EU-Policies and Fertility: The Emergence and Implementation of Fertility Issues at the Supra-National Level

Gerda R. Neyer, Stockholm University
Arianna Caporali, Institut National d'Études Démographiques (INED)
Nora Sánchez Gassen, University of Southampton

The paper deals with policies and fertility at the European level. During the past decade the EU has set several initiatives concerning fertility issues. Yet, the competences to deal with fertility issues have been mainly with the member states. It is not clear whether the recent EU initiatives mark the emergence of a new policy field within the EU or whether established policy issues are given a demographic framing. This paper traces the origin and development of fertility relevant initiatives at the EU level starting with the Treaty of Rome in 1957 to the present. It provides an overview over these initiatives, analyses the process of development, the distribution and changes of the topics and the types of initiatives and their framing over time. This allows us to assess to what extent and with which consequences the EU initiates are steps towards a co-ordinated European effort to tackle fertility issues.