COFACE Core Values
COFACE – FAMILIES EUROPE is a network promoting the well-being, health and security of families and their members in a changing society. And serves as a trusted entity for family mainstreaming and for the voice/needs of families in the EU and beyond.
COFACE Families Europe is rooted in a set of six core values:
COFACE key activities
We advocate for families of all types without discrimination, bringing their voice to the table of European Union decision-making, ensuring that EU policies and legislation work in the general interest.
Furthermore, we support transnational exchanges between COFACE members (civil society organisations representing and supporting families) in the form of expert meetings, trainings, campaigns, conferences, webinars and more.
COFACE members are regularly updated and partners via the Families Corner newsletter, and interact with our social media communities.
A New Deal for Families of Today – COFACE highlights priorities for 2020-2024
This list of key short-term demands to be achieved by the new European Commission from 2020-2024, are to be seen as concrete steps to meet the long-term goals of the European Pillar of Social Rights and the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.

HIGHLIGHTED COFACE NEWS
Latest articles
Gender Equality and Work-Life Balance Policies during and after the COVID-19 crisis
Unpaid care duties are key to gender gaps in the labour market. As illustrated in a report published by the European Commission, across the Member States, care responsibilities are equally shared between women and men only in about one-third of families. The interplay between labour market and household conditions may create vicious cycles.
Eurobarometer survey shows 55% of Europeans think their governments should spend more on family policies
The Eurobarometer is a collection of cross-country public opinion surveys conducted regularly on behalf of the EU Institutions since 1974. In a newly released Eurobarometer survey, it is revealed that most EU citizens overwhelmingly support strong action at EU and national level and more social spending.
OPINION: Who cares? Achieving effective measures to support informal family carers
It could be a good brain-teaser to ask what is the occupation of the tens of millions of people in Europe today, whose daily work time can span over 24 hours and is not only essential but also life-saving. We could not even say that this type of work is underpaid as it is, in many cases, not paid at all. And although it is not necessarily undervalued, it is clear that this essential work is taken for granted. For COFACE Families Europe, who represents the interests of families across Europe, the answer to this brainteaser is evident.
Explore more of COFACE work
COFACE develops different types of publications
including position papers, studies based on feedback from families, briefs on family and EU policies, meeting reports.
Our latest publications include a list of economic principles to help build an economy that cares.

You and the EU
The European Union develops different actions and laws to ensure family and child well-being.
And we at COFACE try to shape these actions based on our core values. These actions include:
- key guidelines and laws for national governments to strengthen their social and family policies;
- different long-term action plans to support governments;
- funding mechanisms to boost NGOs and families.


European Family Lab
Family supports & resilience in challenging times
Family supports are an essential part of making social rights a reality, and civil society has grown over decades to create a wide range of supports to families and children to ensure health and well-being.
Now, more than ever, it is important to connect professionals in real time through transnational exchanges in order to tackle the social impacts of different transitions (digital, green, energy, health) on families and children.
We believe the European Family Lab is the place to connect them, serving as an innovation incubator for ideas and cross-country knowledge transfer to help family professionals deliver the best possible supports for Europeans. We are building the Lab virtual room by virtual room, with a newly launched Education&Training programme for upskilling of professionals and families: the L.I.N.K. Programme.
COMING UP with COFACE
Events
European expert meeting: Inclusive Education for an Inclusive Europe
European expert meeting: Inclusive Education for an Inclusive Europe
This European expert meeting co-hosted with AIAS Monza will take the Italian system as a starting point for discussion with European peers. We will bring together organisations of families of persons with disabilities and service providers, education professionals, pers...
COFACE member exchange on financial inclusion
COFACE member exchange on financial inclusion
Save the date! This is a internal space for COFACE members to take stock of key developments in the field of financial inclusion at EU level, including the transposition of the Consumer Credit Directive, the work of the European Central Bank on the Digital Euro, and per...