Poverty

The European Parliament today called on the European Commission and Council to establish a European strategy to combat homelessness in a resolution adopted with a large majority (1). The Greens welcomed the resolution, with anti-poverty spokesperson and instigator of the resolution Karima Delli saying:

"Ending homelessness is possible and must be a trans-European priority. The EP has today sent a strong message to the other institutions to stop ignoring this core issue and to establish a European strategy to end homelessness by 2020.

"Homelessness is a not only a violation of fundamental rights, it is a violation of human dignity. Clearly, the economic crisis is impacting poverty across Europe, with homeless the most tragic and visible link in the poverty chain. There is a need to redouble efforts to tackle homelessness, rather than just recycling empty messages, and this means developing a coordinated Europe-wide strategy that covers all aspects of public policy.

"We need to focus on social innovation - like 'housing first' approach - as the beginning of a process of social rehabilitation. This requires adequate funding at EU and national level.

"An EU strategy must focus on five core elements: the prevention of homelessness, the reduction of its duration, the concentration of efforts on the most serious forms, the improvement of the quality of services for homeless people, and the supply of affordable housing. The EP has taken the first step to this end and the Commission and Council must now act."

(1) 578 votes in favour, 51 against and 22 abstentions.