 and 34.

3.9 More generally, the important thing is to give tangible
recognition to the practical and substantial contribution that
families continue to make to our societies and to the care of
people at every stage of their life. In this light account should
also be taken of the social and economic utility and of the
possible and untenable increase in costs, especially for welfare
services, if the family is not sufficiently supported and encour-
aged in performing its role.

3.10
In this connection, a significant role is already being
played by social partners at various levels. As part of their first
2003-2006 work programme, the social partners presented a
raft of equal opportunities measures geared particularly to
reconciling family and work and all
this entails. Their
second programme, for the period 2006-2008, is based on a

that

C 120/70

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

16.5.2008

wide-ranging analysis of the principal challenges for the labour
market (13). The EESC encourages the social partners to continue
in this direction.

3.11
But more and more consideration should also be given
to the structural dimension of the role of creating and renewing
the social and relationship capital which is increasingly recog-
nised as indispensable to the wellbeing of the individual and of
society as a whole. There is no doubt that time devoted to chil-
dren and the family is time taken away from the career.
However, it is also an investment in the care and education of
people
recognised and encouraged: by
considering adding to existing measures (benefit payments, tax
breaks, parental leave, etc.) some form of recognition in terms
of pension contributions for time spent taking care of those
members of the household who need help (14). This would thus
prevent solidarity between the generations storing up a burden
for the future (in terms of insufficient pensions and consequent
greater
fall predominantly on
women.

risk of poverty) which will

should be

that

3.12
For similar reasons, another factor to be taken into
account is the giving of unremunerated time, which is hard to
quantify and is therefore often unnoticeable, even though it
profoundly impinges on the quality of community life, which is
increasingly sought after and valued by most people.

3.13
This basic structural dimension of people, which creates
and generates the social fabric, must be given more explicit
social recognition,
in tandem with better development and
alignment of all those other conditions of environment and
services that can help people to realise the aspiration to start a
family, to have the desired number of children and to be able to
care for one's loved ones with equanimity.

4. Specific comments

The Commission's Communication itself sets out some
4.1
helpful and detailed ways forward in terms of both goals and
initial steps (such as the establishment of a high-level group of
government experts on demographic questions). The EESC
supports these approaches, encourages their elaboration in full
and hopes they will be constantly given the appropriate publi-
city and their progress will be widely reported in order to
secure the greatest possible participation in the process.

(13) In July 2007 Europe's social partners sent a letter to Commissioner
Špidla in which they expressed their willingness to clarify the directive
on family leave and the situation regarding reconciliation of work and
family life in the EU. To this end organisations have set up a joint
working group which is to submit a report to the EU social affairs
summit to be held in March 2008.

(14) See, for example, the new measures established in Finland, where
the social partners negotiated a major reform of the pension system
in 2003, which was passed by Parliament in 2004 and brought into
effect in 2005. For more information, see
www.tyoelake.fi (pages in English).

4.2
Active involvement of local and regional actors is parti-
cularly important, given the ever more important and central
role these institutions play in the provision of social services
and delivering innovation. In this context, it seems worthwhile
not only to promote the creation of regional and local forums,
but also to call upon the Commission to play an active role, in
coordination with interested parties,
and
supporting, a detailed plan for forums and initiatives in all
in the
Member States to guarantee maximum involvement
process.

in preparing,

4.3
The EESC believes that the creation of an observatory on
best family policy practices within the European Foundation for
the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions should be
supported, and recommends that this be achieved through close
consultation of civil society players — in particular family asso-
ciations — at various points during the process, both in identi-
fying these best practices and in appropriate opportunities for
comparing and reflecting.

4.4
Vigilance will then be required to ensure that the prime
focus of this observatory is not limited solely to family issues
involving work, but that it is also directed towards the compila-
tion of a detailed survey on the needs of the family and the
generations and on measures and funds available for safe-
guarding and promoting the development of new forms of soli-
darity between the generations. This would help to map out the
current
infrastructures of social citizenship in the Member
States (15).

4.5
On the research front,
following specific areas for work:

the EESC also proposes the

— the role and impact of fiscal policies (regarding both benefit
payments and tax allowances) of the various EU countries in
supporting or penalising family life, especially concerning
children (from birth to care to education) and adults being
cared for by families, reconciliation of work and family life
and employment of women, as well as a fairer division of
responsibilities between men and women;

— policies and actions to promote active ageing: given the ever
increasing gap between retirement age and dependency due
to illness or advanced age, more initiatives and actions are
needed to get older people committed to and involved in
social and cultural activities to benefit their own community,
since this increases the quality of the social capital
in its
entirety;

(15) See EESC opinion on the Social Policy Agenda (rapporteur: Mr Jahier)

of 10 December 2003, OJ C 80 of 30.3.2004.

16.5.2008

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 120/71

— a life-cycle prognosis to investigate the possibility of repla-
cing the current longitudinal view of average life cycles (16)
with an alternative, more flexible, approach in which invest-
ment in the family, career-breaks to look after children or
others who need care or to follow courses is not seen as the
happy exception or as an inevitable detriment to career,
especially for women, but instead progressively becomes a
normal and ordinary condition for most men and women
who so desire (17).

— At

the same time, research should take account of
the
abovementioned steep rise in the number of one-parent
families that could lead to more people being alone in their
old age and finding it very difficult to meet their financial
commitments; in such cases, a more flexible approach to the
life cycle could seriously affect
living.
Research should therefore also look into measures that
could be taken to ensure that pension levels are sufficient to
guarantee a decent standard of
living for all, while also
exploring the individualisation of pension rights between
the members of the family.

their standard of

help elderly people to live independently in their own home
and also a challenge in terms of the isolation of individuals
and families which only becomes clear when a tragedy
occurs.

from the Commission (on 19 July 2006)

The proposal recently submitted by a broad cartel of
4.7
European-level
family organisations to the various European
institutions would seem particularly worthy of attention (19). It
is a call for a revision of VAT rates on baby products, beginning
with nappies. There has already been a definite political commit-
ment
to table a
proposal to revise the sixth VAT directive, especially Annex H of
Directive 2006/112/EC, which lists the products and services to
which Member States are authorised to apply, at their discretion,
a reduced rate no lower than 5 % (20). The cost of these articles
has a major impact on family budgets throughout Europe. The
EESC supports this proposal, which could be a tangible step
forward and a matter on which the European Union can encou-
rage the Member States to give substantial economic support to
families.

— The social impact and costs of child poverty (including child
trafficking and crime against children), support provided to
families in coping with unemployment,
illness, substance
abuse, mental health problems, domestic violence and child-
rearing problems, and obstacles to young people becoming
independent and starting a family for both sexes.

4.6
There are two further areas that have been little explored
and which the EESC believes need greater and more careful
attention from the Commission as part of the present strategy:

— in the main, housing policies are still conceived within a life
cycle in which the part devoted to work was absolutely
predominant and which no longer seems to correspond to
the present
reality (18). This is especially true of social
housing, be it promoting family crèches or the right of
those needing care to live at home and have a real possibility
of doing so;

— the situation of disabled or highly dependent people, often
living in their own or the family home, is a challenge for the
introduction of the type of social services and products that

(16) A cycle which today supposes an absolutely rigid sequence of growing
up, education and difficult and drawn-out integration into the world of
work, with inevitable consequences on family time and possible birth
rates, and ending in late adult life with having to face the double
burden of supporting children and looking after one's own parents.
(17) On this issue, the lines of research envisaged by the Dublin foundation

are to be strenuously encouraged and broadened.

(18) See also EESC opinion on Housing and regional policy (rapporteur:
Mr Grasso, co-rapporteur: Ms Prud'homme) (OJ C 161, 13.7.2007).

4.8

Finally, two specific steps should be mentioned:

— the need to establish a more precise family mainstreaming
of the various EU policies to systematically cover both the
impact on families of individual measures applied and the
family dimension within the various sectors of the Union's
social and economic action. In this connection, the EESC
thinks the Commission should relaunch the Interservices
group created in 1989 but subsequently abandoned, which
would make it easier to coordinate its action in this area;

— the need for systematic consultation of Europe's citizens,
and especially family associations and social partners, to
enable better on-going assessment of measures taken, more
efficient dissemination of information and support for this
process either financially or via the establishment of appro-
priate procedures and forums. The EESC itself could prove
to be an excellent institution to give structural stability to
this task.

(19) On 15 May this year, International Day of the Family, the European
Large Families Confederation (ELFAC), together with many other
organisations, including COFACE, launched an appeal to the heads
of institutions entitled ‘Need for reduced VAT on essential items for
child raising’. For further information and documents, see
www.elfac.org.

(20) Some Member States already apply a reduced VAT rate to nappies, but
it is felt that a more far-reaching decision should be taken which
includes the whole gamut of products for babies, from food to
clothing, which continue to be taxed at the highest rate.

C 120/72

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

16.5.2008

5. Conclusions

5.1 While the scale of the demographic challenge is acknowl-
edged, the issue of solidarity between the generations should
not be focused on, and therefore limited to, this alone, but must
increasingly be treated as a priority problem of the coming
years — involving horizontal centres of responsibility (institu-
tions, social partners, civil society organisations, etc.) and longi-
tudinal ones (young people, old people, etc.) — as these are
crucial for Europe's economic, social and cultural development
and for the renewal of the very social compact on which our
democracies stand.

In fact, over the years, the cultures of solidarity which have char-
acterised Europe's development so far, have afforded original
and sustainable solutions which have proved crucial for human,
social and economic progress: from national welfare systems to

the relationship between social rights and obligations, from the
development of citizenship rights to the intersection and conti-
nuity of responsibility between generations in the family.

5.2
As the French writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry put it, it
is important not merely to foresee the future, but to bring it
about. What is needed, therefore, is to act to give every citizen a
new faith in the future and especially in the family and, above
all, the young. In this way, they will no longer be obliged to deal
with a social environment whose resources, services and time
are so unfavourable that they require the undue postponement
of personal family plans and having the desired number of chil-
dren. Instead, they will experience the sturdiness of a renewed
alliance of solidarity between generations and will be empow-
ered to make their own contribution to it, and thus meet the
challenges of our times.

Brussels, 13 December 2007.

The President

of the European Economic and Social Committee

Dimitris DIMITRIADIS

APPENDIX

to the Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee

Rejected amendments

The following amendment, which received at least a quarter of the votes cast, was rejected during the discussion
(Rule 54(3) of the Rules of Procedure):

Point 4.3

Amend as follows:

‘The EESC believes that the creation of an observatory on best family policy practices within the European Foundation for the
Improvement of Living and Working Conditions should be supported, and recommends that this be achieved through close consul-
tation of civil society players — in particular family associations — at various points during the process, both in identifying these
best practices and in appropriate opportunities for comparing and reflecting. The EESC calls on the Commission, the European
Parliament and the Council to take the necessary steps for the establishment of the family observatory at the Dublin Foundation
and to provide the necessary financial means for this purpose.’

Voting:

For: 63 Against: 67 Abstentions: 22