The European Parliament’s special committee on the housing crisis in the EU has discussed its first draft report.
The committee has spent months consulting experts and stakeholders in interesting hearings, and missions to EU member states. Members received a lot of valuable input and ideas.
But S&D MEPs says this “these are unfortunately not reflected in the draft.”
For the Socialists and Democrats – who say they have brought housing to the forefront of the EU agenda- “this draft is unacceptable.”
“The process so far demonstrates a blatant disregard for the working methods and ethos of this House,” they said.
On Thursday, Gaby Bischoff, S&D vice-president for social Europe, added, “This draft is pure Spanish EPP ideology and offers no concrete solutions.
“Housing is far too important to European citizens to waste this opportunity on ideological battles. We will focus on the substance and dedicate ourselves to building alliances with those who want to ensure that a home is a human right, not a privilege for the few.
“We want more EU investment in affordable and decent homes.“We want proper regulation of short-term rentals so our cities are for living, not just tourism. We want to end speculation and financialisation. We also want to strengthen tenants’ rights, protect the housing rights of the most vulnerable, and eradicate homelessness.”
Meanwhile, the European Commission is taking action against several EU Member States that have failed to notify it of measures they have adopted to transpose EU directives into their national laws.
The deadline to transpose these EU directives has expired recently.
The Commission is sending a letter of formal notice to these Member States, giving them two months to reply and complete the transposition of the directives.
If they fail to do so, the Commission may pass to a next step and issue a “reasoned opinion.”
The Member States in question have failed to fully transpose four EU directives related to financial stability, home affairs and health.
The countries include Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Greece, Italy, Cyprus, Croatia, Poland, Slovakia and Sweden.
