Brussels, 11/05/2007 (Agence Europe) - Adopting by a wide majority (469 to 38 with 46 abstentions) an own initiative report by Alfonso Andria (ALDE, Italy) on housing policy and regional policy, the European Parliament called for the European Commission to include housing in its reflection on cities and the sustainable development of regions, in the interservices task force work programme focussing on urban issues, and to organise research into the cost and demand for housing on the real estate market. The Parliament also wants minimum European quality standards to be defined to ensure decent housing, and wants greater rights to housing to be introduced to help facilitate worker mobility. It wants cities to be given a greater role in terms of planning and managing EU funding for housing projects. The EP wants the Commission and EIB to implement the JESSICA initiative (joint EU support for sustainable development in urban areas) and to draw up a strategy to boost the construction industry, particularly in the new EU member states. Following the adoption of amendments lodged by the ALDE, the PES and the Greens/EFA, the EP calls for the adoption of a European statement on housing, based on the European Housing Charter adopted by the EP's Urban-Housing Intergroup on 26 April 2006 (see EUROPE 9183 and 9128). (gb)