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EU 2020 and the Question of Social Housing a Critical Assessment of European Union Polices Relating to Social Housing 2015/2

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EU 2020 and the Question of Social Housing a Critical Assessment of European Union Polices Relating to Social Housing 2015/2 CAMILLE HESTERBERG AND MYLES O. STIFFLER WITH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM JENNA ALTHOFF EU 2020 and the Question of Social Housing A Critical Assessment of European Union Polices Relating to Social Housing 2015/2 POLICY LAB RESEARCH REPORT ABOUT THE PROJECT This study was commissioned by Habitat for Humanity International Budapest. The work was conducted and recognized in partial fulfillment for the “Policy Labs” course within the Department of Public Policy at Central European University. Policy Labs are part of the MA curriculum and give an opportunity for small teams to work for external clients producing and presenting policy relevant research that will be used for advocacy, assessment and development. Clients are civic organizations, donors, research centers and international organizations. The Policy Lab focusing on this project for Habitat for Humanity International Budapest was mentored by Marie-Pierre Granger from the Department of Public Policy, Andrew Cartwright and Anna Szasz from the Center for Policy Studies. ABOUT THE AUTHORS Camille Hesterberg and Myles O. Stiffler were students in the Master of Arts program of the Department of Public Policy at Central European University during the 2014-2015 Academic Year. TERMS OF USE AND COPYRIGHT The views in this report are the authors’ own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Central European University or the Habitat for Humanity International Budapest. This text may be downloaded only for personal research purposes. Additional reproduction for other purposes, whether in hard copies or electronically, requires the consent of the author(s), editor(s). If cited or quoted, reference should be made to the full name of the author(s), editor(s), the title, the Policy Lab Research Report series, the year and the publisher. CENTER FOR POLICY STUDIES CENTRAL EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY Nador utca 9. H–1051 Budapest, Hungary [email protected] http://cps.ceu.edu © Central European University “To fix systemic inequities which burden our nation, we need a systemic approach to fighting poverty. Education reform will be fruitless if we cannot guarantee that every child can return to a safe home in the evening.” These were the words of young Patrick Wanninkhof, a high school physics teacher who was compelled to spend his summer biking across the United States and building houses with Habitat for Humanity after recognizing how unfair it was to ask his students without a home at night to focus on their education. This report is dedicated to him. 2 Table of Contents INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................... 4 CHAPTER 2: SYNTHESES OF KEY EU POLICY DOCUMENTS RELATED TO HOUSING ...................................................................................................................................... 5 "EUROPE 2020: A strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth.” .................... 6 “Towards Social Investment for Growth and Cohesion – including implementing the European Social Fund 2014-2020” ............................................................................................... 8 “Confronting homelessness in the European Union” .......................................................... 11 “Social Investment in Europe: A Study of National Policies 2015” ................................ 17 “2015 European Semester: Country-Specific Recommendations” ................................ 19 “Report on the implementation of the EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies”................................................................................................................... 22 “REPORT on social housing in the European Union” .......................................................... 23 CHAPTER 2: KEY EU POLICY DOCUMENTS RELATED TO HOUSING – ACTIVE LINKS .......................................................................................................................................... 25 CHAPTER 3: SYNTHESES OF KEY NON-EU POLICY DOCUMENTS RELATED TO HOUSING ................................................................................................................................... 27 “The EU Needs Stable and Inclusive Housing Markets” ..................................................... 28 “Dear Commissioner Andor” ....................................................................................................... 31 “Contribution to 19th Informal Housing Ministers Meeting” .......................................... 32 “Dear Mr. Olbrycht” ......................................................................................................................... 34 “Introducing Social Rental Agencies in Hungary: An Innovative Housing Programme” ...................................................................................................................................... 35 “Social Housing in Europe” ........................................................................................................... 36 “The Lisbon Strategy and Ethnic Minorities: Rights and Economic Growth” ............. 38 CHAPTER 4: KEY NON-EU POLICY DOCUMENTS RELATED TO HOUSING – ACTIVE LINKS .......................................................................................................................... 39 CHAPTER 5: SUMMARY OF INFORMATIONAL INTERVIEWS ................................... 41 CHAPTER 6: RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................................... 43 Funding................................................................................................................................................ 43 Advocacy ............................................................................................................................................. 45 CONCLUSION ...................................................................................................................................... 47 APPENDICES ............................................................................................................................ 49 Appendix 1: Matrix for key EU policy documents related to housing........................... 49 Appendix 2: Matrix for key non-EU policy documents related to housing ................. 50 BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................................................................................................... 51 3 INTRODUCTION Europe 2020 (EU2020) is a ten-year growth strategy that sets out specific goals for member states to follow in order to accomplish EU priorities of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth.1 The current EU2020 strategy has five core priorities regarding employment, innovation, education, poverty reduction, and sustainability. Despite no explicit mention of housing, these goals cannot be reached by ignoring it; education, employment, and poverty reduction priorities specifically cannot be met when a person is in an unstable living situation. Therefore, there is a need for integrated and systemic approaches to accomplish the Europe 2020 goals. The EU2020 framework does not mention social housing but nonetheless, other important EU documents exist that do highlight the need to bear social housing in mind, as housing is a fundamental right and therefore cannot be disregarded.2 Additionally, housing is mentioned as a target area in the 2010-2020 Roma Integration Strategy, a strategy for the inclusion of one of Europe’s largest minorities, which runs in parallel to the timeframe of the EU2020. Additionally, multiple EU institutions have drafted reports specifically concerning social housing, such as the European Parliament social housing resolution.3 However, the majority of documents that explicitly mention housing do so in a manner out of focus; very few EU directives and legislations are dedicated to the provision of affordable housing. The intent of this report is to inform Habitat for Humanity of the relevant discussion surrounding housing at the EU-level. This report is structured in six chapters. Chapters 1 and 3 provide synthesis of the key EU and non-EU documents respectively regarding social housing. Chapters 2 and 4 provide lists of the consulted EU and non-EU documents as they relate to social housing. Chapter 5 contains take-away points from a series of interviews that were conducted in the winter of 2014-2015 regarding social housing. Lastly, Chapter 6 reviews the associated EU funds and advocacy goals for social housing and concludes with recommendations on how to make social housing a policy priority for the EU. This report will provide an understanding of the relevant literature currently present regarding social housing agendas at the EU level, and endeavours to answer the encompassing research question: how can social housing be a larger EU agenda? 1 European Commission. “EUROPE 2020.” European Union website. European Commission, n.d. http://ec.europa.eu/europe2020/index_en.htm 2 REPORT on social housing in the European Union. European Parliament. Committee on Employment and Social Affairs. Rapporteur: Karima Delli. (2012/2293 (INI)), 30 April 2013. Plenary sitting. 3 REPORT on social housing in the European Union. European Parliament. Committee on Employment and Social Affairs. Rapporteur: Karima Delli. (2012/2293 (INI)), 30 April 2013. Plenary sitting. 4 CHAPTER 2: SYNTHESES OF KEY EU POLICY DOCUMENTS RELATED TO HOUSING This chapter contains the in-depth syntheses of the consulted EU documents as they relate to social housing. A copy
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