Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-09-13-Speech-2-699-000"
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"en.20110913.45.2-699-000"2
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"Madam President, although combating poverty and social exclusion is mainly the responsibility of national governments, the EU can play a coordinating role, and I believe it should, particularly in relation to homelessness. This is in line with the 2020 strategy. In many cases, however, there is no need to reinvent the wheel; there are many examples of best practice across the EU. That information needs to be collected and disseminated far more widely than it is being at the moment.
Can the Commissioner outline more of the plans for what the Commission is about to do under the homelessness strategy in terms of collating that information? Also, how much information is already available from Member States on the causes of homelessness? We know that three million people across the EU have no fixed home of their own. Why is this? How much do drug and alcohol problems contribute to street homelessness? In one survey in the UK, for instance, 40% of people questioned had drug problems, 49% alcohol problems and 35% mental health problems. Now you might say that adds up to over 100%. Of course it does, because a lot of people had more than one: some of them had drug, alcohol and mental health problems combined. How much data do we already have from different Member States on this issue?
I know there are many projects that are trying to tackle these issues, like one in my constituency funded under the Daphne Programme dealing with women rough sleepers. Also, there are many projects dealing with domestic violence, which of course can, in turn, lead to homelessness.
What I believe we are, all of us, asking for here is a coordinating approach across the EU. First and foremost, we need to know what is already being done and how we can assist in the development of national and regional strategies which would encourage Member States to set a clear date to end street homelessness, which we called for in the written declaration that, as Karima Delli mentioned, was adopted on 16 December last year.
Homelessness has never been a political priority; it has never been a popular subject. Maybe because there are not many votes in it, but that is one of the reasons why it is important to involve all people, from all parties and no party. We must involve national, regional and local policy makers, homeless service providers and, above all, people who have experienced homelessness themselves. We need to work towards a homeless strategy that really works: a homeless strategy for the future."@en1
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