Nicolas Schmit, the Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights, responded vigorously to calls from MEPs in Strasbourg on Monday 13 January regarding the need for action to combat the phenomenon of homelessness, but did not make any concrete announcements on possible initiatives that might be taken at European level in the next few months.
There was consensus on the issue of tackling homelessness amongst MEPs, all of whom recognised the scale of the problem and the degree to which the situation is getting worse in Europe, where 700,000 people are currently living without a roof over their heads.
MEPs also analysed the causes of homelessness. In their opinion, speculation in the housing market, a shortage of available housing, health problems, access to employment, poor management of migration flows, and the impact of economic austerity policies are all sources of homelessness.
Several MEPs, including Katrin Langensiepen (Greens-EFA, Germany), called on the European Commission to table a communication, a roadmap or a strategy dedicated specifically to the issue of homelessness.
The Commissioner assured MEPs that the issue was at the heart of the European Commission's activities, but did not announce a specific communication on the issue, and acknowledged that he was not able to make any “precise” commitments at the moment. The Commissioner has systematically reduced the issue of homelessness to an issue of housing, guaranteeing that the Commission will tackle the task even though it has no powers in this area.
Disappointing statements
The Commissioner's statements disappointed Freek Spinnewijn, director of the European Federation of National Organisations Working with the Homeless (FEANTSA). He believes that it is a mistake to confine the issue of homelessness to housing alone, as such an approach ultimately benefits the middle classes more than the most vulnerable. Homelessness is a phenomenon that requires responses at the levels of structures, health, employment, violence against women and migration management, and not just responses to the housing issue on its own, he explained.
Spinnewijn hoped that the action plan to implement the European Pillar of Social Rights, scheduled for 2021 (see EUROPE 12401/10), would contain measures to address homelessness. He pointed out that, for the first time, the Employment and Social Policy Council had demonstrated in October that member states were aware of the situation (see EUROPE 12356/16, 12353/12).
“There is therefore a consensus between member states and the European Parliament. So, why is the Commission not doing anything?”, he asked. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)