The political grouping to which Fine Gael belongs in the European Parliament has launched a defence of the traditional definition of the family based on the union of a man and a woman.
At the weekend, the European People’s Party (EPP) tabled a resolution, ‘Prospering families for a prosperous Europe or What is good for the family is good for Europe’ in which it calls for greater protection of the family unit, which it identifies as “marriages between a man and a woman oriented towards, and with responsibility for, their children”.
Empowering the family, the EPP contends, is the best way to protect individual citizens and strengthen the whole society. Lauding the family unit as “an objective stabilising factor for society”, the EPP points out, further, that it is recognised by the majority of Europeans “as a beacon, a harbour for hope and a place of mutual respect, understanding, care and support, as an intimate community where individuals can experience unconditional love”. The family, it argued, is “the cornerstone for the future of Europe”.
However, “recognising the fragility of families in contemporary European societies [and] being aware of the demographic situation in the Member States, which is leading to serious economic, social and cultural challenges”, the EPP tabled its resolution towards a fuller acknowledgment of the role of the family for the Continent’s wellbeing.
“A properly functioning family is still the foremost shelter for the material and psychological safety and security for individuals, helping them to overcome difficult life situations, such as illness, unemployment or poverty, and it effectively helps to prevent homelessness,” the EPP stated. “Empowering the family is therefore the best way to protect individual citizens and strengthen the whole society.”
Further, the EPP contends “by any scientific and empirical evidence the family is the safest haven for raising children. The extended family -grandfather, grandmother, and broader circle of relatives – is a stabilising factor that strengthens the identity of the individual man and woman. The value of a family is universal for all cultures and religions.”
‘Prospering families for a prosperous Europe or What is good for the family is good for Europe’ calls on EU Member States to “ to acknowledge the indispensable social foundation laid by families” while urging the European Commission, the Parliament and the Council to “to observe the principle of subsidiarity, as first laid down in the EU Treaty of Maastricht, with regard to family and related cultural and ethical matters”.
“Preserving the family’s integrity and its capacity of ‘raising the future’ in an optimal framework must be at the core of our policy,” the resolution stated.
