The European Commission has decided not to grant funding to the Federation of Catholic Family Associations in Europe (FAFCE), while the European Parliament advances resolutions seeking to facilitate and fund abortion in the community sphere. The decision has provoked the reaction of several MEPs, who have announced parliamentary initiatives to demand explanations from Brussels.
The FAFCE, founded in 1997 and composed of 33 associations from 20 member states, aims to promote and defend the family based on marriage between man and woman. At the end of November, it became known that the Commission had rejected all funding proposals submitted by the federation, despite some of them focusing on areas that the European Union itself declares as priorities, such as the protection of minors from pornography, digital well-being, or the fight against youth loneliness.
According to the documentation submitted by the Commission, the rejection was based on alleged shortcomings related to the gender approach and the equality criteria promoted by the Union. The president of the FAFCE, Vincenzo Bassi, publicly denounced it as an “ideological discrimination” against an organization that defends the natural family, recalling that the EU’s Charter of Fundamental Rights expressly recognizes the protection of the family in the economic, legal, and social spheres.
The federation has warned that, without approximate funding of 150,000 euros—whether through European funds or private donations—it will not be able to maintain ongoing projects and will be forced to reduce staff and presence in European-level debate forums.
Progress of Pro-Abortion Initiatives
In parallel, the European Parliament approved this week a non-binding resolution that calls for the creation of financial mechanisms to facilitate access to abortion for women who travel to other Union countries to abort. The resolution, linked to the initiative My Voice, My Choice, was approved with 358 votes in favor, 202 against, and 79 abstentions.
The proposal suggests that the costs of these cross-border abortions can be covered by public funds, which has drawn criticism from pro-life sectors and some episcopal conferences. The Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) expressed its concern in a statement published shortly before the vote.
Interrogations to the European Commission
In this situation, MEPs from the Patriots group have submitted parliamentary interrogations questioning the criteria used by the Commission to exclude pro-family organizations like the FAFCE, while promoting initiatives favorable to abortion. Among them are the group’s vice-president, the Hungarian MEP Kinga Gál, and the Spanish MEP Paolo Borchia.
The parliamentarians have asked the Commission how it intends to address the European demographic decline if it marginalizes entities that work in favor of the family, while allocating resources to policies that facilitate abortion.
The controversy once again highlights the growing tension between European institutions and organizations that defend life and family from a Christian perspective, in a context where Brussels is accused of applying ideological criteria that limit the pluralism recognized in the Union’s own treaties.
Source: La Nouva Bussola Quotidiana