Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-05-10-Speech-4-039"
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"en.20070510.5.4-039"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, we are discussing an issue that affects every one of us. Affordable, decent housing is becoming an increasingly important issue, with a bearing on everyone’s individual needs, opportunities and opinions. The report by Mr Andria on housing in the context of regional policy will certainly therefore make a positive contribution.
Before we decide on the Community’s next actions in this area, we should remember that neither the EU nor its institutions have direct competence in the area of housing policy. Nevertheless the strengthening of social and economic cohesion, which was formulated as one of the main goals of the Maastricht Treaty and which is to be achieved through the Union’s regional policy, is closely bound up with how we respond to the need for sufficient affordable housing, with solving the homelessness problem and with the renewal of urban areas and brownfield sites.
One of the most important issues facing us is therefore that of where the outer limits of the EU’s competences and responsibilities lie in the area of housing policy, and in this context we are talking about subsidiarity. We must therefore think about where to focus our efforts. I feel we have two options. The first option is that of promoting the rights of Europe’s citizens to housing, which in view of the varying situations in the individual Member States, regions and communities, together with our limited powers, will always be very difficult to define. Accordingly, we run the risk of arousing expectations among the citizens that we cannot fulfil and thereby losing our credibility. The second option is to follow the path of helping communities, cities and regions to resolve their housing problems by making support for housing and the refurbishment of housing estates one of our main priorities, and by providing local authorities with appropriate conditions and resources within the framework of the structural funds, whilst not overly restricting their ability to decide how to resolve the housing problems in their own areas. The public will then feel that the EU is making a direct contribution to people’s lives. I, for one, am quite sure that we ought to follow the second of these two paths."@en1
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