“A home, a basic right for a decent life for all of us.”

On Wednesday, 4 October 2023, during the plenary session in Strasbourg, MEP Irena Joveva contributed to the debate on decent housing for all. She pointed out that millions of young people in employment cannot afford their own apartment.  “That’s working young people,” she underscored, adding that a home should be a basic right for a decent life for all of us.

“There are 700,000 homeless women and men on Europe’s streets,” said the MEP in her introduction. Although we have set ourselves the goal at the EU level to eradicate this problem by 2030, it is only getting worse, as homelessness rates continue to surge.

In addition, she said, millions of young people in employment cannot even afford to live in their own homes. “Working young people,” she emphasised. And moreover, the situation has deteriorated markedly in recent years due to the health, economic and energy crises.

“The sad truth is that 34 million Europeans are unable to afford proper heating, and this is a fact.”

Action is urgent, she continued, because current progress in addressing housing issues is too slow. Joveva believes that targeted action by Member States, with a particular focus on the most vulnerable, will be key.

“A home should be a basic right for a decent life of all of us, regardless of social and economic status,” she concluded.

You can watch her plenary address here.

BACKGROUND:

In January 2021, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on access to decent and affordable housing for everyone in Europe. It called on the Commission and the Member States to make housing one of the cornerstones of the Action Plan of the European Pillar of Social Rights and to improve their action to engage all levels of government in fully and consistently implementing the right to decent housing for all. It welcomed the inclusion of housing affordability in the European Semester. The Parliament stressed that the investment gap for affordable housing amounts to EUR 57 billion per year and called on the Commission and the Member States to further increase investment in social, public, energy-efficient, adequate and affordable housing in the EU.

Photo: EP – Christian Creutz