Dem MEP Irene Tinagli will lead special committee on Housing Crisis

Brussels – The EU Parliament is getting to work on tackling a problem plaguing millions of EU citizens: the housing crisis generated by an increasingly out-of-control housing market. The Special Committee on the Housing Crisis (HOUS) took office today (Jan. 30) at the EU Parliament: it will last one year and will consist of 33 MEPs, who elected Dem Irene Tinagli as chairwoman.

The commission’s task will be to propose solutions for decent, sustainable, and affordable housing: a “first step to begin to understand and delve into the roots of this dysfunction,” Tinagli said on the sidelines of the constituent meeting. According to Eurostat, from 2010 to the present, house prices in the EU have risen by an average of 52 per cent and rents by 25 per cent. For the Democratic Party MEP—former chair of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) in the last legislature—”housing is first and foremost a need, and we have to think about it in terms of responding to people’s needs, even before thinking in terms of the market.” 

The Social Democrats (S&D) group rejoices. In addition to getting the new housing policy portfolio at the European Commission, entrusted to Danish socialist Dan Jørgensen, it will also lead the dossier in the European Parliament. The commissioner announced that as early as Feb. 1, the Task Force wanted by Ursula von der Leyen will meet to develop a strategy against the housing crisis. Jørgensen, in wishing Tinagli well in her work, looked forward to “solid cooperation” in the coming months.

The housing plan promised by von der Leyen in her policy guidelines, according to the S&D family, will have to include massive investments to protect low- and middle-income groups against record housing prices, the introduction of clear rules on how to spend and manage EU housing resources, and proper regulation of short rentals. Moreover, it will have to address fuel poverty and ensure that “there is not a child in Europe without a home.”

Tinagli immediately received the PD’s good wishes. Elly Schlein claimed “the commitment” of the Dem delegation in Brussels “and the whole party on such a crucial issue as the right to housing.” The PD, the largest party within the Socialist Group in the European Parliament, “fought for this special committee to be established and for there to be a specific delegation on housing in the European Commission as well.” The colleague and S&D Vice-President Camilla Laureti stressed that defending the right to housing is an “unmissable goal” and a “social pillar” of the EU.

Joining Tinagli as first vice chair will be Dutch People’s Party MEP Dirk Goting. The other three vice presidents are the Spanish Green Vincent Marza Ibanez, the Irish Claran Mullooly (Renew) and Regina Doherty (EPP). Among the 33 full members, in addition to Tinagli, are three other Italians: Antonella Sberna and Lara Magoni, from Fratelli d’Italia and members of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group, and Marco Falcone (Forza Italia, EPP). Falcone announced that the European People’s Party is working on a non-paper (an informal document) to indicate the group’s political lines on the housing crisis. “For Forza Italia,” Falcone explained, “there is a need for simplifications, an easing of tax burdens and a focus on the peripheral areas of the EU.

Just this morning, during an event in Krakow, Poland, the European Commission’s executive vice president in charge of Cohesion and Reforms, Raffaele Fitto, also spoke on the issue. The Commission will develop an Agenda for Cities, Fitto announced, because “an increased focus on urban development can help meet the needs of the 75 per cent of Europeans who live in cities and urban areas.” Such an agenda should focus on “housing, climate action, digitalization, mobility, social inclusion, and equality.” Regarding the first point, the former Meloni government minister confirmed that he is working on the “first European plan for affordable housing, to “allow member states to double investment in affordable housing and injecting liquidity into the market.”