The majority of Europeans are still living and dreaming of having a natural family based on the marriage of a man and a woman and willing to have children, according to an Italian professor.

This despite the fact that “divorce has become, in the last century, an individual right sanctioned by laws in all Euro­pean countries, except Malta, of course”, Francesco Belletti, director of the Italian International Centre for Family Studies, said.

Although he referred to the fact that Malta was the only country in Europe which had no regulation for divorce, he stopped short of giving his opinion, preferring to leave “the hot topic” to be tackled by local experts.

Dr Belletti believes, however, the nature of the family in Europe has not changed. What has changed is the family composition.

“And that’s one big cultural challenge we have to face today in Europe,” Dr Belletti said addressing a conference at the Phoenicia Hotel organised by Proġett Impenn, the task force set up by the Diocesan Commission for the Family to work for stronger marriages in Malta.

According to the Italian centre’s statistics, 80 per cent of European families are still composed of married couples.

“We need to work on how to prevent couples from getting to a point where they need divorce. There is more frequent fragmentation of the family because the idea that marriage can last for life is under stress. We have to look at what is making relationships break down.”

Real figures, he added, showed divorce brought about a dramatic change in family life, even if there were no children and even if the divorce was not acrimonious.

Himself married for 26 years with three children, Dr Belletti said over the years there had been a movement towards the total privatisation of the family. “But marriage is not a private affair. It is important that this is a public act. It has to be registered because you are changing your civil status. It is a free choice strictly linked to society.”

The responsibility of being a stable couple was not just up to the individual but also up to the society. “It is the time to stress the stability of the family as a contribution to the common good. We need to work to maintain the family as a place of stability in society,” he added.

Dr Belletti underlined the im­portance of European societies offering married couples good social services, like family meditation and social benefits.

“In Italy, we are trying to have a more favourable taxation system for married people. As it is, fiscal advantages are actually better for the divorced and unmarried parents,” he said, adding this might have contributed to the big changes in family compositions. He stressed the need for family policies in a modern society. But to do that, it was important to clarify the definition of a family first.

“Up till some decades ago, marriage was based on an agreement between a man and a woman,” he said, adding this was being challenged and it was important to keep in mind that, while all private living arrangements were possible, “not all are families”.

Moreover, fertility and demographic changes had become a priority in the EU strategy. Europeans knew they could not be sustainable and competitive in a globalised world if they became “too old” and most EU countries were heading towards aging societies.

A low birth rate too was causing a major demographical change brought about by the postponement of the first childbirth and first marriage. “Italy has an average of 1.4 children per family, which means most families have one child. In the Bible we read about ‘loving each other like brothers’ but not many people know what it means to have brothers or sisters, nowadays,” he said.

Dr Belletti said the importance of increasing the birth rate had nothing to do with Catholicism or any religion – “it’s important for social cohesion”.

He underlined the importance of looking at the problems related to work, housing, financial stability and the fact that children grew up but took longer to leave the nest.

Studies claimed that, all over the EU, people wanted to have many more children than they were actually having. “Something is preventing people from keeping to their plans. Why is the younger generation not in a position to have more children? This is a major concern for all,” he said.

“The family is a resource not a problem. We need a more positive approach to the family. It is an investment not a social cost.”

The conference question time was mainly taken over by politicians, such as MPs Edwin Vassallo and Carmelo Abela who took the opportunity to air their thoughts – at length – about the issues of separation and divorce in Malta.

The conference, entitled The Family In Europe Today, kick started a series of activities organised by Proġett Impenn to celebrate marriage week, which runs till Monday.