Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-02-13-Speech-1-038-000"
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"en.20120213.14.1-038-000"2
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"Mr President, Mr Barnier, ladies and gentlemen, let me tell you, I am angry.
Here we are two years after the consensus conference rightly piloted a European strategy for the homeless under the Belgian Presidency. The European Parliament drafted a written declaration in favour of the homeless. No response. I drafted the resolution in favour of a European strategy for the homeless. The Commission did not respond to our request, which remains a dead letter.
I am sorry that today there is no one on the Council’s bench, while it is the Member States’ responsibility to ensure the right to housing assistance for all those who do not have sufficient resources.
In two weeks, the spell of very cold weather has killed over 600 people; this has already been said. I say it time and again: the homeless do not only die in winter. All year round they sleep on the streets and all year round they have their rights trampled on.
European citizens expect more from the European Union today. It must be united and active faced with the distress of the most vulnerable people. The situation is more than worrying. I will give you a few examples. In Greece, the number of homeless people has increased by 25% in two years. In Hungary, the homeless are persecuted by the police and threatened with heavy fines. In France, we are seeing decrees which criminalise begging and stealing food from bins.
Where is this headed?
We are seeing it more and more: austerity policies led by the governments will have disastrous consequences. Ladies and gentlemen, let us demand a shake-up, a wake-up call. We can change things. I will say it very clearly, Commissioner; the European Union must play its part for solidarity between the Member States and the European people.
We must urgently bring together the ministers concerned. The time for saving the banks is over. It is now time to save lives. We have already waited too long. Each Member State must make the Commission aware of the measures it has put in place since the cold spell began. We must mobilise an emergency fund immediately to come to the aid of the most vulnerable people. The Member States which do not respect their obligation to provide emergency assistance to the most impoverished must be sanctioned, particularly those which criminalise the homeless or prohibit access to emergency shelters for certain groups of people.
Finally, Mr Barnier, the Commission must put in place a European strategy for the homeless immediately. The aim is clear; we have discussed it here; ladies and gentlemen, no one should be sleeping on the streets by 2015. This is an emergency. In order to dream, you must have somewhere to sleep. If we let it, this glacial silence from European representatives will lead to distrust among the citizens. You really need to react …"@en1
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