Brussels, 05/03/2003 (Agence Europe) - In the framework of the Greek Presidency of the Council of the EU, the European Liaison Committee for Social Housing (CECODHAS) is organising a European conference in Athens on 8/9 May in partnership with CEEP (public enterprises) under the aegis of the Greek labour and social affairs minister, Dimitris Reppas, on the subject of accommodation in public interest and an agent of social cohesion. The European inclusion strategy, the urban dimension of cohesion policy and the future of services of general interest will be the main topics of debate, along with their growing impact on the organisation and funding of social housing and Member States' town and country planning policy. As the President of the Public Housing department at CECODHAS, George Lemoine, put it in a press release, the conference should allow social housing to position itself as a vital component of a social Europe". The participants in the conference include Social Affairs Commissioner Anna Diamantopoulou, Greek housing minister (and former European Commissioner for Social Affairs) Vasso Papandreou, and George Katiforis, Convention Member who heads the Social Europe Workgroup and will be briefing a round table on the Convention's work.
The conference aims to answer the question: "What will social housing bodies' capacity be in the enlarged Europe of 25 Member States to cope with the new social inclusion, immigration, social and territorial fracture challenges of the deprived areas of European conglomerations, the challenge of the sustainable urban development of the EU?" (Info: Dominique Privitera, Paris, Tel: 33 1 40755505 e-mail d.privitera.offices@union-habitat.org http://www.cecodhas.org