How to solve Europe's housing crisis

📺 Video Information

**Channel:** European Parliament • **Published:** Streamed live on Mar 24, 2025 • **Views:** 1,040 • **Duration:** 67:55

📝 Description

Rising housing prices and rents are a big concern for many Europeans. The European Parliament and the European Commission debate the causes of the housing crisis, how the EU can help national governments tackle it and what measures could be taken at European level.

Hosted by the European Parliament in Brussels, the event is jointly opened by MEP Irene Tinagli, chair of Parliament's special committee on the EU housing crisis, and Dan Jørgensen, European Commissioner for energy and housing.

The high-level opening session is followed by a debate titled "Working together to tackle the housing crisis" with the participation of:

. Borja Giménez Larraz, Parliament rapporteur of the Special Committee on the Housing crisis in the European Union . Dan Jørgensen, Commissioner for Energy and Housing . Oliver Röpke, President of the European Economic and Social Committee . Andres Jaadla, Member of the Committee of the Regions . Ioannis Tsakiris, Vice-President of the European Investment Ban

#EUHousing

📹 Video Transcript

[0:00] ing is web streamed on parliament's website and we have interpretation in 18 languages So German English French Italian Dutch Greek Spanish Portuguese Finnish Czech Estonian Lithuanian Hungarian Maltese Polish Slovak Romanian and Croatian I hope you will find the one that suits you best So let's uh get uh started So it is really a great honor to welcome you all to the European

[0:32] Parliament for this important joint event on affordable housing addressing the houses housing crisis in the union Let me begin by thanking the European Commission especially commissioner Dan Jorgensson and also the head uh of the European Commission's housing task force Matthew Baldwin for organ co-organizing this event with us I would also like to warmly thank our distinguished panelists for their presence and uh contributions today and of course a great thank you to uh all of you in the audience whether

[1:07] you represent institutions civil society or local communities Your presence is a powerful reminder that this issue touches all uh parts of our society So we are gathered here because we all recognize a growing and pressing challenge a housing crisis across the European Union Housing affordability is increasingly becoming a cre driver of social and economic inequality Home ownership once an attainable goal for

[1:38] many is turning into an intergenerational privilege At the same time rent burdens for lower inome households continue to rise exacerbating social divides and limiting disposable income for consumption and investment When housing costs consume a disproportionate share of household budgets people are left with fewer opportunities to invest in education in their well-being and even in basic financial security But the housing crisis we face today is not just a

[2:09] matter of social polic and social justice It is also a fundamental economic challenge High housing costs are limiting labor mobility particularly for younger workers and those in lower income brackets And it's making it difficult for local authorities or companies to attract and retain workers simply because in certain cities mediums low salaries are not enough to even pay for rent So this is a major obstacle to economic growth and productivity So

[2:41] understanding the roots of this phenomenon it's not easy Uh there are multiple causes sometimes deeply intertwined but this is where our journey starts This is our goal There are many aspects The evolution of the demand is a part uh of the problem as new markets such as tourism or as I said labor mobility students mobility have entered the residential home market using a chunk of the existing supply or as residential real estate has increasingly turned to a mere investment

[3:17] asset uh and we see increasing number of units that are built or um or um left empty And then as demand grows both uh from those seeking a place to live and from investors looking for financial returns the housing stock especially in cities and urban areas remains very limited This imbalance leads to price surges making home ownership and affordable renting increasingly out of reach The supply of social housing is

[3:49] also very very limited compared to the demand and the needs and this exacerbates the problem We need to find solutions But we do not start from zero We do not start from scratch There are tools already the recovery and resilience facility invest the cohesion funds just to mention some of the tools that we have been using so far They include funding for housing related projects recognizing the urgency of this

[4:20] issue However investment in affordable housing remains largely insufficient compared to the scale of the challenge that we are facing So we need to ensure that these funds are allocated effectively and reach the communities that need the most But also to make sure that we can increase the supply and this financial support The European Investment Bank has expanded financing options for sustainable and social housing projects and we welcome the launch of their housing uh platform

[4:53] However access to new and better framed funding is only part of the solution As in all moments of crisis it is also essential for us to understand how our legal framework can also accommodate erh innovative solutions to these problems and ensure that we fully leverage all regulatory instruments at our disposal If the market has been derailed by new dynamics and it's not capable of fulfilling its primary function and its

[5:25] primary objective maybe solution should also involved better directing and optimizing our regular regulatory tools to restore balance and fairness in the housing market So the European institutions are moving That's why we are here today The European Parliament established the special committee on the housing crisis with a clear and wide arranging mandate We are mapping housing needs assessing the impact of speculation evaluating the effectiveness

[5:55] of European funds examining also the impact of other dynamics like short-term rentals analyzing the dynamics of a construction sector So we are also pleased that the European Commission shares this sense of urgency The creation of a dedicated housing task force is a strong and welcome step forward Our two institutions the parliament and the commission must work hand in hand Together we can really build the foundations for a truly effective European affordable housing plan Today we are launching a dialogue

[6:32] that must include all voices local and regional governments housing providers tenants associations cooperatives banks construction companies social services researchers but above all citizens They are the ones who are in the strongest need So we need your insights your experiences your best practices and yes your criticisms too So today I really encourage all of you to participate actively in the sessions to speak up ask questions and offer your ideas and your

[7:04] experiences Let's let's use these opportunities to build momentum and to chart a path that restores housing as a cornerstone of European social progress Housing is a pillar of economic stability and growth in the European Union Addressing the housing crisis requires a comprehensive economic and social approach If we fail to act we risk further deepening economic disparities and undermining the very cohesion of our union because everyone

[7:35] deserves a place to call home So thank you very much Welcome and let's get started [Applause] Colleagues Madame Chair I liked how you finished your introduction Everybody deserves a place to call home That that I agree with Today we are here in the house of and

[8:06] home of European democracy And across Europe we have many words for our houses and our homes Mason kasa dome or as in my home country hoops Um to name just a few These different words have the same meaning A home means security warmth and shelter A place for friends and family to come together a place to live or rather it

[8:42] should But for many Europeans that's not the case For many Europeans it means worry It means death It means crisis For too many Europeans today there is no place to call home Last year a report estimated that around 400,000 children in Europe are afflicted by homelessness 400,000 children living on streets

[9:12] sleeping in night shelters staying in temporary accommodation This is deeper than a crisis of supply and demand It is really a crisis of morality striking at the heart of Europe And that is why we are here today We are here because we need to deliver more affordable housing for Europe In 2023 around 1 in 10 Europeans spent 40%

[9:45] of or more of their deposible income on housing and related costs The impact has spread to our nurses and our teachers our police officers and our firefighters These people enrich our lives but increasingly they cannot afford a place to live Young people cannot take up education opportunities job offers or to start a family because they do not have a place to live We are here because we need to deliver more sustainable housing In 2023 47 million people in EU could not

[10:22] afford to heat their homes This is of course unacceptable By helping European households to be more energy efficient we not only lower the carbon footprint of our societies we also reduce the costs of living for our citizens And we are here because we need to deliver more decent housing It is not just about increasing the quality quantity of European housing stock It is also about quality We need to invest in

[10:55] decent accessible and durable houses well connected to local infrastructure for health and education services and resources which provide the building blocks of communities and the foundations of our societies We can draw inspiration from the new European Bow House which promotes buildings that are sustainable inclusing inclusive and enriching for the local environment So we know what we need to deliver but

[11:29] how can we do it well the work has already begun The commission has established a dedicated task force The parliament has established a special committee Hand in hand we're working with member states and local authorities to identify where Europe can bring added value To address rules that act as bottlenecks and tackle issues like short-term rentals and speculation to help member states increase supply of housings and make the most of the existing stock to enhance cooperation

[12:03] and communication between national regional and local authorities Furthermore last month we and the commission launched our affordable energy action plan This plan sets out how we can reinforce the security sustainability and affordability of our energy system by fasttracking renewables deepening our energy union and improving fairness in gas markets as we decarbonize our economy Specifically our plan includes a number

[12:36] of concrete measures that will support households to cut their bills and take advantage of more energy efficient appliances and renovations Also last month we took our first step with the EIB towards a panuropean investment platform for sustainable and affordable housing This platform will open new financing opportunities At the same time we will allow member states to double the plan cohesion policy investments in affordable housing Today we take another firm step

[13:09] I am delighted to launch the affordable housing dialogue here in the European Parliament alongside you Madam Chair The dialogue kickstarts 2025 as a year of engagement and outreach Tomorrow we will hear from industry at the high level construction forum and over the rest of the year we will host engagements on topics like short-term rentals regulation and permitting investments homelessness and housing for people with disabilities I will also hold hold a youth dialogue on housing to

[13:44] discuss accommodation challenges for students and young people We are soon launching calls for evidence and public consultations on state aids as mentioned by Vice President Ribera at the urban forum last week and also for the affordable housing plan I encourage you all to contribute Preparations for our affordable housing plan will be further strengthened by the establishment of a housing advisory board comprising of independent experts from different fields For this we will soon launch a call for

[14:20] applications There's a term that carpenters use measure twice cut once Well let's talk twice three times many times today tomorrow and right throughout the year So that when we deliver our affordable housing plan for Europe we do it right And we do it with all Europeans on board Honorable members dear colleagues today we are in the house of European democracy But the foundations

[14:54] of this h house are rooted in homes across Europe And if these homes are not stable and secure then neither is our democracy So let's work together to deliver affordable sustainable and decent housing for our citizens to support the people who strengthen our communities the teachers and nurses the police officers and firefighters Let let's work to bring European democracy home to every home

[15:24] whether you call it a dom or a kasa a mason or it Thank you Okay so let's start right away with our first uh uh panel So let me just uh welcome our panelist Mr Bhajime Laras which is the reporter of the special committee on the housing houses crisis Uh of course commissioner Jorgensson

[15:59] will remain here for this debate Uh Mr Oliver Rupka president of the European Economic and Social Committee Uh Andre uh Andre Jazzla uh from the European Committee of the Regions and then Yuan is Takiris vice president of the European Investment Bank So thank you uh very much for being with us for this first panel And uh now we start uh right away with the questions Uh so with the first round of one minute question from the uh coordinators of the uh housing

[16:31] committee uh or group representative and one minute answers from the panelist uh please uh I would encourage uh all the members to indicate to whom the question is uh directed because this will make it easier for the for the debate So let's start with the EP I give the floor to Nicolina Brunak Thank you chair So I'd like to bring into this conversation uh an element important to for the affordable housing debate short-term rentals And uh in 2023 almost 719 million guest uh guest nights

[17:07] were spent in accommodation booked via platforms in the European Union On average almost 2 million guests each day um significantly impacting our housing markets and local communities in places like Barcelona Lisbon Athens parts of Croatia parts of Italy uh short-term rentals now make up a significant percentage of total housing stock um in city centers sometimes over 20% And because of that long-term rental availability is drastically shrinking and pushing local residents out So I welcome the commission's recent regulation on short-term rentals which

[17:42] you'll enter into force in 2026 But for many our citizens and cities that is already too late The damage is made and the prices are skyrocketing So as a commissioner's admission letter rightly points out we must tackle systematic issues with short-term recommendation rentals and the efficient use of existing housing stock My question to the commissioner Jorgensson is how does the commission foresee the implementation of the short-term rentals regulation impacting housing affordability and do you expect it to

[18:13] help stabilize or to reduce prices in high pressure areas and if so how because we need to be clear unregulated uh short-term rentals are not uh no longer just a tourism issue They are on a housing issue Thank you Thank you so much for for that very relevant question No no doubt the short-term rentals has become a a big

[18:46] problem in many cities across Europe It is a complicated problem in the sense that uh it is very different from country to country region to region city to city uh to which an extent uh this is actually considered a problem So we have even countries where some parts of the country they want more short-term rentals they want more tourism It's a great seen as a great opportunity for

[19:19] people to have an extra income so that they can maybe afford to live in a place where they couldn't have afford to live either if it hadn't been for for these possibilities And in the same countries different different cities have huge problems with over tourism with people being forced out of their homes uh with whole city centers being basically just uh short-term rentals So what we need to do is uh look into the toolbox and find solutions for the actual problem which

[19:54] is a big problem without of course hurting the possibilities for others uh to have the positive effects of short-term rentals Now we have set in place uh legislation and the past mandate that will be implemented now as you mentioned I I do expect this to help uh national authorities and local authorities uh deal with these challenges because it will provide transparency and the information that is necessary On the other hand I I also

[20:26] want to be quite clear that I don't personally think that that will be enough So I'm more than willing to look into other possibilities also of even legislating more if that is necessary from a European level Uh so I I I very much uh encourage uh the discussion on this and thank you for the question And I'm sure we will have plenty of opportunities to go into more detail about what can then actually be be done what is necessary that we do on a European level uh in order to make it possible for uh national and local

[21:02] authorities to to solve the problems that they face in this regard Yes Mrs Dadlra wanted to add Thank you Um as representative of comm committed region I think the touristification as we say in the committed region this is serious problem for the citizen uh region especially in the capitals of course uh uh around of

[21:39] the Europe and uh we pointed on this in my opinion about smart sustainable um housing in uh local and regional authorities and same time right now in the ongoing opinion about that uh by the mayor of Barcelona You know in the uh some cities uh in the touristic season uh the uh city centers go out for the uh uh housing from from the living is a huge problem I I think the message from the commission and the for the parliament we need here regulation We

[22:12] need not only the local and and national level but we need here the regulation by the European level to have some common rules for the many many as you say right many of the real houses go out from the house housing market about this uh businessoriented certification of the city centers this what committed region point of the many of opinion what we have done about housing thank you thank you very much Now I give

[22:42] the floor to Andreas Sheeter for the SMD group Thank you and good afternoon everybody My question would be dedicated to the commissioner but also to the Oliver the president of the EESC and uh maybe also to the European Investment Bank as a housing is not only a roof uh uh uh over the head It is also a fundamental right and what we see in the last years especially all over Europe not differing what system we have that the prices are going up that the demand is going up and also the availability of

[23:19] affordable housing is uh going down and when we speak about affordable housing we have to say also affordable and quality housing because sometimes the market has also distortion on the quality and also how what we can do to keep people in security that they know that also next year they can stay in their home and not prices are are going up or the treaties are uh are determined So my question is what can the European Union do to boost construction of

[23:50] housing to boost the availability of affordable housing and what financial means we can mobilize for this aim okay I don't want to monopolize all of the speaking time and I want to also hear my friend Oliver but but but I I do think it's a very very important uh uh question and and I agree very much with the analysis that lies behind it Uh for the specific on the housing construction

[24:24] strategy and what that can do I think it's necessary that we look at where we have rules and red tape that hinders the fast deployment of new uh housing being built Uh so one of these things is permitting the complexity and the length of time for for permitting Uh this is a problem that's been raised with me from a number of member states and local authorities Um we also uh need better

[24:59] access to material inputs uh this includes both uh more recycling and diversification of the possibility of getting these inputs We need more technological innovation in building methods and we need to be better digitalizing our processes We need uh to look at which obstacles are are there now that hinders crossber uh provision of services Um and we also need to tackle the problem of the lack of skilled labor

[25:36] Uh this is of course something uh all of these things are are things that I will work very closely with my uh colleagues in the commission about especially of course the last one uh my colleague uh Roxanna is looking as you know on on how to make sure that we have a a skills union that really facilitates the the upgrading of skills in all sectors including the building sector Thank you

[26:11] Yes thank you very much for the question I think first of all a good signal is that we don't do not start from the scratch I think we have all in the parliament but also in civil society in the ESC for years now We have developed a lot of ideas and plans how to boost affordable housing also at European level and how to give recommendations to build a framework for regional authorities but also for member states and therefore we as ESC we welcome very much that now we can really get this work started with this uh special

[26:41] committee and also with the start of this uh dialogue We welcome this very much Um concretely concretely I think uh we should start with elaborating recommendations as soon as possible Concrete concrete recommendations for member states and to set a toolbox a toolbox that can be used by member states Some things were already mentioned It could be uh a toolbox to curb outofcontrol rent increases including for instance statutory rent caps uh but also fiscal incentives for renovating vacant res residential home

[27:16] in view of renting them more social housing more social housing and to learn from national and regional um examples and I know and coming from Vienna I think it's not that one one sizefits all but I think there are a lot of ideas that we can uh that we can use Uh I also agreed that uh and we in the ESC we agree that in the medium term the fundamental right to affordable decent housing for everybody should be enshrined in EU primary primary law but we should now start with concrete uh proposals And when it comes to the

[27:50] investments we in the ESC we call really for greater scope for long-term public and private investment and for public policies to optimize EU resources supporting decent housing for all And in this respect uh we call also on the commission to uh not on the commission only but uh we we welcome this uh pan European investment platform for affordable and sustainable housing and we think that nonprofit property developers cooperatives as well as local authorities should be able to obtain to

[28:23] obtain low interest rates um via this platform if possible even 0% interest rates to boost this affordable housing housing and I agree it's not only affordable housing it's also a decent housing this we need and let me add one point uh because it's also an increasing increasing problem especially for young people we can see this in the last Europe barometer survey it's even a more pressing issue for young people at the moment so I think the action plan should have a special and focused

[28:56] element for young people we are talking about the challenges of the demographic development but we that this would be a very very practical uh element to increase or to to I would say to improve our demographic development in the medium term because we can see that for the people between 20 and 25 years uh this question more affordable housing would also would also increase the fertility rate by 30% So this is this

[29:28] shows that uh apart from great speeches I think uh improvement of living and working conditions is is the best way Thank you Mr Sakiris Thank you very much I was uh covered uh by the answers of uh of the other members of the panel I just wanted to add another dimension in what uh Mr side said uh and that uh it's not only about uh that housing is a right I would like

[29:59] to connect uh this situation with the competitiveness of Europe discussion that is taking place a lot uh high uh housing prices increased cost is also an impediment when it comes to competitiveness So uh it's another issue which also concern us as European investment bank when it comes to the competitors of the European Union Thank you Thank you very much Now I give the floor to Aleandro Chirani for ECR

[30:32] Thank you chair I will speak in Italian Commissioner Jorgensson Commissioner Jurgensson you touched upon a crucial aspect which is the fact that the European Commission needs to coordinate matters with local and regional uh entities because they're the ones who in responsible for housing policy but there are insurmountable obstacles that they face a lot of bureaucracy and difficulty in accessing European funds there was a recent commission initiative to set up a panuropean investment platform together with the EIB and that provides a

[31:05] significant opportunity how can we make sure that local and regional authorities are involved in an organic way and can benefit from that Now there's also the housing portal that's been launched But what kind of guarantees are there that the resources will be put towards areas where the situation is most critical then in closing let me say that we do need a public and social approach so that abandoned and old housing can be regenerated Would you agree with that assessment

[31:46] this is like a dish It feels like I'm back in the hearing and but I I I will say all of your questions are very very good and I acknowledge the validity of them and I uh and I will also answer them as good as I can But I will also ask you to remember that this is today is the start of a dialogue where we discuss with each other what to do and where we find the solutions together Uh so see this also as an

[32:16] opportunity for for you members of parliament and with all of the contacts that you have all of the civil society I see many of them here today to to give us your input And one of the areas where we do need the input is is the one that you ask How do we make sure that the EU funding that we have access to actually makes a difference because if we look at it I have a whole list here in front of me of different opportunities recovery and resilience plans European regional development fund

[32:48] invest EU European social fund social climate fund so and so on and so on We have actually a lot of places where we give billions and and they do make a positive difference So I'm not neglecting the importance of this But what I think we need is a more targeted uh approach with regards to funding because we need investments of such a huge amount that whatever public money whether it's EU money or national money or regional money is in there that can only be a

[33:21] fraction So how do we then use that fraction to make sure that we get all of the investments that we that we need and how do we make sure that we use the public money where private money private money will not go so to speak where where it makes uh a real extra uh uh difference And one of the things you you mention is the panuropean investment platform that that we're now working with the EIB to to develop um here we very much uh very much condole uh and welcome input We're

[33:58] working on it now First step was to put forward a platform as we did two weeks ago I'm sure you've you've seen it Next step is of course analyzing and developing what exactly should the model look like Thank you Thank you very much Uh I don't know if the other panelists wants to add something Maybe Mr Juda you wanted to add something Yeah Yeah Yes as commissioner say this is the place of discussion and and of course we in committee in the region we discussing uh about this uh funding opportunities and

[34:32] of course our focus uh is uh cohesion policy future what's going on and of course in the table we are discussing in the committed region is uh the future of the social climate funds and maybe is good idea to maybe to to uh use this like 50% of the uh social climates funds money to add to the cohesion funds to keep uh more uh direct for housing or or we must really uh combine this uh public uh money with private uh private money

[35:06] We already was uh some couple of weeks ago in Luxmbourg in the European Innocent Punk forum We discussed there how we as local authorities can use this huge this European money to combining this in local level with maybe some regional bank maybe some we have strong regional bank in German banks in Germany or or some other financial in institution I think here is one of the K question how we can really combine all these possible financial uh things and and be useful in the regional and local

[35:41] level too Thank you Thank you very much Uh now I give the floor to uh Charan Mali for Renew Thank you chair and uh thank you for this afternoon session I'm glad to see such a high level representative group here today and I look forward to the discussion this this afternoon However I think I want to follow up on what the commissioner just said in terms of what we can do There is a sense definitely is a sense of deja vu We list the 40 problems again today and when do we start prioritizing and I want to just focus maybe not on 40 issues but maybe just on two commissioner that you could

[36:17] prioritize immediately and I would ask for you in the very short term today to start to try and improve the supply of housing by doing one thing to start to review our state aid rules in the European Commission This is a problem unnecessarily holding back investment in all our member states We know this We need further investment you talked about that small percentage of the EU money You're right We need public investment private investment uh and we need to do that So we need you to look at that area specifically and we want to find out what's really driving up the demand around our around our countries around

[36:51] the member states And it's one area that annoys everybody and that is the issue in the situation where vulture funds are coming into our countries and buying up properties drying up the supply and driving up prices And again I say to you this is an area that you can do something about in the short term In my own country finance companies such as Pepper have been named in court proceedings They come in driving up the cost of houses driving up the cost of mortgages New schemes they wipe them out They take the houses from the from the grasp of young couples who are trying to

[37:22] buy for the first time I've seen it myself in my own constituency in Ireland in County Me and County Galair and County Leash outside the the commuter belt of Dublin I ask you what you can do about it You can go back and revisit the EU directive on credit servicesers and credit purchasers You know this It was called the vulture funds directive It was passed back in 2021 I ask you to reopen it Go back and regulate the vulture funds Regulate them out of this market There are multiple examples of mortgages being bought from banks around our our state and interest rates are increasing without warning Chair we must have clarity in which of these vulture

[37:58] funds are entering our territories and we must ensure that practices like the one I've outlined today have been that have been outlined in court proceedings are dealt with We must get aggressive with them if we're going to make a real difference [Applause] Yes Commissioner That's a very good speech and uh it was both uh with a lot of pas and

[38:30] it was also very clear and pointed and so that's that's that's that's perfect I I really appreciate it on the state You are very right and and we are uh working on it We're not only looking at it we're working on it as we speak So we have already started When I say we it's it's of course me and executive vice presidenta responsible for for state aid rules Um it's not as simple as it sounds but that's not going has that shouldn't

[39:00] sound as an excuse for not doing anything We will do something and we will solve the the problems that have been uh pointed uh to uh but we need to make sure that we do it in a way of course so that we don't ruin anything sort of the baby out with the bath water so so to speak but we will do we will do something about this on the speculation and the financialization of this area This is a complex matter and there's a lot of interests uh at play goes without saying but that we will also look at

[39:32] Uh the directives that you uh mentioned are certainly a place to start but I will of course also talk to my relevant colleagues uh in the commission on a on a holistic view overall view on what we can do Uh we have set up a a working group in the commission with a big group of relevant commissioners uh that will meet very soon for the first time uh to make sure that it's just not me running with my agendas and different commissioners running with their agendas

[40:04] but that we actually have a coordinated um task force to make sure that that something will uh will happen here So thank you for that Please Mrs Rob Thank you Very very very short I agree that and we in the ESC we agree that revising state aid uh rules to better align with the regulation of services of general economic interest will help will help to ensure that housing policies are inclusive and

[40:38] targeted at those who need them the most So we agree that he is definitely something to do and once again in the ESC we also say that the EU should support the establishment of the mentioned uh funding platforms like the pan European investment uh platform We think also that uh we advocate that uh for the inclusion of housing indicators and national reform programs which will help track progress and ensure that housing solutions are meeting the needs

[41:09] of the most vulnerable And in in general I think this is now a starting process I think the involvement permanent involvement of social partners and civil society is also key We also ask for this annual summit where we can bring together the most uh many of the stakeholders and I think this is something which uh should be respected in the next month that we have really an inclusive and uh powerful strategy with the involvement of all stakeholders including social partners but also cooperatives and other important

[41:41] stakeholders that are uh actually gathered here Thank you Okay thank you very much Now give the floor to Gordon Bosanach for the Greens Uh thank you madame chair Uh so it's a really great day today that we are opening this wide European debate on housing but we should not forget that is also the crisis situation So my question to all of you is what can we do in 2026 uh in a sense can we also expect to do something very concrete in the terms of legislative files to come in this house

[42:16] and try to do some changes because if we are following the parallel crisis crisis which is going on defense and security we are seeing very concrete actions we are seeing announcement of very concrete legislative files so if there is rearm coming to this house why the rehouse Europe will not come to this house as soon as possible because Some things can be done very fast Maybe we can have affordable housing not to be subject to the depth rules set out in the fiscal rules of stability and growth pact as we are talking in the defense sector So my

[42:50] question for each of you is if we can dream about legislative file rehouse Europe which is coming to this house in three months What can you see that can be put in this file very concretely what can we do in 2026 five sorry Thank you So this is uh it's a bit of a difficult question to answer because on one hand

[43:23] uh you've just set up a temporary committee to give us recommendations on what to do Now I used to be a member of this house for 10 years you know and if I had set up a committee to give recommendations to the commission and the commission did not wait and listen for that commission for that for those recommendations I would be pretty upset as I expect many of you will So on one hand we need to respect that process and today is also a start of an even broader process where we where we listen to each

[43:58] other On the other hand I I I do like your impatience because I share it And we also need to make sure that just because we've started a dialogue that we don't then just lean back and wait till that dialogue is done And there are indeed things that we can do also on a shorter term So for instance uh the question on on state aid rules we don't have to wait for years of dialogue to know that we have a problem here Um then there's things that falls in between I'd say that we don't need to wait one year to find out that there's a

[44:34] problem with short-term rentals On the other hand we do have legislation that's going to be implemented now And we need to see how will that also work And also to be quite frank I don't have the I don't have the solutions just there in front of me So uh that's one of the areas where I will really need the input to make sure that we that we actually do this in a in a rational way But but uh I can give you my my word that I will try and strike that balance both be respectful of the process not just for the process sake but because I think it will it will make the decisions that we

[45:09] make better but on the other hand also uh when we can identify uh action that can be done now because it should be done now we shouldn't wait we will do that right Okay So now I give the floor to Leila Chai for the left Thank you Madam Chair My question I'll be speaking French by the

[45:39] way My question is not addressed to Commissioner Jurgensson but for Mr humanis who we've haven't heard from yet and who will have a heavy responsibility because you will be the raur for the uh special committee on housing So you will have to coordinate all of the work which will lead to the uh position from the special committee on housing and will be addressed to the commission And as you see there is this tension between uh the

[46:16] right to affordable housing for everyone and people investing uh in uh housing and there's the development of tourism on the one hand and you've got the short-term rental contracts and on the other hand again affordable housing and as the EP coordinator stated earlier and I welcome what was said there's a consensus on that I think amongst us and that is that short-term rentals do make it more difficult to have access to housing lead to

[46:50] gentrification uh rents and rent prices increase so Mr Himenez letter in the report on housing on behalf of the special committee Is that something you'll be defending or is the solution to this problem that we should have new European regulation uh to have a framework for the use of short-term rental platforms so that's my first question If I could invite a comment from you on that My second question ties in with the title of this panel working together It says could you

[47:25] guarantee then that all political groups uh all democratic political groups from our house will be fully involved in these negotiations and the cordon saniter the firewall will that be upheld when you prepare the uh report Thank you Thank you Thank you very much for for the question So first of all I just want to say that uh for me it is going to be an honor to be the reporter of this housing committee and the idea is that

[47:55] this this has to be a comprehensive uh report that has to serve as a base for the work of the rest of the European institutions So in that sense uh my objective is to establish a rich debate with all the the political groups that is completely clear because I really believe that if we want to to to to offer a solid position and a rigorous position it is necessary to reach a large majority in this uh parliament uh to go to the European Commission with a

[48:29] a strong message I know that it's going to be quite complicated but in my my from my position is going to be to work from a very inclusive perspective and to try to just to reach the larger agreement Uh regarding the the other question to the tourism uh I am Spanish so you will know that for us this is a really important problem in in Spain in many many cities And it is true that in each city each mayor is is taking different strategies to to face this uh this

[49:05] phenomenon But I really believe that we should try to find a common ground between the different positions because I really believe that it is necessary to do anything at least maybe yes I don't know this is a very previous moment but to establish any limits uh in the in the cities something but I really believe that it is necessary to do anything also from from our perspective but we will have to talk a lot about

[49:36] Okay now we can uh move to the next uh uh round This is uh uh we have a a list of requests We start uh with Durk Gotting for the EP Um I will group because we have several requests So otherwise we will not have time to to do all the answers So please be very very short Thank you very much chair and thank you very much panel Very interesting exchange Um we've we've full support for

[50:10] the questions on the state aid I will not repeat it As you know um there was a lot of talk about money but I think there is a also a big sort of elephant in the room which is the bottleneck of regulation and complexity of regulation which has to do with permitting and the way sort of European legislation exponentially sort of works down the food chain to the ground and actually blocks building projects on the ground Now you've you've made proposals on large energy projects I believe when it comes to the permitting the length of

[50:46] the permitting procedures Now it depends very much if national if member states have specific legislation in place to sort of limit those permitting procedures Is it something we can expect in terms of an approach for um everything that has to do with building because this is a massive bottleneck It has nothing to do with money There are people there with money there are builders there ready to build and there's just a lot of rules protecting um many times environmental um uh concerns which are also very important

[51:19] but at this point um I think building houses has become simply a much bigger urgency Thank you Yes thank you for for bringing that that up Certainly permitting is one of the uh areas that we will be looking at I very much agree with you that of course this is not something that we will do on the expense of uh our nature or environment We need to take care of that But just as we are now in the

[51:51] process of doing it with regards to energy projects uh it is my clear impression that there will be room to rationalize that uh these procedures Um the energy question has been discussed for so many years that we we knew more or less where the problems were So therefore it was not easy but easier to put forward a proposal on on what to do I'm not saying that's not controversial and we will have discussions on that and and I'm also of course willing to take them on on housing uh it's not that clear

[52:28] exactly which rules we're talking about but we are in the process of looking into it and I have already gotten also some good input from different member states um one of the big problems is the how long it takes so I mean imagine if we if it takes uh five years to get a permission and you do get that permission if you get the permission it means that there is not a problem so why did it have to take five years sometimes there's good reasons for that because you need to look into things that are extremely complicated But I'm also assuming that a lot of it has to do with with the lack of focus and and and too

[53:05] much red tape So So uh thank you again for rising it I know that many of you in this house are very committed to to that specific question So we will keep keep discussing it and and finding solutions Thank you very much Gabby Bishop SND Thank you very much chair and I will take on the impatience that a lot of my colleagues from different groups raised We need tang tangible and fast solutions We don't have all the time of the world So two questions One from your experience in the different fields where

[53:43] would we have the fastest and biggest impact when we address it and my second is I'm getting really impatient because you know we are bombarded at the moment with omnibuses of different sorts because of competitiveness for companies I want that the needs of citizens that are looking for houses are taken as serious as that and you heard it from the different groups State aid rules short-term rentals vulture funds We know where the problems are We need to deliver much faster Thank you

[54:18] Well I think I have answered that a few times Maybe we should ask the reporter What kind What kind of solutions should I just do now instead of waiting for your report thank you for your question uh on the from our side from our point of view from the European Investment Bank What we have seen during our market survey is some quick wins uh obviously is the renovation the and retrofitting even sometimes repurposing

[54:53] of existing uh buildings and uh this can be done very quickly uh and then uh obviously uh also state aid which is a work in progress with the commission I can confirm because at service level we have also provided input how it can help increase the building activity uh so this is what I would say as a quick wins and then of course we need absolutely to move into construction of

[55:25] new building of new units as we have seen that the market gap so the difference in demand and supply per year is about 1 million uh units so you can imagine that every year this is accumulating so we also need to move into the financing of construction of new units thank Yeah very very quickly Okay from the position of the committed region of course the planning is uh our direct responsibility how we can plan

[55:56] the uh housing area to build quick and the second one I totally support the next quick things is renovation continue renovation wave and uh and of course we must relate the security and uh the housing too This is uh we must think if if uh we we could say uh house is home is my castle but this really this castle right now in uh this situation he must here we must combine these policies Thank you Thank you Now I I will really

[56:28] need to group the next three questions and then we stop So uh Daniel Buddha for the EP and after Nora Maybar for SND and then Isabel Coror for EP and then we have to stop for Thank you Madame Chair Commissioner and distinguished panelists I have no questions for you because I have recommendations that I would like you to hear so that we can solve these

[56:59] problems ical people sitting um at the back of this room and people watching us over the internet are waiting for solutions and we are just uh taking stock of the situation We need to have adequate financing for uh houses that we need to build We also need to streamline proceedings because it is not enough to allocate financial resources without simplified procedures the colleague from the European Investment Bank could help solve this And now I talked to the Committee of the Regions We need to simplify permitting

[57:35] procedures because we have often heard complaints about this Beneficiaries have to wait for very long periods in order to obtain permits to be able to build and for E uh ESC indeed we need your help to solve this as quick as possible because otherwise us at the EP and the commission keep talking but we need um a clear uh calendar um and with a starting

[58:06] point and an end point Thank you Thank you very much I speak French Thank you chair My question will be a brief one because as ever everything has already been said We've all expressed just how pressing uh this issue is A decent home for all This needs uh money Fair enough But we've heard from the commission that we're in in the midterm revision of the cohesion funds next week the legal basis of the

[58:40] uh uh will be uh modified and that's a a first initial uh step Yes But I was wondering whether as part of the investment platform uh announced by President Vonda Lion perhaps this would include innovative uh uh measures For example the guest and the um uh EIB had been working together and mobilized uh 500 euros 500 million euros for French

[59:13] uh social housing on an annual basis and this is I think this was a great experience and perhaps this could be uh expanded on a European level [Music] Thank you chair I've got two questions to the representatives of the EIB on the uh panuropean uh investment financing platform For several months now we've heard that this will be set up

[59:45] So we're very impatient to see what it will consist of what uh uh financial uh headings will be included what the priorities will be um renovation for example what will the bene who the beneficiaries be private public what will the rates be uh how long the loans will be granted for and then we need complimentary measures as well because national regional banks and member states are all very different indeed and very different setup Thank

[60:21] you Who wants to start yes please Thank you very much Indeed two weeks ago together with President of the European Bank Nadia Calvinho and Commissioner Jorgensson we launched uh the more homes and better homes portal So it's not yet a platform it's a portal We start from there And this is an online investment portal that

[60:52] uh connects beneficiaries uh with advice funding and financing they possibly need for affordable housing and we already have the first uh requests Uh so I mean something which is obvious is that it's a huge demand uh at the same time in the European Investment Bank group we are preparing an action plan uh for affordable sustainable house housing which we anticipate that it will be approved in uh uh few weeks from our

[61:23] board of uh directors So our uh this action plan is built on consultations over the last over more than nine months uh uh with all housing stakeholders and I want also to thank uh all the presence here uh particularly uh the committee of the region housing Europe etc that have uh given us uh feedback So with this action plan we are putting uh us into action Uh our aim is to double our

[61:57] financing for the housing sector unlocking also uh significant amount of uh of money for new homes renovation and innovative housing solutions So there as you also have asked what are the key priorities there are three actually it's the uh to increase the scale and impact uh of uh renovation repurposing and retrofitting So we hope that we can get according to our estimates 1.5 million of units uh across

[62:33] uh Europe by 2030 uh then uh again strengthening the support for public investments tailored to specific needs of each country particularly working together with national promotional institutions So let's say uh multiplying our uh uh firing power uh and uh uh also uh expanding our reach focusing on EU countries with the most severe housing crisis and less developed system So

[63:07] we're also prioritize and see how we can because as we said the problem is huge We need to prioritize and see how we can attack let's say uh segments that really need uh immediate attention Again there are several personal examples I'm coming from Greece I can reassure you that in these fantastic Greek islands that you most of you are visiting during summer you know communities cannot work because firefighters teachers doctors

[63:41] uh nurses cannot afford to go there and rent a house uh and of course another priority segment is uh the student and as I said at the beginning it has to do with the competitiveness of the European Union So that's more or less our plan Mrs Judla thank you uh very much and I heard here in the uh this

[64:13] many people need uh more concrete results and in committed region we have like three-step parts and partnership solutions uh for those first of all uh we think in the local level uh the solution is work together with housing providers with cooperative public sector private sector who is really build new houses Second one is partnership between institution like we sitting here in podium uh between in

[64:44] institution national level parliament level commission level We really read the regulation to simplify all these processes and and third one I think very important is public private partnership uh we have already started the representative of the European investment bank vice president we already need to work together and this is the position of committed region we as uh as local leaders we are ready for that uh the quick change in in the housing if we can have this results so

[65:17] quick is possible thank you very much very quickly Mr Robkin then we have to stop Yes thank you very much Very quickly thank you for the for the remark I just can say that we are stand absolutely ready uh not only to advise and to work with this uh committee but we work also very closely with the upcoming presidency and the Danish uh presidency tasked us with an exploratory opinion on the upcoming affordable housing plan and I'm grateful that Commissioner Jungen will come and we will explore there our proposals to

[65:49] have really tangible tangible results I said it it must work really in the in the short term and once again we must also focus on the most vulnerable on young people I think this is absolutely important because otherwise inequalities will be even deepened by this So we have to take action and uh we have a lot of a lot of uh opinions and we will we will work in the next weeks and months on this as well Thank you Thank you very much to everybody Now we take a 10 minutes break and we resume No

AboutPressCopyrightContact usCreatorsAdvertiseDevelopersImpressumCancel MembershipsTermsPrivacyPolicy & SafetyHow YouTube worksTest new features© 2025 Google LLC