Statement on European Commission's Affordable Housing Plan

The launch of the European Commission's first-ever plan on affordable housing today marks an important milestone in the protection of European citizens and vulnerable households.

Housing is before anything else a fundamental human right. I am heartened that the Commission has taken into consideration the concerns addressed in our recent formal opinion on this topic, adopted in September 2025.

I welcome the EESC's inclusion, together with the Committee of the Regions and the European Parliament, in a European Housing Alliance to facilitate cooperation and multi-level governance on housing.

Housing will again be central to my next scheduled discussion with President Costa early next year – and will also clearly be at the core of all exchanges with other EU institutional leaders in the immediate period ahead.

Furthermore, I welcome the opportunity to collaborate with other EU institutions and the Presidency of the Council of the EU to contribute actively to the first EU Housing Summit in 2026.

There is now a unique opportunity in the coming year to strengthen the EU's efforts to address the housing crisis and to also actively combat poverty and social exclusion, which are core to my mandate.

I stress the importance of anchoring the implementation of the Affordable Housing Plan in the upcoming Anti-Poverty Strategy. It is essential that the two instruments operate in a complementary manner, ensuring people-centred solutions and that the needs of the most disadvantaged are fully taken into account.

In this context, I welcome the inclusion of dedicated action on housing for young people. It is unacceptable that today in this Union 400,000 children sleep without a roof over their head.

Addressing the needs of the middle class is essential, but no social right can be truly safeguarded if those who are lagging behind and more disproportionally affected are not meaningfully included.

As the representative of the voice of the European civil society, I call for sustained ambition and optimism in seizing this political momentum around housing.

It is essential that civil society is part of these efforts, and I look forward to the EESC being at the forefront of this coordinated engagement on housing.

While housing should remain primarily a matter of national competence, it is essential that regions and local governments are also supported in their frontline work on housing.

The EESC's mandate and composition makes it uniquely well placed to contribute in that regard and I look forward to the Committee offering strong leadership on this issue in the coming period.