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Hungary has two main priorities during its Presidency of the Council of the EU, one is competitiveness and the other is demography, and “these two are inseparable,” Balázs Hankó said in Brussels on Monday.
The Minister for Culture and Innovation arrived in the Belgian capital to attend a meeting of the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council. The politician stressed in a statement that Europe is “not in a good position” in the field of demography.
Fifty years ago, one in five people in the world was a European citizen, now one in ten; the number of births on the continent has fallen from over 4 million to 3.8 million, making Europe the only continent where the population is not growing but falling,”
he said.
This is why, he said, the EU should focus on demography, on supporting families, on supporting young people. He recalled that this is what Hungary proposed at the last informal ministerial meeting organized in the framework of the Hungarian EU Presidency, which was attended not only by EU member states but also by the Western Balkan countries.
The minister noted that
Hungary had also drafted two Council conclusions aimed at strengthening women’s mental health and promoting work-life balance and family life.
He stressed that Hungary has made a lot of progress in this area, for instance, the number of places in nurseries has doubled. He added that the Hungarian family support system allows mothers to stay at home with their children for several years, but if they want to return to work, they can also benefit from flexible employment in addition to family support.
Balázs Hankó reported on the meeting on his Facebook page, stressing that in response to the challenges of the demographic winter, the Hungarian model and the Presidency’s proposals aim to find ways to alleviate this European crisis by strengthening families.
He highlighted that
during Hungary’s EU Presidency, the issue of families and competitiveness are both a key focus, as the two areas are closely linked: a strong Europe is based on strong nations.
In this spirit, Hungary will spend HUF 3,754 billion (EUR 9 billion) on family support next year, that is HUF 447 billion more (approx. EUR 1 billion) than last year. “
Via MTI, Featured image: Pixabay