ࡱ> 574#` bjbj5G5G ..W-W-% D 8 ,PDD"ffffff>@@@@@@$hdffdffyZZZ ff>Z>ZZZf8 p Z>0Z.ZZfhJZ<TfffddJfffPPP$t DPPPt D,  EUROPEAN FOUNDATION FOR STREET CHILDREN Brussels 26-27 June 2008 PRESENTATION OF THE INTERGROUP FAMILY AND PROTECTION OF CHILDHOOD President: Marie Panayotopoulos-Cassiotou, EEP-ED-EL The past few years have given rise to a European awakening on the crucial role that families play in the life of our societies. The Lisbon Strategy has set the objective for the EU to become the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world, capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion. However there cannot be social cohesion if the basic pillar of our society, the family, is not strengthened. One must not forget that families have to face increased burdens which affect their structure: the size of families is smaller and the number of children is decreasing: the Green Paper on Demography adopted by the European Commission in 2005, demonstrated that the desire for children of European citizens is higher than the percentage of children being born. It is estimated that between 2010 and 2030 there will be a reduction of 20 million workers in the EU. "Family" issues are not within the EU's competence. However, most EU policies have a more or less important impact on families' living conditions and therefore the family dimension must always be bared in mind during the drafting of Community legislation. The need to create a forum of discussion on the problems of family and childhood, as a consequence of the fact that European Community treaties do not include a family dimension, pushed some MEPs to create in 1987 the Intergroup family and protection of childhood which was initially chaired by Mr Pierre Lataillade and whose chairmanship was taken over by Mrs Marie Therese Hermange during the last legislature. The intergroup's objective is not to provide solutions to the various problems affecting families but to consolidate existing legislation and encourage the adoption of effective measures for families in order to achieve higher social cohesion. It aims to gather MEPs from all political groups who are convinced of the need to promote and defend family and children's rights and who are working in favour of the integration of the family dimension in all EU policies. The intergroup just has an informative role and is not meant to interfere with the work of parliamentary committees. It consists of an informal structure enabling debates on important questions related to the family and the child and informing MEPs on the actions that should be pursued. Since its re-establishment in January 2005 and the election of Mrs Panayotopoulos as President, the Intergroup has dealt with various topics relating to the family and the child among which: intergenerational solidarity and demography, families and poverty, families and migration, lone parent families, equal opportunities for all and large families, the conciliation of family and professional life, the exploitation of children, the European Youth Pact, the EU strategy on the rights of the child, children and new technologies. On the 12th of November 2007, the Written Declaration 64/2007 on the "dys"crimination and social exclusion affecting children with "dys"abilities which was promoted by the Family Intergroup, gathered 432 signatures and was therefore adopted by the European Parliament and sent to the European Institutions and the Member States. The Written Declaration calls for a better recognition of the social and educational problems affecting children with "dys"abilities by increasing research and the collection of statistics at EU and national level, adapting the educational systems to the needs of these children and ensuring early diagnosis as well as intensive and multidisciplinary treatment of such "dys"abilities. The Intergroup also actively supports the call to the Commission and the Member States launched by several Family NGOs on the 15th of May 2007 in the EP for a reduced VAT rate on essential items for child raising (nappies, clothes, shoes etc). As President of the Intergroup Family and Protection of Childhood, Mrs Panayotopoulos has raised this issue several times with the Commission, including with Commissioner Kovacs. The Intergroup collaborates very closely with the European Commission and other European Organizations such as the Council of Europe and the Economic and Social Committee. In addition, it has developed a close collaboration with several family organizations which are supporting its activities and attending its meetings. Among these COFACE, ELFAC (European Large Families Confederation), FAFCE (Federation of Catholic families Associations in Europe), the World Movement of Mothers (Mouvement Mondial des Mres), The Institute for Family Policies, EUROCHILD etc     PAGE  PAGE 1 )*+CDYc  J L T \ `  " # Q p ~ ºzozozdodzVzdKoh+h&VCJaJh+hq:0J6CJaJh+hdCJaJh+hgCJaJh+hq:CJaJ hyFIhq:hq:h^hyFIh+CJaJh^CJaJhyFIhyFICJaJhTCJaJh+CJaJh+h^5CJaJh+5CJaJh+hyFI5CJaJh+h+5CJaJhyFIhyFI5CJaJmH sH *+DEd@ _ ` a b  $dha$gd+gd^$a$gds $gd+$a$gd+$a$gd^~ % ^ _ ` a g h b 7Gɾ꧛xmxxxah+hy5CJaJh+hCJaJh+hwHCJaJh+hV y5CJaJh+h<5CJaJh+hwH5CJaJh+hg5CJaJh+hCJaJh+hdCJaJh+hgYCJaJh+h<CJaJh+hV yCJaJh+hgCJaJh+hdCJaJ&!UX\W  *.UǼuiiii]iiiRh+hTCJaJh+h[5CJaJh+hT5CJaJh+hqI5CJaJh+hV y5CJaJh+h5CJaJh+hy5CJaJh+hwH5CJaJh+hU|CJaJh+h<CJaJh+hlKCJaJh+hppCJaJh+h CJaJh+hCJaJh+h5CJaJ  Uh]hgdT &`#$gdM $dha$gd+*k/P  ,-;or&Һޗvvkvkvkkv`vvh+h^=CJaJh+h$@CJaJh+hlKCJaJh+hMCJaJh+h>CJaJh+hyCJaJh+h]Lk5CJaJh+h>5CJaJh+h5CJaJh+h$@5CJaJh+hV y5CJaJh+hT5CJaJh+hTCJaJh+hMCJaJ%&GfȾȾȩhMh+0JmHnHu h>0Jjh>0JUh>jh>Uh+h04CJaJh+h CJaJh+h$@CJaJh+hyCJaJ $dha$gd+,1h. 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