Brussels, 24/01/2011 (Agence Europe) - By the end of the EP plenary session last Friday, 122 MEPs from all the different member states and political groups had signed the draft written declaration on universal access to social services in the EU. There are now two plenary sessions left for obtaining the 370 signatures needed to make this written declaration the official position of the European Parliament on this issue.
This written declaration on “The application of the principle of subsidiarity and diversity in defining the particular missions assigned to social housing by the member states” urges the Commission not to ask member states to limit access to social housing for socially disadvantaged groups. The declaration also stipulates that other groups of citizens in need should not be excluded, given the lack of affordable housing. The declaration urges the Commission not to regard the universal character of the missions assigned by the member states to such social services as a manifest error of assessment of services governed by Article 14 of the TFEU and Protocol 26 to it (this refers to the wide discretion of the member states in organising public services, the diversity of those services and the differences in the needs to be satisfied according to local collective choices and rights).
The Commission considers that a public service with a social character must have a direct link with disadvantaged homes. In the social housing sector, the consequences of this “recent but constant” decision-making by the European Commission in the member states are significant and will seriously impact on the way in which the social housing markets operate, as well as the conditions for homes having access to housing, particularly in urban zones feeling the strain, explains Laurent Ghékière (Union sociale pour l'habitat) in a press release. Four examples are underlined: the Netherlands: by applying this formal decision-making, 46% of Dutch homes have legally been excluded from access to social housing since 1 January 2011. This therefore brings into question the principle of universal access to social housing, as defined in the 1901 housing law and contained in a reference to the Dutch constitution's recognition of housing as a right to all. The Dutch housing market has not been structured to accommodate middle-income households excluded from access to social housing (insufficient supply of local rented accommodation, lack of financial access to purchasing accommodation), particularly in strained urban zones, where this segment of the population is concentrated and which requires the kind of accommodation not taken into account by market forces alone. Sweden: a political consensus between the different actors: government, public and private providers and tenant associations was reached on not responding to the European Commission injunction over the tendency to remain in a residual social housing system. The principle of universal access to social housing is deeply anchored in the values of social democracy. It has therefore been maintained but at the price of abandoning the SGEI and the withdrawal of compensation to public services for social housing since 1 January 2011. Special rights granted to companies working in councils' social housing have also subsequently been withdrawn. This loss of special status for social housing actors also involves the question of how to fund social housing within a system of common law on state aid that receives no public assistance. Sector actors are looking at subjecting rents to VAT, if this option complies with provisions in the VAT directive, currently under review. Denmark and United Kingdom, where access to social housing is not subject to legal conditions regarding ceilings on income but also Austria and Finland, where income thresholds allow for a range of households to be accommodated and not just disadvantaged groups. This decision-making practice by the European Commission is subject to question, particularly in the context of the risks regarding Community disputes on the basis of Dutch and Swedish precedents. This draft written declaration received the backing of Proinsias De Rossa (S&D, Ireland), EP rapporteur on the future of social services. The declaration is expected to be included in the draft report, which will be debated soon. (See the report from the public hearing organised by De Rossa, 10 December 2010, EUROPE 10275). The future of social services in the social market economy is at stake: remaining services with a direct link to the disadvantaged groups alone, in compliance with the Commission's decision-making practice with regard to the SGEI or services accessible to any household, in response to real needs, in compliance with locally defined democratic collective preferences, concludes Laurent Ghekière (Union sociale pour l'Habitat). (G. B./transl.fl)