Low birth rate in Europe

Subject: Low birth rate in Europe

Recent studies and research have caused alarm about Europe's low birth rate. According to Eurostat data, the fertility rate has fallen well below the replacement level of 2.1 children per woman.

Significant causes of this phenomenon are increased working hours and the absence of a work-life balance for parents.

Will the Commission say:

What action will it take to support parents in achieving a better balance between their work and family life, in line with the policy guidelines for the period 2019-2024 unveiled by the President of the Commission while still a candidate?

What specific measures will it take to increase fertility rates, especially in the southern EU Member States, such as Cyprus, Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal, which have the lowest rates (about 1.3 children per woman)?

How else is the Commission seeking to increase fertility rates within the EU?

Answer given by Vice-President Šuica on behalf of the European Commission (15 April 2020)

As a concrete initiative to implement the European Pillar of Social Rights (1), Directive (EU) 2019/1158 on work-life balance for parents and carers (2) was adopted in June 2019. The political guidelines of the Commission highlight the need to ensure that the directive is fully implemented and to encourage a better sharing of responsibilities between women and men. Member States have three years to implement it (with two additional years for one element (3)).

The Commission organises workshops to assist the Member States with the implementation. In addition, the Commission follows closely the implementation of the Barcelona objectives and targets for childcare (4), including through the European Semester process (5). According to the recently adopted EU Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025, the Commission will propose to revise the Barcelona targets to ensure further upwards convergence among Member States.

The EU’s forthcoming framework programme for research and innovation, Horizon Europe (6) is expected to fund research on the welfare state and social affairs. This will notably include research and innovation work on policies conducive to achieving greater work life balance.

The Commission is currently working on the report on the Impact of Demographic change. It will focus on the presentation of relevant facts and figures and analyse the most important socioeconomic and regional impacts of this transformation process. It will be followed by a Green Paper launching a debate on the impacts of demographic change and the required political responses.

⋅1∙ https://ec.europa.eu/commission/priorities/deeper-and-fairer-economic-and-monetary-union/european-pillar-social-rights_en

⋅2∙ https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32019L1158&from=EN

⋅3∙ The pay or allowance corresponding to the last two weeks of parental leave, as provided for in Article 8(3) of the directive.

⋅4∙ https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/bcn_objectives-report2018_web_en.pdf

⋅5∙ https://ec.europa.eu/info/business-economy-euro/economic-and-fiscal-policy-coordination/eu-economic-governance-

monitoring-prevention-correction/european-semester_en

⋅6∙ https://ec.europa.eu/info/horizon-europe-next-research-and-innovation-framework-programme_en