The European Parliament

The European Parliament

Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are elected once every five years across the 27 European Union (EU) Member States and represent some 500 million citizens. The European Parliament (EP) is involved in drafting numerous laws that have an impact on the daily life of European citizens. Its powers have increased steadily over the years and today the EP is firmly established as a co-legislator, has budgetary powers and exercises democratic controls over all the European institutions.

As the only directly-elected body of the EU, the EP has the political legitimacy to raise issues of concern and has its say on a number of topics ranging from the liberalisation of services, climate change, patient safety to asylum policy and budgetary matters. It has often shown consensus and political courage as concerns the respect and promotion of human rights within and outside the European Union.

There are a significant number of resolutions and reports from the European Parliament in relation to European housing policy issues.

See:

• Resolution on the social aspects of housing, , The European Parliament, 18/3/97. A4-0088/97, OJ C182, Vol. 40, 16/6/1997; 
• Report on the Social Aspects of Housing: Committee on Social Affairs and Employment, Rapporteur, Mr Brian Crowley; 
• Opinion of the Committee of the Regions on ‘Housing and the homeless’.

On the 11th June 2013, the European Parliament adopted a Resolution on social housing in the European Union

On the 14th September 2011, the European Parliament adopted a Resolution calling for an EU homelessness strategy. With this Resolution (B7-0475/2011), adopted by a large majority, the European Parliament sends out a strong political message that homelessness is an urgent issue, on which the EU must step up its co-ordination and support of Member States’ policies. 

FEANTSA and a number of other European NGOs (AGE Platform Europe, ATD Fourth World, EAPN, Emmaüs Europe, ENAR, Eurochild, Eurodiaconia, European Federation of Food Banks, PICUM, Red Cross EU Office and SMES-Europa,) sent a joint letter to László Andor, EU Commissioner Responsible for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion and Koos Richelle, Head of EuropeAid, asking for them to encourage the European Commission to commit to supporting and facilitating an EU Homelessness Strategy.

Joint Letter to Andor

On 16th December 2010, the European Parliament adopted a cross party Written Declaration on an EU Homelessness Strategy, which had been launched by the following Members of the European Parliament (MEPs): Britta Thomsen (Denmark, S&D), Elizabeth Lynne (UK, ALDE), Ilda Figueiredo (Portugal, GUE/NGL), Karima Delli (France, Greens/EFA) and Jacek Protasiewicz (Poland, Christian Democrats). The declaration was signed by a majority of MEPs representing all EU Member States.

In the course of the 2004-2009 term, the European Parliament adopted a number of initiatives which are relevant to the fight against homelessness and housing exclusion. For the first time ever, it also adopted a Written Declaration on Ending Street Homelessness, which was signed by 438 MEPs from all political parties and European Member States.

However, the institutions of the Union have not adopted any specific initiatives directly concerning national housing policies.