EESC’s TEN section president Baiba Miltoviča and CoR rapporteur Andres Jaadla sign Declaration on Housing

In a joint statement signed on 14 November 2024, Baiba Miltoviča, president of the EESC’s Section for Transport, Energy, Infrastructure and the Information Society (TEN) and Andres Jaadla, rapporteur of a CoR opinion on housing, urge the European institutions to adopt urgent measures to get the European Union out of the current housing crisis. They also welcome the appointment of a European Commissioner for Energy and Housing, who will be tasked with putting forward the first-ever European Affordable Housing Plan.

Declaration on Housing

Against the backdrop of the current housing crisis in Europe and in line with the fundamental values on which the European Union is built, the authors of this declaration, Baiba Miltoviča, president of the EESC’s Section for Transport, Energy, Infrastructure and the Information Society, and Andres Jaadla, member of the CoR’s Commission for Territorial Cohesion Policy and EU Budget and rapporteur for an opinion on the matter, call on the European institutions to take action to get Europe out of the housing crisis, while fully respecting cooperation between EU Member States at all levels, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity.

We welcome the appointment of a Commissioner for Energy and Housing, who is tasked with putting forward the first-ever European Affordable Housing Plan. We remind the European Commission that it is mandated by the ministers responsible for housing in the Liège Declaration to organise an annual EU Summit on Social and Affordable Housing in partnership with the European Parliament, the EESC and the CoR.

Both the EESC and the CoR have been committed to the development of affordable and sustainable housing for EU citizens for a long time. Their members have first-hand experience of the housing crisis on the ground and can advise the European institutions on how to combat energy poverty and promote social cohesion.

Therefore, we:

• call on the European Commission to organise an annual EU Summit on Social and Affordable Housing in partnership with the European Parliament, the EESC and the CoR. This annual EU summit should bring together all the stakeholders involved in the implementation of Member States’ actions on social and affordable housing, on the basis of a multi-level approach and the exchange of best practices in compliance with the principle of subsidiarity;
• support the plan of the Commissioner-designate in charge of housing to establish a pan-European investment platform for affordable and sustainable housing to urgently support national, regional and local partnerships in ending housing exclusion, in partnership with the EESC and the CoR;
• point out that innovative ways of boosting public investment and mobilising existing EU funds need to be explored if we are to find a long-term solution to the housing crisis;
• call on the EU institutions to support the in-depth renovation of residential buildings on the basis of diversified, long-term and innovative financial support and coherent legal frameworks, targeting vulnerable populations as well as key actors on the ground, in particular energy communities and local authorities;
• call for closer cooperation between actors at different levels of governance: Member States, EU institutions, civil society organisations, regional governments, local authorities.

We commit to helping implement the measures set out in the Liège Declaration by sharing the views of civil society organisations and local and regional authorities from across the EU as part of a joint effort by all the EU institutions aimed at solving the housing crisis and strengthening European cohesion from all sides.

Baiba Miltoviča

President of the EESC’s Section for Transport, Energy, Infrastructure and the Information Society (TEN)

European Economic and Social Committee (EESC)

Andres Jaadla

CoR member (EE/Renew Europe), member of Rakvere City Council, rapporteur for the opinion on Smart, sustainable and affordable housing as a tool for local authorities to face multiple challenges

European Committee of the Regions (CoR)