Brussels, 25/01/2007 (Agence Europe) - Last February, the European Parliament's Urban-Logement intergroup, chaired by Jean-Marie Beaupuy (ALDE, France) asked the regional development committee to draw up an own initiative report on housing policy (see EUROPE 9128). This has now been done: rapporteur Alfonso Andria (ALDE, Italy) has presented a draft report entitled “Housing Policy and Regional Policy”, which is currently being debated within the appropriate committee.
In his draft report, Mr Andria states, among other things, “the right to decent housing at an affordable price is a fundamental right of every EU citizen” and he stresses “the importance for the EU of adopting a European Housing Charter based on the work of the EP's Urban-Logement intergroup”. He also highlights the importance of security issues, with regard to crime (in disadvantaged areas), buildings (standards of construction and use), electrical, gas, water and sewerage infrastructure. He called on the European Commission, inter alia to include housing in the reflection on cities and regional development, just as the EIB does, “putting in place, within the framework of the JEREMIE programme (Ed.: to help SMEs and micro-enterprises access funding more easily) a strategy to encourage growth in the building sector, mainly in the new Member States, which would be structural aid to housing development with the use of local and regional resources around urban projects”. (gb)