Priorities in social family policies of the Council of Europe

Abstract

Speaking in the name of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, I would like to thank heartily the Government of Malta for commemorating, through this conference, the 40th anniversary of the oldest European institution which has dedicated the most important part of its aim, proposals and initiatives to social policies, human rights and to family policies. I would like to thank the Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami, the Minister for Social policy Louis Galea and Charles Vella who has been the animateur of this conference. But please allow me to mention in particular that one of the most intelligent artificers of the work of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in our Social Commission has for years been the present President of the Republic of Malta, Dr. Vincent Tabone, to whom I send special thanks and greetings in the name of all his parliamentary colleagues who have not forgotten his presence and coherence even in the most difficult times. When he was still actively present at Strasbourg, we had begun an activity which has recently led us to add the family to the title of the Commisson of Social and Health matters. Up to a few years ago it' was completely unthinkable that the parliamentarians of 21 European countries, now 23, could agree to give so much attention to family policies. Now we have ended up by approving unanimously the need of this new 'chapter', beyond different ideologies, traditions and cultures which render totally different the customs of the peoples in Europe and their laws regarding these matters. A complete vision of social policies has allowed us in these last years to approve a coherent series of recommendations ranging from bioethics to problems of unemployment, those regarding the tights of children, up to recommendation n. 1074 on family policies.