Challenges for the European Union – 2018″

An international conference “Challenges for the European Union 2018” was held on October 17th at the Prague Center for Contemporary Art DOX. The event was organized by the Institute for Christian Democratic politics, Wilfried Martens Center for European Studies and the Hanns Seidel Foundation.

Leading European politicians and domestic experts talked about the current challenges for the EU – economic competitiveness, population demography and migration from Christian democratic point of view. They focused on aspects of solidarity, subsidiarity and family policy.

According to economist Ivan Pilip, Europe is currently in a state of crisis where it has undergone both an economic and a migratory crisis. Josef Středula said that the best remedy to the crisis is an efficient medium and small business stratum. In connection with the world economy, they also talked about the possibility of other economic crisis and the possible adoption of the euro by the Czech Republic.

Joachim Unterländer said that we are facing a great deal of change, we need a concept for such changes, but we do not have it. At the same time, we do not accept that any crisis should come. As for the euro, we need economic liberalism and growth. Rather than strengthening the euro, we have to ask what to do to make the euro less vulnerable.

Hungarian Minister for Family Affairs and Youth Katalin Novak together with Austrian MEP Gudrun Kugler warned against the unfavorable demographic development of the population, which could have a negative impact on the European economy in the future. The respondents called for greater family support and recommended closer cooperation between the Member States of the European Union.

The conference highlighted the division of the East and West in the social sphere, the shock of confidence in the institution in the context of the financial and economic crisis, and the growing demographic challenge of the European population. Which can be addressed by targeted family support and creating a friendly environment for the lives of families on the continent.

As Italian MEP Lupi mentioned, Christian values, such as solidarity and subsidiarity, should focus primarily on the common good.

The conference was exceptional and enriching in the Czech context in that it brought a few different perspectives from important European and domestic personalities on the current issues of European Christian-Democratic policy. The conference pointed out that the nature of current political problems crosses the borders of national states and it is necessary to seek answers at the European level.