Addressing members of the European Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE), Dan Jørgensen, Commissioner for Energy and Housing, said on Thursday 20 February that the action plan for affordable housing would not be presented until next year in order to fit in with Parliament’s timetable, and more specifically that of the Special Committee on the Housing Crisis (HOUS).
“I’m not comfortable [presenting] my plan not taking into account your work, but it will not mean that we will not act before that, and we are already acting”, the Commissioner explained to MPs.
He therefore reported on the Commission’s ongoing work on State aid rules, carried out with Vice-President Teresa Ribera, and on the creation of a pan-European investment platform on which the Commissioner is working with the European Investment Bank (EIB). He also explained his desire to spend more money from the Cohesion Fund, from €7.5 billion to €15 billion, and indicated that he was working on this with Raffaele Fitto, Vice-President of the Commission responsible for Cohesion and Reform. (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)