Thursday, March 19, 2009

EU seeking increase in fertility Rates?

The Czech Republic which currently holds the Presidency of the European Union (EU)sponsored a side event on behalf of the EU during the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW)held at the United Nations headquarters in New York. The meeting was titled "Reconciling Family and Professional Life: The EU Approach." There were three presenters one from France, one from Sweden and the third from the European Commission in Brussels. A report on the meeting by Vincenzina Santoro says:

"The representative from Brussels, the Director for Gender Equality at the European Commission, focused on EU efforts to find family friendly policies as these would encourage family formation and help increase the EU's low fertility rate. She mentioned a recent ministerial meeting that was organized and held in Iceland, which is not a member of the EU, but the EU ministers wanted to go to there to learn what the country was doing to achieve a replacement level fertility rate. The Director noted that Iceland's fertility rate was 2.1, then she actually said: "...and that's where we would like to be.""


A number of facts emerge from this report, first that the EU ministers care about the family and about Europe's low fertility rates, second they want to do something about it and thirdly they would like the fertility rate to be at replacement level.

The solution is plainly obvious to anyone who is willing to look. Europe must move away from ideologically driven policies with regard to life and family, and abortion should immediately be made illegal in all EU countries. There are other issues at stake but this would be an excellent start in helping to reverse Europe's disastrously low fertility rates.