Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-09-14-Speech-2-167"
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"en.20040914.10.2-167"2
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".
I would like to thank the honourable Member for raising the issue of the family in the context of the social agenda. One of the conclusions of the Irish Presidency Conference held in Dublin in May 2004 was that family and family life remain among the top sources of individual well-being. Therefore, they contribute to the social capital, although the Treaty does not provide legal competence to pursue family policy as such. However, given that the issue of family cuts across many different policy areas in which the Commission is active, it has already contributed to an evaluation of the interactions between various employment and social policies and the changing nature of families.
These interactions are already having an impact on European Union policies and will continue to do so in the future. For example, the objectives underpinning the Union's social inclusion process, the open method of coordination on poverty and social exclusion, stress the need to ensure access to housing, healthcare and education for all and to develop policies designed to preserve family solidarity.
The elimination of poverty amongst children is also emphasised. In this context, it is noteworthy that child and family poverty has gained increased prominence within the social inclusion process in recent times. For instance, one of the six key priorities agreed by the Commission and the Member States in the 2004 Joint Report on Social Inclusion is to develop a focus on eliminating poverty and social exclusion amongst children. Also, in the recent Commission Staff Working Paper on Social Inclusion in the New Member States, one of the key social inclusion challenges identified is to strengthen policies to support families and social networks, and to protect the rights of children.
Another important policy area in which the Commission gives prominence to the family is in its emphasis on developing family-friendly policies in such areas as employment and childcare. More specifically, the European employment strategy, in line with the Presidency Conclusions of the European Council in Barcelona, addresses the problem of reconciling work and family life and provides quantitative objectives for increasing the availability of child-care provision.
As to the future, the Commission envisages that the family will continue to be an issue of concern in the European employment strategy and in the Union's social inclusion process and thus for the further development of the Union's social policy agenda."@en1
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