Providing financial support to maternity hospitals to preserve demographic stability

Subject: Providing financial support to maternity hospitals to preserve demographic stability

The population forecasts for Europe and Italy are sobering: the Italian National Institute of Statistics expects the country’s population to drop by 2 million to 58 million by 2030; and the EU’s share of the world population will decrease from 5.7 % to 3.7 % by 2070. This dramatic decline endangers the very future of European countries and the idea of Western civilisation.

The EU has mobilised substantial funds (a total of EUR 750 billion) under NextGenerationEU to help steer the Union’s development in the years to come. With this in mind, in 2021, by means of Resolution 2020/2039 (INI), the European Parliament called on the Commission to use cohesion funds to reverse the demographic decline. This will hopefully translate into more support being put towards keeping local maternity hospitals, such as the one in Mirandola (BO), open.

In view of the above:

1. Would it be possible to review the allocation of NextGenerationEU funds to focus them on efforts to reduce the demographic decline?

2. Could these funds be used to improve the health and social care offered to mothers by ensuring a greater number and spread of maternity hospitals?

Submitted: 6.2.2023

Answer given by Executive Vice-President Dombrovskis on behalf of the European Commission (23 March 2023)

Tackling demographic challenges is key for a fairer and more resilient society and a priority for the Commission. It requires a holistic policy approach.

While the main competences to address them remain primarily with the Member States, EU action is warranted in specific policy areas.

Through the recovery and resilience plans (RRPs) and Cohesion Policy, NextGenerationEU funds and the EU multiannual budget are already devoted to investments and reforms expected to ease some of the causes and consequences of demographic decline.

For instance, reforms and investments in education, health, skills and active labour market policies are expected to improve young people’s active lives and opportunities in their family lives.

The RRPs devote over EUR 42 billion to investments and reforms strengthening healthcare systems, including improving health opportunities for pregnant and breastfeeding women and their children, ‘early aid’ systems for disadvantaged pregnant women and maternity and pediatric hospitals.

Specifically, the Italian RRP allocated EUR 16.3 billion to healthcare, including to improve territorial healthcare, and EUR 6.7 billion to social inclusion (1).

Moreover, Cohesion Policy also supports investments in less developed or declining regions for a more balanced territorial development, helping all EU regions to fight the loss of population and talents. Investments in the Italian RRP will also strengthen small hospitals and services by community nurses and midwives in remote areas.

Member States can present updates of their RRPs on the basis of Article 18 or Article 21 of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) Regulation (2). The Commission would then assess the proposed amendment in accordance with all requirements of the RRF Regulation.

1 ∙ ⸱ Some measures support vulnerable families and children, enhancing parental skills and promoting quality community‐ and family-based care.

2 ∙ ⸱ https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2021/241/oj