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Trečiadienis, 2024 m. vasario 7 d. - Strasbūras

20. 70-ųjų abato Pierre’o viešo raginimo spręsti nuolatinio nepritekliaus ir socialinės atskirties sukeltą benamystės problemą metinių minėjimas (diskusijos)

  Der Präsident. – Als nächster Punkt der Tagesordnung folgt die Aussprache über die Erklärung der Kommission zum Gedenken anlässlich des 70. Jahrestags des Aufrufs von Abbé Pierre zur Bekämpfung der Obdachlosigkeit im Kontext von anhaltender Armut und sozialer Ausgrenzung (2024/2562(RSP)).

Ich weise die Mitglieder darauf hin, dass nur eine Rednerrunde der Fraktionen vorgesehen ist. Deshalb werden weder spontane Wortmeldungen noch blaue Karten akzeptiert.

  Helena Dalli, Member of the Commission. – Mr President, today we celebrate 70 years since Abbé Pierre launched his appeal for political action on poverty on 1 February 1954. It is therefore only fitting to ask ourselves – what is the state of homelessness, poverty and exclusion in Europe today? What have we done in this regard?

The share of the population at risk of poverty or social exclusion has remained broadly constant over the past years, despite the repeated shocks and crises. This can be largely attributed to effective policies and social transfers. Notwithstanding all our efforts faced with repeated economic and social challenges, homelessness keeps increasing in most Member States.

According to estimates by the European Federation of National Organisations Working with the Homeless and the Fondation Abbé Pierre, at least 895 000 people are currently homeless in Europe. So we must renew our commitment to fight homelessness. Successful examples have one clear element in common: consistency of action and long-term planning and investment. Increasing the supply of affordable housing, and, in particular, public housing and social housing, is key.

As the European Commission, we are of course playing a role in this. The European Platform on Combatting Homelessness, launched in Lisbon in 2021, brings together national authorities, civil society and European institutions to combat homelessness in the EU with a Housing First approach. The Platform has become a reference point for national decision makers and the establishment of national homelessness strategies in an increasing number of Member States and, based on the work of the platform, this is a visible sign of its achievements.

The social innovation call launched by the Commission, which is currently in the evaluation phase, will further support innovative grassroots projects. Furthermore, housing—led policies towards homeless people require the appropriate level of financial resources, of course, so Member States have programmed close to EUR 15 billion in their national recovery and resilience plans in connected investments and reforms, including following country—specific recommendations.

The InvestEU programme dedicates a EUR 2.8 billion guarantee to social investments and skills, so this allows leveraging substantial investments on affordable housing and student housing. Cohesion policy funds, notably the European Regional Development Fund and the European Social Fund Plus contribute to building an integrated approach to housing for vulnerable groups. For instance, about EUR 1 billion from the European Regional Development Fund have been directly allocated to investments in housing in the scope of social inclusion over the 2021—2027 programming period.

In addition, several other investments, such as support for energy efficiency in housing, which amounts to around EUR 6.2 billion, are also expected to have a positive impact on housing. More generally, the Commission has been promoting better housing policies in Member States, including in the context of the European Semester.

We monitor housing policies in the European Semester and look at affordability, availability and quality of housing when we propose country—specific recommendations. Indeed, several Member States have received recommendations on this. We need to be accountable, and that is why we are also investing in better analysis and better monitoring of policies, including at city level, with the first coordinated homelessness count organised in different cities in Europe this year as a pilot project sponsored by this Parliament.

The European Commission will continue to work on different fronts to support the Member States and other actors involved in combating homelessness across the EU.

  Cindy Franssen, namens de PPE-Fractie. – Voorzitter, geachte commissaris, collega’s, zeventig jaar geleden deed Abbé Pierre reeds de oproep om dakloosheid aan te pakken. Toch worden steeds meer mensen en gezinnen geconfronteerd met dakloosheid.

In het laatste overzicht van uitsluiting van huisvesting van Feantsa en de stichting Abbé Pierre wordt het aantal daklozen geschat op bijna 900 000 mensen. Dit is een verdubbeling ten opzichte van tien jaar geleden. Nochtans is het recht op degelijke huisvesting en adequate diensten aan daklozen een van de prioriteiten van de Europese pijler voor sociale rechten.

In het actieplan voor de Europese pijler voor sociale rechten hebben we bovendien een duidelijke doelstelling bepaald: tegen 2030 willen we 15 miljoen mensen uit de armoede halen, onder wie 5 miljoen kinderen.

Met de Verklaring van Lissabon zijn we in 2021 het engagement aangegaan om een einde te maken aan dakloosheid tegen 2030. Het daartoe opgerichte Europees Platform voor de bestrijding van dakloosheid heeft zijn meerwaarde al bewezen in verschillende lidstaten. Dit toont aan dat we met een langdurig, consequent en efficiënt beleid de trend echt kunnen keren. Het is dan ook van groot belang dat het platform duurzaam kan blijven functioneren en dat ook in het nodige budget wordt voorzien, met parallel uiteraard ook een ambitieus werkprogramma.

We moeten de strijd tegen dakloosheid en armoede opvoeren en onze beloftes nakomen. Enkel zo kunnen we erover waken dat de verdere uitrol van onze sociale pijler ook in de komende jaren en decennia gegarandeerd wordt. Laten we armoede en dakloosheid samen aanpakken en er zo voor zorgen dat in onze Europese Unie niemand achterblijft.

  Raphaël Glucksmann, au nom du groupe S&D. – Monsieur le Président, Madame la Commissaire, chers collègues, le 1er février 1954, il y a tout juste soixante-dix ans, l’abbé Pierre lançait à la radio un appel aux citoyens français. Devant leurs frères mourant de misère, une seule opinion doit exister entre hommes: la volonté de rendre impossible que cela dure. Cet appel fut un choc. Un immense courant de solidarité se fit jour, une mobilisation nationale admirable. Mais, soixante-dix ans plus tard, force est de constater que les pouvoirs publics français et européens ont failli à rendre impossible que cela dure.

Lors de la Nuit de la solidarité, organisée à Paris le mois dernier, plus de 3 500 personnes sans abri ont été recensées. Parmi elles, 450 enfants, qui dorment chaque soir dans la rue. Et cela dure. On recense à travers l’Union européenne près de 900 000 personnes sans abri. Et cela dure. Des millions de familles européennes sont en situation de précarité absolue, ne parviennent pas à se loger, à se chauffer, ou sont forcées de sauter des repas régulièrement. Nous sommes le continent le plus riche, le plus stable, le plus éduqué du monde, dit-on. Chers collègues, comment pouvons-nous tolérer que cela dure?

Je veux rendre ici hommage à tous ces bénévoles, toutes ces organisations, toutes ces femmes et tous ces hommes qui se mobilisent auprès des plus démunis. Ils sont admirables, mais leur tâche est sans fin, et ils comblent l’absence et la faillite des pouvoirs publics. Cela dure et cela ne doit plus durer.

À Paris, à Barcelone, à Berlin, à Prague, des investisseurs privés, des fonds de pension étrangers achètent des immeubles résidentiels et les convertissent en appartements Airbnb pour les louer à la nuit et à prix d’or. Le logement est devenu un actif spéculatif, acheté et vendu pour faire du profit. Cela doit cesser.

Le logement est un droit. La puissance publique européenne doit s’attaquer aux causes, réguler les investisseurs sur le marché immobilier et les locations touristiques, investir massivement dans la construction et la rénovation de logements abordables. Enfin, le modèle du logement d’abord mis en place en Finlande doit être généralisé à toute l’Europe.

L’Union européenne n’est pas simplement un projet de paix, c’est un projet de justice, et la démocratie n’est pas qu’un ensemble d’institutions, c’est un régime de solidarité.

  Karen Melchior, for Renew-Gruppen. – Hr. formand! Det er en tragedie, at 70 år efter at Abbé Pierre holdt sin appel, står vi stadigvæk her og taler om hjemløshed i Europa. På Islands Brygge er der en mand, der bor i en gangtunnel. På metrostationen “Porte de Namur” i Bruxelles er der en kvinde, som har boet der i de sidste par år. Ved katedralen her i Strasbourg er der en kvinde, som bor i en port. Mennesker, der ikke har andre valg end at bo på gaden. De har brug for en bolig tilpasset deres behov, og når de har tag over hovedet, kan vi hjælpe dem med deres andre problemer. alkohol, angst, stofafhængighed, vold og social tvang. Mennesker, der bor på gaden – ja, så har vores sociale systemer fejlet. Vi skal hjælpe disse mennesker, og hvis vi vil, så kan vi. Medlemsstater og byer bør lære af bedste erfaringer. Det er begyndt med bolig. Sådan så det ikke skal være afhængigt af sociale organisationer eller vores charity, når vi møder folk på gaden. Tak til Kommissionen for deres koordination, erfaringsudveksling og lederskab med fokus på "housing first" eller "begynd med boliger". Alle medlemslande bør sikre adgang til gode boliger for alle. Boliger skal ikke være en skattefri investering for de mest privilegerede, og vi kan heller ikke bare bygge os ud af problemet. En mulighed er at sikre, at der er bopælspligt, sådan så boliger ikke står tomme. Men vi skal sørge for, at alle i Europa har adgang til en god og fast bolig i alle vores samfund. Vi kan ikke leve med, at vores unge mennesker, vores ældre, vores psykisk syge bor på gaden og ikke har mulighed for at håndtere deres problemer, fordi de ikke har stabilitet i deres liv.

  Kim Van Sparrentak, on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group. – Mr President, in 1954, war-ridden France was experiencing a serious housing crisis. It was a freezing winter and thousands of people were sleeping on the streets. On 1 February, Abbé Pierre, outraged by the death of a homeless woman that still carried the eviction notice on her, launched a radio appeal for solidarity.

Seventy years later, still, every night homeless people are dying in our cities. Every single night, 900 000 people sleep on the streets or in shelters. We could lose all hope and accept this as a fact of life. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

We have the tools to halt growing rates of homelessness in the EU and even end homelessness for good. We see in Finland, with the Housing First approach, that this is possible. We need to move away from ‘managing’ homelessness and ‘charity only’ to solving it.

This was also recognised by all Member States in the Lisbon Declaration that took on board the call of the European Parliament to work on ending homelessness by 2030. Several countries since then have adopted new strategies and work at the European level to better coordinate action, share knowledge and streamline funding has started.

On Friday, I will represent the European Parliament at the ministerial meeting on homelessness hosted by the Belgian Presidency. This will be a key moment to ensure that the platform on combating homelessness is continued and strengthened in a new mandate, with a new work plan and a dedicated budget. The ministers gathering should agree to work on Council recommendations on homelessness to underpin the work of the platform and give guidance to the strategies of EU countries.

Furthermore, we have to make sure that we continue combating the housing crisis, because solving homelessness can’t happen if people are continuing to become homeless.

Also, knowing that the EU’s five richest billionaires increased their wealth since 2020 –from EUR 244 billion to EUR 429 billion, at a rate of EUR 5.7 million per hour – I think we simply cannot accept the most extreme form of poverty to continue to exist.

  Dorien Rookmaker, namens de ECR-Fractie. – Voorzitter, waarom zijn er in Nederland meer dan vijftigduizend mensen dakloos? Omdat er te weinig betaalbare woningen zijn. Het is zo simpel als dat. In Nederland is dakloosheid een zorgprobleem. Voor daklozen is opvang vaak langdurige opvang en van langdurige opvang is nog nooit iemand beter geworden.

Wat is de oplossing? Betaalbare huisvesting voor iedereen — niet alleen voor daklozen — en specifieke maatregelen. In Nederland betekent dat stoppen met de moderne slavernij van onderbetaalde EU-immigranten die dakloos worden zodra ze hun werk verliezen, samenwonen aanmoedigen en niet snoeien in de uitkering van samenwonende pensionado’s en mensen met een uitkering, en het stimuleren van de sociale woningbouw. Geef investeerders de ruimte en focus, zet een target, verplicht lidstaten het aantal daklozen met 5 % naar beneden te brengen, zodat we snel dit oplosbare probleem kunnen tackelen. Zo doen we dat met CO2. Dat kan met dakloosheid ook.

  Aurélia Beigneux, au nom du groupe ID. – Monsieur le Président, l’abbé Pierre a marqué l’histoire par son humanisme. Fervent défenseur des plus pauvres, il n’a cessé de se battre contre la misère et contre l’exclusion sociale, noble combat qui doit continuer de nous inspirer.

Mais que dirait-il aujourd’hui en voyant que près de 900 000 personnes dorment chaque nuit dans la rue au sein de l’Union européenne? Que dirait-il en voyant que ce chiffre honteux n’a fait qu’augmenter ces cinq dernières années? Comment ne pas reprocher au président français Emmanuel Macron la trahison de son argument de campagne, lui qui avait promis de régler le problème des sans-abri pendant son mandat? Comment ne pas se tourner vers nos gouvernements quand les centres d’hébergement ne peuvent pas profiter aux citoyens car ils sont saturés par les vagues migratoires?

Au vu de l’entrée de 400 000 migrants par an en France – 400 000! –, nous demandons que la priorité nationale s’applique pour l’accès aux logements sociaux. Il faut dès maintenant que les places profitent d’abord aux nationaux avant d’être attribuées à des étrangers, parfois entrés illégalement.

L’Union européenne a le devoir de s’occuper de ses citoyens en priorité, et non de distribuer les biens publics au tout-venant.

  Chris MacManus (The Left). – Mr President, I want to welcome this debate on the 70th anniversary of Abbé Pierre’s appeal on addressing homelessness. His appeal, which centred on the belief in the fundamental right to shelter and the need for immediate action to address homelessness, is as relevant today as it was 70 years ago.

In Ireland, we have had successive Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael governments setting records they should be ashamed of. They’ve consistently overseen increase after increase in the number of homeless people in Ireland. Indeed, just before Christmas, a new record was set. The number of homeless people in Ireland surpassed 13 000: 13 179 to be precise, 3 991 of them children. That is the highest number of homeless children ever recorded in our state. Indeed, a government of record-breakers. They should hang their collective heads in shame.

If the Irish Government are serious about tackling the housing and homelessness crises, they must reinstate the ban on no-fault evictions in order to create the space for an emergency response to be put in place. We need a package of measures to reduce the number of people becoming homeless in Ireland. We need to stop vulture and cuckoo funds evicting families or buying up the housing stock from under the noses of workers and families.

A chairde, we need a new approach that puts people ahead of vested and financial interests. Only then may our children sleep easy.

  Helena Dalli, Member of the Commission. – Mr President, thank you, honourable Members. In June 2021, the ministers of 27 Member States, the European institutions and civil society committed to work towards eradicating homelessness by signing the Lisbon Declaration and launching the European Platform on Combating Homelessness. The platform has created a strong momentum at EU level to address the plight of homeless people. We should sustain this momentum. We should answer to the demands and concerns of our most vulnerable citizens. The right to access decent and affordable housing is at the heart of the social Europe that we want to strengthen.

To turn this right into a reality for every person in the EU, we need to make sure that we have in place the adequate housing and employment and social policies. There is a shared, clear political will by all institutions and stakeholders represented in the platform to ensure its continuity and build on the achievements and on the work done so far. The European Commission remains fully committed to the fight against homelessness.

  Der Präsident. – Die Aussprache ist geschlossen.

Schriftliche Erklärungen (Artikel 171)

  Milan Brglez (S&D), pisno. – Statistične ocene kažejo, da je bilo leta 2022 med prebivalci EU skoraj 900.000 brezdomcev ter da se njihovo število v večini držav članic po pandemiji naglo povečuje. Dodatno nas mora skrbeti podatek, da po oceni Eurostata več kot 19,2 milijona ljudi živi v stanovanjih, ki niso primerna za bivanje.

Dejstvo, da v Evropski uniji nimamo natančnih statistik o brezdomcih in populaciji, ki živi v za bivanje neustreznih objektih, temveč se moramo zanašati na ocene, že samo po sebi pojasnjuje, zakaj so brezdomci ter milijoni drugih ljudi žrtve ali izpostavljeni revščini in socialni izključenosti. Brez zanesljivih in primerljivih podatkov v zvezi s prebivalstvom in stanovanji ne moremo oblikovati učinkovitih evropskih politik, kar pa ne rešuje problema in nas ne odvezuje odgovornosti za (ne)ukrepanje.

Države članice morajo prenehati z eksternalizacijo problema brezdomstva na humanitarne organizacije in društva za pomoč in samopomoč brezdomcev ter zavzeti pristop »najprej stanovanja«, saj je ta dokazljivo učinkovit v boju proti revščini in socialni izključenosti brezdomcev. Hkrati pa se moramo sočasno z uresničevanjem zelenega prehoda spopasti z neustreznimi (slabo izoliranimi, energetsko potratnimi, prenatrpanimi, nefunkcionalnimi ...) stanovanji kot javnozdravstvenim problemom, ki ogroža zdravje ljudi in jih potiska v revščino ter socialno izključenost.