We have managed to achieve that the draft resolution adopted at the congress of the European People’s Party lays down the importance of the approach that the primary solution to demographic challenges lies in family-centred policies, not in migration, Katalin Novák said at the EPP congress in Helsinki.

The Minister of State said a draft resolution was adopted at the congress which is about economic growth, and the text features a reference to the demographic situation – the demographic challenges Europe is facing – and that family-centred policies may offer a way out of this situation. They have also managed to achieve that the system of family tax benefits be mentioned in the document as a best practice, she added.

She highlighted that, in consequence, the text was supplemented to state that demographic challenges are significant, and rather than migration, family-centred policies are the primary solution to those challenges. Family-friendly taxation which has been successfully enforced in Hungary for more than eight years is a good means in this effort.

Mrs Novák stressed that the EPP, too, is preparing for the EP elections, and resolutions such as this designate the direction they wish to follow. An election campaign is about to start, and they are identifying the most important core principles, directions and objectives. When they talk about economic growth – which is everyone’s common goal also at a European level – they must inevitably talk about the current demographic challenges as well, and must state in no uncertain terms that migration is not the solution and that every Member State is free to decide on the solutions they prefer, she pointed out.

She stressed that in the EPP’s political community they recognise that supporting families is an important means to find a way out of the demographic crisis.

The Minister of State took the view that they had managed to make substantial progress: several of their proposals have been adopted, and perhaps six months before the EP elections the EPP, too, has finally realised that they must have their own conservative messages traditionally intended for their electors. “The European People’s Party must have a strong character, we cannot be left without values”, we must openly talk about these values, and must not forget about family and security as common values, she said.

Mrs Novák said they have recognised that security is one of their main messages, that it is important to concentrate on families and strong communities, and that work which offers a way out of the poor economic situation is equally important. The reinforcement of the middle classes is another major goal. These objectives do indeed reflect a conservative and Christian democratic character, something that we are in great need of before the elections, she added.

She also said it is to be hoped that Manfred Weber, the candidate supported by the Fidesz-KDNP party alliance, will win the People’s Party’s lead candidate post at the congress. He is the candidate who is suitable for running as the EPP’s lead candidate (at the EP elections to be held next spring), she stated.

The Minister of State said everyone has a vested interest in a significant change in the most senior European leadership, so that “the European Commission should finally have a president whom we can all be proud of, rather than ashamed when he appears in public”.

(MTI)