Commissioner Šuica : Member States must implement the Demographic Toolbox

Tuesday 24 June

After having its first public event with FAFCE President Vincenzo Bassi, the Demography Intergroup of the European Parliament has organised a high-level meeting with Commissioner Dubravka Šuica.

Following a five-year term as European Commissioner for Demography, Mrs. Šuica is now Commissioner for the Mediterranean, but keeping the topic of demography on her portfolio of competences.

The Intergroup co-chair from ECR, Mr. Paolo Inselvini, introduced Mrs. Dubravka Šuica to the MEPs by recalling her past efforts to raise awareness about this important issue.

Mrs. Dubravka Šuica then recalled the various initiatives launched by the European Commission to keep a sufficent quantity of workers in the labour market and to reconcilie families with work-life balance. “Especially for women who are not in the labour market. There are eight Million European women who do not work.” said the Commissioner. However, some of these women are mothers full-time commited to raising their family.

She recalled the long way to make demography a legislative topic : first the Report on the Impact of Demographic Change in 2020, then the Green Paper on Ageing in 2021 and the European Care Strategy in 2022. “The highlight of the mandate was the demographic toolbox” said Dubravka Šuica, whose current role is to implement the Demographic Toolbox among Member States. The four dimensions of this toolbox for actions are : Family; Youth; Older Generation and Legal Migration. Many long-term challenges are addressed by this strategy : people whose diploma that do not match the labour market needs; shortages on the labour market due to the lower number of new workers; remplacement of older workers; talented people from out of the EU, etc.

Europe’s Demographic Crossroads – Exchange of views with Commissioner Dubraska SUICA

Following a synthesis by the Intergroup co-chair from EPP, Mrs. Romana Tomc, the other MEPs asked various questions on the possible initiatives and the future challenges to come.

Mrs. Šuica recalled that there is still no Council formation of demography, although is was a suggestion from the Spanish presidency. But at least a budget line for demography is currently discussed in the Multi-Annual Financial Framework. Speaking about bodies dedicated to this topic, Mrs. Šuica underlined the paradox that “There are fourty-six agencies across the EU” but no agency for demography. “An agency for demography would be a body of experts, not politicians. It would help to think about legislation because everything is interconnected.” But indeed the Member States will continue to decide on the most appropriate decision regarding their own country as it is a national competence by subsidiarity. She also highlited depeopulation in rural areas as “an enormous issue“, especially in Southern Europe.

The session finished by some congratulations offered by the Intergroup co-chair from S&D Mr. Vasile Dincu, and by a mutual agreement from both the EU Commissioner and the MEPs that they should continue to exchange regularly.