Here you will see news from Europe, from civil society, from research, highlighting emerging trends from local to international level relevant for families of today.
As part of the European Semester, the Joint Employment Report 2025 emphasises that participation in ECEC under three is improving but at a very low pace, calling for renewed efforts in line with the European Child Guarantee, the European Care Strategy and the Council Recommendation on ECEC.
All across Europe, COFACE members continuously work to contribute to positive outcomes for diverse types of families in a changing society, including single-parent households. Organisations such as La Ligue des Familles and Single Parents Foundation have both recently and respectively put a spotlight on concrete ways to support and empower single parents in Europe from Belgium to Hungary.
In November 2024, COFACE member organisation APF France launched its second season of the short TV programme "Tous en scène pour le Handicap" (All on Stage for Disability)”. After the success of its first season in 2023, 10 new artists and public figures have taken the stage to humorously share real-life stories experienced by members of APF France.
In June 2024, COFACE member, KMOP, educated and raised awareness among 12 informal caregivers about improving services for people with dementia and helping them build better social relationships with their patients.
Europe is ageing and is facing a digital revolution. While AGE recognise and value the positive change new technologies can bring, the European platform is also conscious of, and has experienced, the barriers created by too rapid digitalisation and the impact it has on our autonomy, participation and dignity.
The representatives of the EU Member States are currently negotiating a proposal from the EU Commission for a Council Regulation on the mutual recognition of parenthood in the EU. The planned regulation aims to ensure that the parenthood of a child that is legally established in one EU member state is also recognised by the other member states.
In July 2024, the European Commission decided to refer Germany to the Court of Justice of the European Union for failing to uphold the rights of mobile workers from other EU Member States as regards the amount of family benefits granted to them.
The #AccessibleEU Centre features a growing online depository with nearly 200 good practices on different areas of #accessibility from all over Europe. It aims to create a common European one-stop-shop on accessibility, build the capacity on accessibility in EU countries, train excellent professionals on accessibility and much more.
COFACE Spanish member, UNAF (Unión de Asociaciones Familiares) has launched the campaign ‘Mute your machismo’, which aims to raise awareness among teenagers about sexism in video games and to prevent discrimination and violence against female gamers with macho comments and behaviour.
