Conservative MEPs have condemned the European Commission’s proposed “Demography Toolbox,” accusing it of prioritizing increased migration over policies to boost birthrates and safeguard Europe’s cultural identity.
Presenting the plan to MEPs on Wednesday, Dubravka Šuica, the commission chief responsible for the Mediterranean region and demography tried very hard to make it seem like increased legal migration from third countries was only a secondary measure in the Commission’s approach. However, conservative MEPs saw right through her. The European Union’s so-called Demography Toolbox has been in development for over two years now, and everyone knows the direction in which it’s heading.
In her presentation, Šuica stressed that increased labor migration, focusing on “highly skilled talent,” is only one of the Toolbox’s four pillars. However, a closer look at the other three measures—providing affordable childcare to help mothers return to work; offering young people with “useless” diplomas opportunities for “upskilling” or “reskilling;” and promoting hybrid retirement options and more flexible working hours for the elderly who “want” to stay in the workforce longer—makes it clear that these solutions alone are not going to solve the problem of Europe’s aging population and plummeting birthrate.
During her confirmation hearing for the Commission post last year, Šuica was more outspoken about the first pillar. This would involve massively increased and streamlined labor migration via so-called “talent partnerships” with third countries. Through these, companies in each member state will be able to access as many migrant workers as they need.
She insists that this proposal is only meant to fill vacancies in sectors that have real labor shortages. However, the case of H-1B visas in the U.S. perfectly illustrates that once a system like this has been put in place, it is nearly impossible to prevent companies from abusing it to import cheap labor and keep their wages down.
The EU “badly needs talent,” Šuica told MEPs at her confirmation hearing, explaining that she personally sees the 30% of Africa’s population that’s under 25 as the bloc’s primary “demographic reservoir.” No wonder, then, that MEPs came prepared for Wednesday’s debate.
“You are concerned about demography only for economic reasons. Europe is just a market for you,” Patriot MEP Julien Sanchez, of France’s Rassemblement National (RN), told the commissioner, adding that more immigration in the short term is no viable answer to the crisis. “We need to solve the problem, but we also need to ensure that the face of Europe remains European.”
Silvia Sardone from the Italian Lega (PfE) pointed at certain cities in Western Europe where the most common newborn baby names are all just different versions of Muhammad. “Our Christian culture is being substituted and Europe is increasingly Islamized,” she said, turning to leftist colleagues. “This is a nightmare and we do nothing. Europe just sits back and says yes to more immigration.”
Some MEPs on the left, like João Oliveira from the Portugal Communist Party (PCP) were outraged about hearing so much “hate speech,” and accused the “far-right” of being xenophobic without offering any solutions. “We aren’t the far-right, we’re the party of common sense,” Spain’s Mireia Borrás (Vox/PfE) hit back, “and the only ones willing to call things by their name.”
As for solutions, Borrás pointed at Hungary and said every EU country should copy its family policies to increase birthrates. Earlier in the debate, Hungarian MEP Pál Szekeres, of the country’s ruling Fidesz party, explained the country’s unique system which provides cheap loans for young families to buy their first homes (a portion of which becomes a grant after the birth of each child), tax benefits and energy subsidies for larger families, and even full exemption from income tax for mothers of four and for all young people under 25.
Only two things are needed to solve the demographic crisis, Romania’s Georgina Teodorescu (AUR/ECR) added: encouraging more births with affordable housing and financial aid to families, like in Hungary, and stronger economies so that people can afford to have more kids on average salaries. “Houses and wages,” she said, “without those we will see the destruction of the European civilization due to mass migration in fifty years.”
When she was also accused of spreading “hate speech” by Green MEP Ana Miranda Paz, Teodorescu calmly told her that she simply shed light on the core question regarding the Commission’s Demography Toolbox. “Do we put European citizens in the center of our policies?” she asked her. “We are elected to represent Europeans, we need to give priority to their interests.”
Others, like Italy’s Antonella Sberna (FdI/ECR) agreed that family policies are key, but Europe also needs “a real cultural revolution” that makes childbearing attractive again.
“Consumer societies have put the freedom of the individual in the center instead of the wellbeing of the community, and made the blessing of the children the main barrier to self-fulfillment,” Zsuzsanna Borvendég (Our Homeland/ESN) agreed, adding that Europe was on “a path of self-destruction” if it continues to resort to migration instead of realizing these “ancient truths.”
“Population replacement must be stopped and the traditional family model must be upheld, which is the basis of individual happiness and social stability,” Borvendég argued. “This must be made attractive instead of gender propaganda and same-sex marriage, childbearing must be promoted, and the lives that are conceived protected.”
